[Peace] want to make government work FOR us?

[Debra Schrishuhn via Peace]

Good morning, All.

January 21 is the fifth anniversary of the disastrous Citizens United
decision that opened the floodgates of private and corporate money on
our political system. Are we better off than we were five years ago?

If you agree that we are not, and that we need to change the way
government works, please reply to this email. I will add your name to
our January Educate Congress letters to our members of Congress. Our
elected officials need to start working for us, not special interests
and huge corporations.

In addition to signing on to our letter, if you can, please join us
for a rally to get money out of politics at the Champaign office of
Rep. Rodney Davis, 2004 Fox Drive, Champaign, at noon on Wednesday,
Jan. 21. Only by conviction coupled with action can we take back our
government and political system.

Please come if you can and bring friends--we cannot let our voices be silenced!

In solidarity,
Debra Schrishuhn
Database Administrator
Central Illinois chapter
Progressive Democrats of America
pdamerica.org

Below are the January letters to Sen. Durbin and Rep. Davis. We will
deliver similar letters to Sen. Kirk and Rep. Shimkus.

To: The Honorable Richard Durbin
From: Constituents of Illinois
January 21, 2015

Dear Senator Durbin:

As active voters in Illinois, we welcome you to the new 114th
Congress. We ask you to join with us celebrating the Martin Luther
King Jr. Holiday by honoring his values and our nation’s founding
principles: That political rights are reserved for We the People—human
beings, not corporations. That all human beings have full and equal
civil rights, and that we must protect their rights. And that we must
favor diplomacy over confrontation and war.

January 21st marks the 5th Anniversary of the infamous Citizens United
decision that opened the floodgates for money to corrupt our political
process. We urge you to cosponsor and support resolutions to enact one
or more constitutional amendments to overturn the wrongly interpreted
doctrines that equate money with speech and corporations with human
beings.

We also thank you for your public opposition to “Fast Track”
procedures, and urge you to encourage your colleagues to vote against
“Fast Track” and any other procedures that short-circuit the
Congressional oversight process for the Trans-Pacific Partnership and
any other multilateral commercial deals. Also, please oppose and vote
against these deals because they place special interests over the
needs of American families. Good deals aren’t hidden from public and
congressional view, and don’t need gimmicks like “Fast Track” to gain
passage.

We further urge you to support diplomacy and oppose any new sanctions
on Iran. We cannot afford another war. Diplomacy with Iran offers the
opportunity to achieve our national security objectives without firing
a shot. We urge you to give these negotiations a chance to succeed.

Finally, we thank you for your support of extending full
constitutional rights to women and to the residents of D.C. Please
continue to osponsor and support a resolution to remove the time limit
from the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA); and to cosponsor and support
the New Columbia Admissions Act (HR 317), legislation to facilitate
the creation of the state of New Columbia, including representation in
the House of Representatives and two Senators.

We thank you for your consideration regarding these critically
important issues, and look forward to ongoing discussion and
engagement with you in the coming months.

-=====================

To: The Honorable Rodney Davis
From: Constituents of IL-13
January 21, 2015

Dear Representative Davis:

As active voters in IL-13, we welcome you to the new 114th Congress.
We ask you to join with us celebrating the Martin Luther King Jr.
holiday by honoring his values and our nation’s founding principles:
That political rights are reserved for We the People—human beings, not
corporations. That all human beings have full and equal civil rights,
and that we must protect their rights. And that we must favor
diplomacy over confrontation and war.

January 21st marks the 5th Anniversary of the infamous Citizens United
decision that opened the floodgates for money to corrupt our political
process. We urge you to cosponsor and support resolutions to enact one
or more constitutional amendments to overturn the wrongly interpreted
doctrines that equate money with speech and corporations with human
beings.

We also urge you to oppose and vote against “Fast Track” and any other
procedures that short-circuit the Congressional oversight process for
the Trans-Pacific Partnership and any other multilateral commercial
deals. Also, we ask you to oppose and vote against these deals because
they place special interests over the needs of American families. Good
deals aren’t hidden from public and congressional view, and don’t need
gimmicks like “Fast Track” to gain passage.

We further urge you to support diplomacy and oppose any new sanctions
on Iran. We cannot afford another war. Diplomacy with Iran offers the
opportunity to achieve our national security objectives without firing
a shot. We urge you to give these negotiations a chance to succeed.

Finally, we urge you to extend full constitutional rights to women and
to the residents of D.C. by: Cosponsoring and supporting a resolution
to remove the time limit from the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA); and by
cosponsoring and supporting the New Columbia Admissions Act (HR 317),
legislation to facilitate the creation of the state of New Columbia,
including representation in the House of Representatives and two
Senators. Please contact Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton’s D.C. office at
(202) 225-8050 to cosponsor HR 317.

We thank you for your consideration regarding these critically
important issues, and look forward to ongoing discussion and
engagement with you in the coming months.