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I've spent a lot of time on this blog talking about how we need to end business as usual in Washington. Earlier this week, we got another disheartening reminder of what business as usual has become. Rather than stand up for the voices of the people who define and deliver democracy in this country, the Republicans in Washington resorted to political obstructionism and caved to the special interests, once again. They successfully filibustered the DISCLOSE Act, which is a crucial first step in undoing the damage inflicted by the Citizens United Supreme Court case. It would have allowed us to start closing the door on corporations trying to buy our elections.
You know what? I wasn't surprised by their filibuster. I was expecting it. I'm sure you were too.
But I think everyone here can agree - it is one sorry state of affairs that leads us to expect special interest-funded obstructionism from our public servants.
Sadly, it's the ugly truth of what the Republican Party is doing down in Washington. They are too busy answering to their corporate constituency to stand up for the people they are supposed to represent. Even worse, Kelly Ayotte and the Republicans running up here in New Hampshire are falling in line with them.
During the health care debate, they sided with the health insurance companies that were denying us care and jacking up rates. On Wall Street reform, they sided with the big banks and their wealthy executives who earned billions in bonuses while Main Street suffered. And in the wake of the devastating Gulf spill, they apologized to BP and stood with Big Oil as the spill wreaked havoc on the environment and area residents lost their way of life.
I am sick and tired of Washington Republicans and folks like Kelly Ayotte going out of their way to stand up for the special interests.
In preventing the DISCLOSE Act from even coming to a vote, they made sure they kept a table reserved, front and center, for corporations trying to buy their way into our democratic process.
I believe that's wrong. I believe the people of New Hampshire and this country deserve better than that from their public servants. Now more than ever, we need to stop the untold millions that will be spent by Corporate America, in New Hampshire and in states across the country, as they try to drown out our voices.
That's why I introduced a constitutional amendment named after New Hampshire campaign-finance icon Doris "Granny D" Haddock. The amendment will make absolutely sure that corporations can't pick and choose who we sent to represent us in our nation's capital.
Take a moment to visit my site, read the full constitution amendment, and then sign up as a cosponsor. Help me make sure that Kelly Ayotte and the Republican politicians down Washington get the message - elections belong to the people that decide them, not the special interests trying to buy them.
