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I wasn’t going to post anything this weekend, but I was out doing yard work, listening to podcasts, and I listened to an episode of NOW about clean elections in Arizona called Votes for Sale.  

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The Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board released a report yesterday showing special interest spent over $235,000 on events to wine and dine State Legislators during the 2009 legislative session.

From Iowa Independent…

Despite a poor economy, groups spent nearly $41,000 more in 2009 than they did in 2008. In fact, this year has seen the most spending on legislative receptions since 2005, according the the IECDB.

“These reports show that the political economy in Iowa remains robust,” said Charlie Smithson, the IECDB’s executive director.

Reports were filed for 90 receptions held during the session. Reports disclose the amount spent on food, beverage and entertainment regardless of the number of people who attend. Because every legislator is invited to attend, the parties are not subject to the state’s gift law, which prohibits gifts to government officials of more than $3.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to special interest money seeping into the pockets of state lawmakers. Iowa should expand the gift law to include events like these, as well as enacting a campaign contribution limits similar to the $2,500 limit at the federal level. These would be easy to steps to clean up fundraising and provide greater transparency in the legislative process.

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I glanced at the clock and saw there was just 5 minutes till midnight. I had forgotten that Monday marked the 3rd birthday for Century of the Common Iowan and I only had 5 minutes to put up a post to sum up those 3 years. Yeah right.

Well here’s what I got written in an hour…

As I look back, it is interesting how the focus of the blog has evolved over those years. In the blogs first year I wrote a lot about issues such as the rising cost of college tuition and Iowa’s Brain Drain, immigration, and the need for a trade policy that protects American jobs. Year two was all about the Iowa caucuses. The following year I was able to sit back and watch the primaries play out and lead up to the general election. With the 2008 elections behind us, I have been able to write more about policies and topics such as the emergence of Millennials, social media, education, and the need to invest in a creative economy.

3 years, 2,226 posts, and over 132,000 visitors later and here we are in the best of times, in the worst of times. Our current economic and political situation find us in a situation where remarkable change can take place (and if it doesn’t, it’s because we didn’t make them do it) . It is time for big ideas. In the coming year I hope to focus on the big ideas that desmoinesdem laid out that I wrote about last month.

• Clean elections
• Promoting clean energy solutions
• Local control of hog confinements
• Passenger rail
• Rural broadband.

These are not new issues. Many I have written about since I started this blog, but now is the time to stop talking about these issues and start seeing real action. On the campaign trail, Barack Obama told the story that one voice can change a room, one room can change a city, one city can change a nation. It is my hope that over the past 3 years, I have been able to change 1 person’s viewpoint on these key issues and encouraged 1 person to take action on these key issues.

I’d like to end by repeating what Rekha Basu wrote about activism that I posted about earlier today..

Still, it takes courage to be an activist. It requires putting yourself out there in public, daring to take the unpopular position and getting hostile feedback… But those who understand history know well the role activism has played in winning rights and making a more just, humane and accessible America.

Join in. Post comments. Attend your local Democratic central committee meeting. Call your State Legislators. Get active in a community group or city board. Start your own blog. Heck, run for local office.

It’s time to make a ruckus. Let’s go!

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Democrats have accomplished a great deal the past 3 years including increasing Iowa’s renewable energy industries, raising teacher salaries, providing same day voter registration, expanding early childhood education, and enacting a smoking ban.

In a post yesterday at Bleeding Heartland, desmoinesdem laid an agenda of big ideas Democrats at the Statehouse can pursue over the next 2 years.

If Democrats can show that their governance made a tangible difference in the lives of Iowans, it will be easier to give voters a reason to back Culver and Democratic legislators again in 2010. I’ve got a few suggestions:

-Reduce the influence of money in politics by approving a voluntary “clean elections” system on the model of Maine or Arizona;
-Reject new coal fired power plants (as several of our neighboring states have done) and increase our capacity to generate wind and solar power;
-Allow “local control” of large hog confinements (agricultural zoning at the county level);
-Make progress toward providing light rail in the Ames/Ankeny/Des Moines and Iowa City/Cedar Rapids corridors.

I couldn’t agree more with these issues and have written a lot about about each one in the past (read my posts on clean elections, coal plants, local control, light rail). If could add one more it would be high speed rural broadband access. I wrote last summer…

Broadband penetration is a huge asset for economic development, especially in rural areas like Iowa.

When governments are trying to attract companies to locate in the area they should invest in infrastructure such as high speed broadband. It would benefit those companies and spark entrepreneurship among individuals living in the rural areas.

Unfortunately, I also agree with desmoinesdem that Democratic Leadership doesn’t seem interested in pushing any of these issues at the moment. There are legislators here and there speaking on these issues, but progress likely won’t be made without support from leadership.

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I am bummed I can’t make it to Iowa CCI’s Lobby Day on Tuesday at the capitol in Des Moines.

However, I have emailed my State Senator and State Representive supporting two key issues that CCI has been fighting for - local control of hog confinements and the Voter-Owned Iowa Clean Elections bill, known as VOICE.

Here is information Iowa CCI sent out on how to contact your legislators…

Our rally and lobby day is tomorrow - Jan. 27!

If you’re not able to join us at the Capitol, help us have a ‘virtual’ presence at the Statehouse:

E-mail or call your legislators! Urge them to stand up for what’s right and protect everyday Iowans through CCI’s low-cost solutions. Follow this link to find your legislators - click on your senator or representative, click on the contact tab and click on their email address to compose your message.

Hundreds of Iowans will be at the Statehouse tomorrow - imagine the impact of hundreds more Iowans filling their inboxes and voicemails with messages calling on them to protect all Iowans.

Give them a call, email a message or send a letter on Jan. 27 letting them know that even though you can’t be there, you are supporting hundreds of everyday Iowans who are standing up for issues that you care about.

We’re asking legislators for simple, no-cost solutions that benefit the common good:
- local control, local people should have the ability to say if a factory farm can build near them;
- strong worker protection laws and children’s health insurance that work for everyone — regardless of immigration status;
- moratorium on foreclosures and other efforts that protect homeowners and consumers; and,
- campaign contributions and VOICE so people talk more in our political process and money talks less.

After you get your email sent, check out this great post from Iowa Independent about Iowa CCI’s efforts over the past twenty years.

**Update**
If you are able to make to Des Moines for the Lobby Day, here is the schedule…

Please join us for Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement’s
January 27, 2009 Rally & Lobby Day
“People Before Polluters. People Before Politics. People Before Profits.”
10:00 a.m. Rally at Wallace Building
10:55 a.m. March to Capitol Building/ Greet Legislators
12 p.m. Lunch and Lobby
1-4 p.m. Meetings with Key Leaders

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Ed Fallon wrote a guest column in the Des Moines Register yesterday about Rod Blagojevich’s pay to play scandal in Illinois.
To learn that someone apparently would openly try to sell a U.S. Senate…



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If you have $5,000 you can socialize with Gov. Culver tonight…

Thursday, December 18, 2008
Governor Chet Culver and Lt. Governor Patty Judge Chet Culver Committee Please come and enjoy an evening…



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Iowa Democrats have a great chance to expand their majority in the Iowa House. Democrats currently hold a 53-47 advantage. With just over 2 weeks left until the election, it is critical to support…



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Iowa CCI conducted a poll of political donors across the state about their attitudes towards the influence of big money in politics and public financed elections…

CCI recently conducted a survey of current political donors to gauge their support of VOICE and taking big money out of politics. We conducted this survey because we believe that political donors would also support public financing to reduce the role that money plays in campaigning and the reliance on large contributions to candidates. The survey results show that those with a financial stake in the outcome of state elections believe that the current system is broken. We contacted 2,861 donors and conducted interviews with 1,502 people who were chosen because they donated to political candidates for state office. The charts that follow show the findings of this study, which break down support for VOICE by income, amount donated and political party.

http://www.voterownediowa.org/news/zata3-iapublicfinancingsurveyreport.pdf

While many may expect political donors to be content with the current system, our survey reveals that donors across the political and financial spectrum are in support of a system where people matter more, and money matters less.

The poll shows Iowans are against the influence of big money in politics.

When asked, “Many people believe there is too much money in the political process. Do you agree or disagree?” nearly nine out of 10 (88 percent of) donors said they agreed. Just six percent of respondents said they did not believe there was too much money in politics.

These sentiments go across party lines as well, with 89 percent of Democrats, 88 percent of Republicans, and 82 percent of Independents agreeing that there is too much money in politics.

The poll shows strong support across party lines for public financed elections and specifically the VOICE bill.

73 percent of political contributors support public financing as laid out in the VOICE Act as a way to reduce the role money is playing in our political process. (Only 20 percent were opposed.)2

This support also crosses party lines - 75 percent of Democratic donors, 70 percent of Republican donors, and 74 percent of Independent donors favor VOICE.

The support is pretty even across income levels as well…

Eighty-one percent of those polled that have a household income over $100,000 supported VOICE, and 74 percent of those with a household income less than $100,000 supported VOICE. (This leaves out a group who did not disclose their household income, which still supported VOICE at 65 percent.)

The last 2 legislative sessions, political leaders refused to allow the VOICE bill to come up for a vote. The VOICE legislation would bring voluntary clean elections to Iowa.

The VOICE bill would require candidates to get $5 donations along with their signatures to qualify. All of this money would go into a fund that would be used by candidates that have met the requirements to earn public money. The rest of the money would come from unclaimed property and a check off on your state income taxes.

Under the VOICE bill no taxpayer money would be used unless you want to mark the check off on your state income taxes. Overall, the system would cost around $10 million or less than 1/10 of 1% of the state’s annual budget.

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From Iowa CCI…

Now is the time to get big money in politics out of our way!

Join us to tell Rep. Kevin McCarthy:

“The buck$ stop here!”

• Election season is the reason- let’s make this an issue for the ’08 elections!
• Everyday Iowans demand a VOICE in the policies that affect us.
• We will not go away until our voices are heard by our elected officials!
• CCI members know our strength comes from working together. Join us for this training on building power by going door to door!

Voter Owned Iowa Clean Elections (VOICE) would reduce the influence of big money in our political system. More candidates can run for office and spend more time listening to their constituents, not big business. It’s working in other states, and it can work here too!

Join us:

What: Canvassing Training & Door Knocking

in Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s district

When: Monday, September 22

4:30p.m.-7:30p.m. (with refreshments)

Where: Iowa CCI Office

2005 Forest Ave, Des Moines

Questions/ RSVP:

Contact Matthew or Adam at iowacci@iowacci.org

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