How bad does a legislative agenda have to be to require an unrelenting subversion of the democratic process? Take a look around. It took a lot of effort to create the chaos and divisiveness we now see in our country. This is the result of active subversion of our democracy.
Over the last 50 years, offspring of the John Birch society and inheritors of affluence have been executing on a well-funded plan to do just that, to secure and expand their wealth. Gerrymandered voting districts, voter roll purges, polling place intimidation, stacking the courts, disparaging of the press and public intimidation of regular working Americans– are only possible because of the undue influence of money in our democratic process. Some citizens have decided their will is more important than the general welfare of the rest of the country, and they have the resources to hire legislators to push agendas that benefit only them. They have the funds for institutions to create and distribute false narratives. They have the wealth to deluge our homes with propaganda all year long– all this activity is judicially protected and made anonymous by the Citizens United decision.
Proposition A in Missouri is a great example of a campaign executed by a handful of wealthy individuals, and promoted by complicit legislators pressing for an action to forever limit the influence of organized labor. For that to work, they have to pit us against each other, and that’s exactly what their collateral promotes. For more on this, check Tony Messenger’s piece in the Post Dispatch. What kind of democracy do we have if we stand by and let this continue to happen?
It is time to fix our democracy, and a coalition of progressive groups have taken the first step. Fix Democracy Now is a coordinated campaign to encourage candidates running at every level of elected office to campaign on their plans to create a democracy that works for all of us. We need a new generation of leaders who will be responsive to the needs of their constituents, not just their donors. We need to protect the right to vote across the country for all Americans, and permanently end redistricting practices that subvert the will of the people.
We have two elections coming; in August and November, and may have the opportunity to change the trajectory of our country. Watch your candidates, quiz them if you can, to see how they stand on this initiative. These should be top campaign issues that are discussed loudly and in the open air.
Isn’t it time to fix our democracy now?
— Mark Toenjes, WCD member