Project Independence

[commoncva@juno.com (Greg Hayken)]

Greetings Debators,
	As a former receipient of the CEDA and NDT postings,
I thought that many of you might be interested in a nationwide
project to reform campaign finance laws called Project
Independence.  Project Independence is a historic nation-wide
grassroots effort to collect 1,776,000 signatures of people in
favor of campaign finance reform to present to the President
and Congress on July 4th.  The project is run by Common Cause
and Campaign for America.  If you like what you read, please
email the requested information to commoncva@juno.com, and
forward the message to others who may be interested.

Thank you,
Greg Hayken
VA Coordinator


JOIN PROJECT INDEPENDENCE
	"We, the undersigned, in order to reclaim our democracy,
demand that Congress declare independence from influence of
special-interest money by passing effective bipartisan campaign
finance reform by the Fourth of July. - The bipartisan McCain-
Feingold bill, currently pending in Congress, provides the
framework for effective campaign finance reform."


Many of the scandals of presidential and congressional
elections, the 1996 election in particular, had to do with the
huge soft money contributions of wealthy individuals and special
interests.  This is not a recent phenomena, but a developing
problem.  As a result, campaign spending has skyrocketed to the
point where the average Senate candidate in 1996 spent nearly $4
million.  Our campaigns have turned into races of who can raise
the most money, forcing candidates to have no choice but to look
to special interest groups.  By reforming campaign finance laws,
it will be possible for more qualified candidates to run for
office without having to raise millions of dollars or bow to
special interest groups.  By providing candidates with free and
low cost TV and radio time, candidates can target the voters
interests instead of the big money suppliers.

Project independence is a response to the President and
Congress' belief that there is no groundswell for campaign
finance reform.  The goal is to collect 1,776,000 signatures
nationwide by July 4, 1997.

After we reach our goal, Congress will vote on the McCain-
Feingold Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act which seeks to restrict
special interest money in campaigns, restrain spending in senate
elections, restrict out of-state contributions, and provide
campaign resources to qualified candidates.

The petition is not a legally binding document, but it is a way
for people to join their voice together to demand action on real
campign finance reform.

If any of you are interested in signing the petition, please send
your name, address (optional), city, state, and zip to
commoncva@juno.com.  If you would like more information, please
check us out on the web: www.commoncause.org

Thank you,
Greg


P.S. If you know of anyone else that would be interested
in supporting campaign finance reform, please forward this to them.

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