Press Releases
Alec Baldwin joins fight for campaign finance reform
Washington, DC,
April 7, 2011
The actor appears at a press conference to announce Congresswoman Chellie Pingree's bill to adopt a Maine-style clean elections system at federal level Congresswoman Chellie Pingree is continuing the fight to reform our current campaign finance system by introducing a bill this week that would create a system of public financing for Congressional campaigns, similar to one already in place in Maine. Pingree announced the bill yesterday at a press conference with Congressman John Larson (D-CT) and Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL). Actor Alec Baldwin also spoke at the press conference. "The American people deserve a better government than they are getting," Congresswoman Pingree said. "The big banks and drug companies have way too much influence in Washington. If they want to invest in our government, let them pay their fair share of taxes rather than paying for politicians who'll write them special tax breaks. It's time to get corporate money out of politics and put elections back in the hands of ordinary Americans." "If cash is speech, the person with the most cash speaks the loudest and that's the problem. It winds up giving some people a very unfair advantage," Baldwin said. The Fair Elections Now Act, which would create a voluntary system limiting Congressional campaign contributions to $100, emphasizes grassroots support and bring campaign finance reform into the 21st Century. Congresswoman Pingree said the current system of campaign contributions makes it harder to make big changes in policy because of the influence of contributions from entrenched special interests. "It is completely unacceptable to the public. And it changes the way we spend our time," Pingree said. "Today, we should be spending our time thinking about people who have lost their jobs, lost their health insurance or lost their homes– and not about where the next campaign contribution is going to come from." |