Greetings to you, our Change Congress community. You’ve not heard my voice on our blog as of yet, I am the Executive Director for Change Congress and no doubt you will be hearing more from me. I have an invitation for all qualified candidates. Please read below and reply if you’re serious and you meet all specifications. We are located in downtown San Francisco.
Duties:
Drive people to the C-C web site and keep the community engaged in our process.
Find and implement the latest organizing technology and tools for the growing Change Congress community.
With use of cutting edge technology, empower our community to make the greatest impact for our cause.
Work with developers and political director to build new organizing technology to support the Change Congress community.
Present monthly updates to staff highlighting options for organizing technology we could utilize for future strategy building.
Proactive thinker and team player
Job Description:
Direct and design the technical framework for our website.
Blog on website and engage with community; keep the community excited about C-C work.
Anticipate and design new tools for community to use and engage in as necessary/needed.
Engage with other bloggers.
Work with technical team to ensure site is built and updated, and tools are being used.
Work in conjunction with Political Director to drive messages to community.
Requirements:
Software product management experience a plus.
History of political blogging experience a big plus.
Previously worked on successful technical project.
Please, only qualified serious candidates need apply. Submit your resume to admin@change-congress.org. Include 2-3 paragraphs in a cover letter along with your resume telling us why you feel you would be perfect for this position with this organization at this moment in time. Salary is commensurate based on experience. Please no phone calls.
I've known about Lawrence Lessig for a total of 2 months…so not so long compared to most of you. You might also say that I am new to this whole world…the blogging world and the world of technology. Given this is my second post ever.
Before I joined Change Congress (C-C), I was clear about how I wanted to spend the next decade of my life, I wanted to find someone with "BIG IDEAS" and help to make them happen. And like all of us, I wanted this next decade to define my "foot print" (not carbon) of contribution to this world. I think it is safe to say…I really had no idea what I was getting into.
Now that it's been a couple of months as the new Executive Director to Lawrence Lessig's new movement, I don't feel as shy to share my voice with the C-C community. And…to take a moment to brag about my new boss, because to me, he is new and he is taking on the boldest idea yet, reforming our Congress. I invite you to take a look at his latest speech given in Minneapolis at the National Conference on Media Reform.
Last night on a warm, summer Peninsula evening, supporters gathered at the Stanford Law School courtyard to pay tribute to Lawrence Lessig and the movement created under his leadership, Creative Commons. While Lessig will remain on the board of Creative Commons, he will shift his focus to Change Congress and our fight to end government corruption.
Lessig thanked the leadership, particularly Chairman of the Board James Boyle and CEO Joi Ito, as well as supporters, for allowing him to move on to this project. Boyle delivered a satirical speech in Lessig's signature style. Amid the roasting and the toasting one thing became clear—the baton has been passed.
At the event last night, Boyle said that when he and Lessig started Creative Commons, he told Lessig that the task of reforming copyright worldwide was impossible. Six years later, Creative Commons is a thriving organization that continues to achieve its goals. Change Congress has an even more difficult task to accomplish.
As the Executive Director for Change Congress, I got a strong visceral sense of what we need to create in order for Change Congress to "…end corruption in the next 10 years, or at least put a huge dent in it…" (as Lessig put it). Because in 10 years, we may be passing the baton to another one of Lessig's ideas. Here is one thing I am clear about from last night – the 'we' part of Change Congress is poised to grow.
Now, with the ceremonious blessings from Creative Commons for Professor Lessig to turn his focus on ending corruption, there is excitement among the handful of Change Congress staff and volunteers that were present that night. The task ahead will be hard work, many hours, fun and challenging all at the same time. And it is clear WE need to grow.
Join now and look for us at the upcoming Personal Democracy Forum in New York this June 23 and 24.
Groups from both the left and right gathered to share ideas, network and move closer towards bridging the divide of politics and technology. One highlight was a Skype visit from Elizabeth Edwards (yes she uses Skype) who was later joined (unplanned) by her husband Senator John Edwards (video here). She spoke candidly about her insights and experience as a an avid user and blogger in the political reform technology movement.
Lawrence Lessig also gave a presentation. Here’s a short interview with Lawrence as he discusses Change Congress’s goals, the upcoming presidential election, and how we can begin embedding a government we can all trust again.
The good people at CCMC have been working to ensure the passage of AB 583, the California Clean Money and Fair Elections Act (Hancock, D-East Bay.) They had some good news on Friday when the bill was voted out of the State Senate Appropriations Committee on a 9-6 vote. Here are excerpts from a recent Press Release. Congratulations!
AB 583 would establish a voluntary full public financing system for Secretary of State candidates modeled after the systems that have been working in Arizona and Maine for eight years. AB 583 has now been amended to be funded by voluntary contributions designated on state tax returns and by a registration fee of $350 a year on lobbyists, lobbying firms, and lobbyist employers, the same as in Illinois. Currently lobbyists only pay $25 every two years in California, one of the lowest rates in the country.
Connecticut’s legislature passed a Clean Money bill in 2006 that is so popular that 215 out of 225 candidates have indicated they will use it. Arizona and Maine started public-financing state elections 8 years ago. North Carolina, New Mexico, and New Jersey all have Clean Money pilot programs.
Speaking after the Committee vote, Assemblymember Hancock said, “It has been a long and hard road, but I am deeply pleased that AB 583 is now moving to the Senate Floor. This reform is a critical step to helping restore the voters’ confidence in government and I trust that the rest of my colleagues in the Senate will recognize its necessity.”
“Secretary of State candidates, like all other candidates, have to spend huge amounts of time raising money for their campaigns from private contributors,” said Julie Rajan, Executive Director of the California Clean Money Campaign, the sponsor of the bill. “Californians would have more faith in their government if candidates could instead spend more time reaching out to voters and discussing issues that matter to them.”
AB 583 is supported by a wide range of organizations, from good government groups like the League of Women Voters of California, California Common Cause, and CALPIRG to groups representing diverse Californian interests such as Sierra Club California, the Consumer Federation of California, the Equal Justice Society, the California Nurses Association, and Gray Panthers California. Over 80 regular voters from as far as Orange County drove to Sacramento testify at the hearing on Monday.
UPDATE: The event has sold out. We are looking into streaming the presentation as a live podcast.
This Wednesday, August 13 Lawrence Lessig will address an audience at the Commonwealth Club in Silicon Valley. Click here for details and tickets.
In case you can’t make the speech, it will be broadcast on KQED Public Radio at a later date, stay tuned to the blog posts for details of that broadcast.
Our Political Director, Japhet Els, is on the ground in Denver at DNC08 running a campaign to ensure once and for all that there is no corporate influence in the Democratic Party and they can truly stand unified as a part of the people.
Barack Obama, pledged not to take corporate lobby and PAC money. Not only has the Obama campaign refused money from lobbyists, they've checked records to be sure and in April of '07 returned over $50,000 in contributions tied to lobbyists. Chairman Howard Dean and the DNC followed suit by taking the same pledge.
In contrast, Senator Chuck Schumer of the DSCC and Representative Charles Van Hollen of the DCCC have stood silent and taken millions of dollars for their own Congressional and Senatorial Committees from corporate lobbyists and PAC’s. This is creating a schism in the Democratic Party that must be bridged immediately.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has raised upwards of $109 million in 2008. This is almost $30 million more than what its Republican counterpart, the RNCC has raised. You can see for yourself where this money comes from.
Please join me in welcoming Stephanie Taylor to our Change Congress team. Stephanie's primary role will be to build the Change Congress netroots community and manage our online web presence.
She comes to Change Congress with many years of experience as an activist and organizer. She started as a field organizer for a number of years for SEIU 1199 in Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky, helping nurses and other health-care workers form unions and negotiate contracts. Later, she began working as an online organizing for the AFL-CIO, the DNC, MoveOn and most recently at SEIU, where she designed and implemented the first New Media Department in the history of the union.
Stephanie believes the Internet is making us a more democratic society, by shifting power away from moneyed elites into the hands of ordinary citizens. She feels that Change Congress is an important part of that movement, and is happy to be offering her skills towards its success.
Stephanie will be based in Washington, DC working closely with our Political Director Japhet Els and the rest of our Change Congress team based in San Francisco. No doubt, you will be hearing from Stephanie in the coming months -- we have plans to launch more campaigns designed to shine light on government corruption and put an end to the distorted ways Congress uses and views money.
The Sunlight Foundation
launched a campaign earlier this year to encourage members of Congress to change their rules around internet use and include the ability to “Tweet.”
Twitter,
a way to inform people in 140 characters or less of an important topic or event taking place in real time, is now being used by our members of Congress. This gives you the ability to track what your Congressperson is doing at any given moment. This is your chance to hold Congress accountable! To find out which members of Congress are “tweeting” you can upload the widget here.
My interest has been peaked of late. What is the fate of publicly funded campaigns given the "Obama phenomenon?" A recent NPR article Did Obama Kill Public Campaign Finance? asks the question, "Is something rotten in the state of public financing for presidential campaigns?"
The article continues:
Sen. John McCain, one of the most vocal proponents of campaign finance reform, is being hoisted by his own petard by choosing to accept federal funding for his general election campaign. Meanwhile, Sen. Barack Obama, the choice of the Democratic Party — the very party that cried out for finance reform in the wake of the Watergate scandal — has chosen to bypass public funds and, as a result, is pummeling McCain in the fundraising arena.
Irony alert: The Republican standard-bearer is using federal grants, while the Democrat extols the free-market virtues of individual campaign donations.
One could argue that Obama's campaign is 'publicly funded,' after all, he and the DNC have forgone Lobby and PAC money and the majority of his campaign contributions come from small donations made by lots of people. However, the "Obama phenomenon" does not take into account an average person seeking office. This is where public funding would level the playing field so that ordinary citizens could run for office. Obama's 'star quality' and fund raising ability, plus the current political climate, cloud the argument for killing public funding.
McCain opted in to public funds, thus agreeing to cap out at $84 million for his campaign. The RNC supplements his allocated funds by raising money and they do take Lobby and PAC money. Neither candidate, in my opinion, represents 'clean money.'
No matter which candidate wins the White House, both will be faced with determining the fate of public campaign financing, in fact, both have an obligation. At Change Congress, we would also argue that the issue needs to go beyond Presidential and on to Congressional elections -- a more difficult battle.
A smart conversation took place on KQED's Forum with Scott Shafer. I encourage you all to have listen and weigh in on the conversation through our comments section. Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics is on the panel and directs people to the OpenSecrets site so you can follow the money yourself. You can listen in below:
It's official: Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich has defeated convicted felon and long-time Senator Ted Stevens for Alaska's other Senate seat, making him the next Junior Senator from Alaska.
With this victory, Democrat Mark Begich has defeated one of the giants in the U.S. Senate by a 3,724-vote margin, a stunning end to a 40-year Senate career marred by Stevens' conviction on corruption charges a week before the election.
A real victory in the fight towards ending corruption in Congress! Thank you good people of Alaska.
