Here's an e-mail I recently sent to the folks at MoveOn.org/petitions. On a very preliminary basis, it crudely outlines a petition I would like to be able to support. However, as I state below, I know that I have the wrong background to refine and initiate this petition. This should probably belong in the realm of someone whose background is in political science and government. Someone who understands political realities and possibilities far better than I do. Someone who knows who this petition should be addressed to, what form of legislation (or constitutional amendment?) it should strive to bring about, and which politicians would be likely to support such a petition (to the Senate, to the House, or to the President?) In any event, I'm sure the snarling cynics that occasionally haunt this website will proclaim any such attempt to revise our current laws dead on arrival. But if you're up to that kind of challenge, and if this type of political activism appeals to you, and if you have the required background, then I heartily encourage you to take up the banner and see if you can create a much improved version of the petition I describe below:
MY E-MAIL TO MOVEON.ORG:
I have an idea for a petition, but, knowing my own limitations, I know that I am probably NOT the person to be initiating it. I'm definitely NOT a "people" person - I've spent most of my life in technical fields, and have very little experience in dealing with the public - definitely not a public speaker. But I do have lots of time on my hands - I'm a 67 year old retired computer programmer now living here in Alamosa, Colorado.
I would like to see the law of the land state that the ONLY contributors to ANY person running for political office are INDIVIDUAL CITIZENS - no corporations, no unions, no PACs, no religious groups, NO GROUPS OR ORGANIZATIONS OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER. And I would like that law to restrict even individual citizens from contributing anything more than what most politicians would consider a ridiculously small amount - $100 per individual citizen to any particular politician's campaign.
This law would require an even more radical law - one requiring every level of state and federal government that has elected officials to negotiate with radio and TV media at that level to determine a fair amount of free campaign advertising to be allocated for each political candidate. Since the airwaves are publicly owned, and only leased to the radio and TV broadcasters, they should be able to be coerced into providing a small amount of free air time to each political candidate, so long as the amount of time is fairly allocated and negotiated so that it would not bankrupt the broadcasters.
Of course, this would start a firestorm from both the broadcasters, and the politicians. The broadcasters would argue that ANY amount of free broadcasting would put them out of business - and just like the auto manufacturers who argued that requiring seat belts would ruin them, the arguments would prove to be without merit. And the politicians would howl that they would NEVER be able to conduct their campaigns without their usual dose of millions of dollars for radio and TV time to get their message out. Again, once the politicians came to realize that this law would FREE them from having to spend all their time fund raising, these arguments would also prove to be without merit. Politicians WOULD need to adapt by focusing on selling their political viewpoints to INDIVIDUAL VOTERS, rather than wealthy corporate interests.
So that summarizes my idea for a petition, but I have no idea how the petition should be worded, or even who it should be addressed to.
If you are unable to respond to my e-mail with any of the advice I need, perhaps you will know of some individual who is more qualified than I to start a petition and who might be willing to take on such a project. If that is the case, please forward this e-mail to them, and I will be happy to support them.
Thank you very much for your consideration,
Daniel M. McKee
