Lawrence Lessig's Mayday PAC Meets Its $1M Goal In Thirteen Days

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Wednesday May 14, 2014 · 5:31 PM PDT

2014/05/14 · 17:31

Following on the heels of his March To End Corruption, Lawrence Lessig, director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University, Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, and political activist with a bullet, recently kicked off the Mayday PAC (AKA May One). The Mayday PAC launched as an experiment to create "…a citizens' funded and crowdsourced superPAC — to end all superPACs."

The Mayday PAC/May One website pitch goes: "Help U.S. kickstart fundamental reform, by reducing the influence of money in politics."

Government has failed us. More than 90% of Americans link that failure to the influence of money in politics.
Yet the politicians ignore this influence. While America founders, they spend endless time with their funders.

These funders hold our democracy hostage. We want to pay the ransom, and get it back.

We're going to kickstart a SuperPAC big enough to make it possible to win a Congress committed to fundamental reform by 2016.

Or at least we're going to try.

Well, they came, they tried, they did.

With 18 days remaining in their first fundraising month, they have achieved and surpassed their $1M initial target. As I write at 7:45 PM EST, the PAC is now 101% funded at $1,015,249!! And growing.

UPDATE: 9:22 - $1,018,074!!

So the new call is to Keep It Going! Spread The Word!

2014

In 2014, we want to make fundamental reform the issue in 5 congressional races.

From that, we'll have a better sense of what victory in 2016 will take. And we'll put Congress on notice that in 2016, we'll be back.
So for 2014, we have two fundraising targets:

The first is $1 million by the end of May. If we meet that goal, that $1 million will be matched, and we'll move to the second target.

That second target is $5 million by the end of June. If we meet that goal, that $5 million will also be matched, and our fundraising for 2014 will end.

We will then have the funds we need to hire the best campaign shops we can to use 100% of these kickstarted funds to win in these 5 districts.

2016

Over the past year, we have been calculating what it would cost to win a Congress committed to fundamental reform by 2016. We have a good sense of the range, and of which seats would need to change.
Our experience in 2014 will give us a better sense. And based on what we learn, we will decide whether this moonshot is feasible.

If it is, in January 2015, then we will launch the second round of the Mayday PAC, crowdfunding small-dollar contributions to fund a superPAC big enough to win a majority in Congress in 2016 committed to fundamental reform.

Based on what we know now, we believe this moonshot is possible. Based on what we achieve in 2014, others will believe it as well.

Yesterday I posted a related diary that mentions the Mayday PAC and two more projects to get money out of elections: 99Rise's March for Democracy and Wolf PAC.

These two efforts are aimed at petitioning states to call for an Article V Constitutional Convention to produce and Amendment to get money out of politics.

In closing, consider this:

Near the turn of the 20th century the states wanted a direct election of senators, and Nebraska was the first state to call for an Article V. Convention in 1893. By 1913 the movement had come within one state of reaching the necessary 2/3 threshold that would force a convention. When it became clear to Congress that the 17th Amendment was going to happen one way or another they decided to preempt a convention by passing it themselves. The threat of a convention is the strongest message we can send and the most effective way to restore our democracy in the United States. This can and must be done in a far shorter time period then it took for the 17th Amendment, then again, they didn't have the power of the internet and other technology we will be using in this battle.

And now please consider contributing, if you can, to Mayday PAC, March for Democracy, and Wolf PAC.

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Lawrence Lessig's Mayday PAC Meets Its $1M Goal In Thirteen Days

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