Posted on Tuesday, 20 April, 2010
As the legislative short session draws near, Common Cause’s agenda to protect our democracy appears to be gaining steam. There are good reasons to be worried about Tar Heel democracy, such as the Supreme Court’s recent decision to unleash corporate campaign cash in our elections and the pervasive "pay-to-play" culture on display in the now-disgraced Easley Administration. But the good news is that there is an alternative to unlimited corporate influence. Statewide, nearly three in four North Carolinians see the need to reform campaign finance amongst our statewide executive branch officials. This "Council of State" is made up of people we trust to protect the public, and it is essential that they have campaign funding that is not donated by the very corporations they are sworn to regulate. On the local front, five of our largest communities (Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Greenville, and Wilmington) have passed resolutions indicating their support for voter-owned elections at the local level. We believe that the time has come for state legislators to remove the ban on cities--our laboratories of democracy--experimenting with reform. Call your legislator today, and tell him or her to support Common Cause’s Protect Democracy Agenda in 2010!
')