Hello! I’m a new member of the Daily Kos staff, in the campaigns department. I’m looking forward to posting a lot more and getting to know this community better. And I first wanted to update you on a petition we recently took part in.
After more than 117,000 people, including tens of thousands from the Daily Kos community, signed a petition demanding President Obama issue an executive order requiring that federal contractors disclose their political spending, the White House has responded.
Sadly, the response is underwhelming to say the least.
Last Friday, the Obama administration released an “initial reply” to the petition, noting that President Obama has also identified money in politics as a major issue and encouraging people to continue to “raise your voices.”
Those are nice words, but what we need is action to start getting money out of politics.
This is exactly the same sort of rhetoric President Obama has used in the past to decry secret money, without backing it up with action.
The White House response includes this past quote from Obama:
“…I can’t do these things on my own. Changes in our political process -- in not just who gets elected but how they get elected -- that will only happen when the American people demand it. It will depend on you.
Well, in this case, he can do it on his own. He can solve this without Congress, and he can do it right now. The people have been demanding it, but his administration asked for us to keep raising our voices.
So let’s do it. Now’s not the time to let up.
Can you share this, or write your own diary about it and share that?
Let’s keep the heat on.