Brazen effort to **undo campaign finance reform** Action needed!!

[JRob]

Received this morning from Common Cause...

Block Rep. Ney's brazen effort to undo campaign finance reform

Congressman Bob Ney (R-OH) has been in the headlines recently because of his ties to scandal-tainted Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Rep. Ney now is working with Reps. Mike Pence (R-IN) and Albert Wynn (D-MD) to push a bill that will make life much easier for Abramoff and lobbyists like him representing everything from tobacco companies and polluting industries to giant media corporations and drug companies. The Ney-Pence-Wynn bill will allow individual donors to give much, much more to influence politics in Washington: up to $3 million to a political party and its federal candidates during one two-year election cycle. Fat cats that hedge their bets and give to both parties can give up to $6 million every two years. That's 60 times what the current law allows.

We need your help to defeat this pro-corruption legislation today. The Ney-Pence-Wynn bill could be on the House Floor as soon as next week. Please call your Member of Congress today and ask them to vote against H.R. 1316, the "527 Fairness Act of 2005." You can find your Member of Congress by going to the following link:

http://www.commoncause.org/siteapps/advocacy/search.aspx?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=196434&auid=960495

The bill, H.R. 1316, is cynically named "The 527 Fairness Act of 2005." The bill is neither about regulating "527" groups nor fairness. Instead, it is a brazen attempt to increase the influence of big money on politics

The Ney-Pence-Wynn bill explodes the limits on contributions from individuals to federal candidates and political parties imposed in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal, when the public discovered that Nixon's fundraisers were getting hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash donations from wealthy donors in secret.

And the bill once more allows the President, Senators, Members of Congress, and all federal candidates to go after this big money, forging once again the connection between huge contributors and key policymakers that had been broken by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act -- a law that we lobbied for so hard and helped to pass in 2002.

So, please call your Member of Congress today and ask them to vote against H.R. 1316, the "527 Fairness Act of 2005:"

http://www.commoncause.org/siteapps/advocacy/search.aspx?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=196434&auid=960495

Right now, an individual can give up to $61,400 to a political party's committees over a two-year election cycle. The Ney-Pence-Wynn bill raises that limit to $1.1 million. Anybody who wants to hedge his bets on which party will be in control, will be able give more than $2 million in total to both parties.

Under current laws, an individual may give up to $4,200 to a Member of Congress, $2,100 for a primary election, and another $2,100 for the general election. And an individual may give, in total, $40,000 to support all federal races. Under the Ney-Pence-Wynn bill, a single donor will be able to give up to $2 million to one party's congressional candidates, and nearly $4 million to both parties' candidates.

Is it any wonder that the New York Times called this bill "shameful?" Indeed, The Times called on voters to "remember the name of any politician who stoops to support this destructive measure."

This is not what democracy is supposed to be about. We should not go back to the bad old days when a few wealthy individuals with special interest agendas bankrolled our elections. We should be doing everything we can to encourage the hundreds of thousands of small donors who gave to both political parties during the 2004 election.

That's why your help is so crucial. Please call your Member of Congress today and ask them to vote against H.R. 1316, the "527 Fairness Act of 2005." Also, please forward this message to your family and friends by going to:

http://www.commoncause.org/siteapps/email/spreadWord.aspx?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=845449&auid=960498

Together we need to let Congress know that our democracy can't afford this step backward to the Watergate era.

Let us know how your calls by going by posting your feedback on our blog at

http://www.commonblog.com/section/Government_accountability?tr=y&auid=960499

Thank you again for all you do for Common Cause.

Sincerely,

Chellie Pingree
President & CEO, Common Cause

[JRob]

1. WTF?