Democracy Matters teams up with WDC

Democracy Matters Oshkosh will be working closely with the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign's efforts for judicial independence in the state.

The groups' main focus will be on the state supreme court election April 7.  So far, the incumbent has out-raised her challenger about 18 to one.  

To get involved in Oshkosh or the Fox Valley, contact Steve as uwodemocracymatters@gmail.com.

Judge strikes a blow to non-partisan judicial elections

A federal judge in Wisconsin has ruled that judges should be allowed to join political parties and solicit campaign donations from special interest groups.

The decision might accelerate the state’s trend toward nasty, special-interest fueled, nonpartisan-in-name-only judicial campaigns, said Mike McCabe, of the
Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

Read the entire article here

Could this lead to the further politicalization of our judicial branch in WI?

Hintz Office Hours

State Representative Gordon Hintz will be on campus 9:30-11:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 16, in Reeve Union Concourse to serve office hours. Students will have the chance to ask Rep. Hintz about the state of the budget, tuition and any other topic of concern.

This would be a great opportunity for questions and comments about campaign finance reform. Let's let Gordon know that we want him to push for clean elections in Wisconsin!

Voter guide available in Reeve

Our local election voter guide is now available in the Reeve Union concourse. Please take a couple minutes to read up on your local candidates for county executive and city council.

Also, remember to vote in the primary Tuesday, Feb. 17.

County Executive Candidates:
Mark Harris (Inc.)
Jay Schroeder
John Daggett (did not provide contact information)

Oshkosh Common Council Candidates:
Steve Cummings
John Hinz
Jessica King
Richard O'Day
Tony Palmeri
Bob Poeshl
Travis Swanson

Click here to find out where to vote

Congressional pledge signed by D.C. legislators

Every Congressional candidate in 2008 was invited to sign a “Voters First” pledge supporting real change in our “pay-to-play” political system. Over 100 members of the new Congress signed the pledge, committing themselves to making sure that members of congress are accountable to the voters not the funders. The Pledge in part reads:

“If elected, I pledge to make elections fair by supporting a system of public financing for qualified candidates who agree to strict spending limits and take only small donations.”

See the list (find your Rep here!)

Wisconsin Congress members who support clean elections:
Sen. Russ Feingold
Rep. Steve Kagen (D-Appleton)
Rep. Ron Kind (D-LaCrosse)
Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Madison)

Notice that our own rep, Tom Petri, is not on that list.

Next DM Meeting

The next meeting for Democracy Matters will be Wednesday (Feb 11) at 4:30 pm in Reeve Union 213. Hope to see you there!

With some important local elections and the state Supreme Court race coming up, we'll be talking about how money in politics affect different issues.

DM Prez's Letter to the Editor Published

My letter to the editor has been published in the Oshkosh Northwestern! The letter was in response to an editorial (found on the post below) about the issue of campaign finance reform.

http://www.thenorthwestern.com/article/20090206/OSH0603/902060404

As of right now, there have been no comments on the online version by readers, which could mean one of two things:
1) No one is reading it
2) People are reading it, but they agree (they only usually post if they're angry at the content)

Let's hope it's #2!
- Steve