In The News
In a written statement, Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md) praised the president on his plea for religious tolerance.
“As Americans, religious freedom is baked into our DNA,” he said. “The finer moments of our history are those where we have stood up to bigotry and prejudice. In that spirit, we must seize every opportunity to celebrate the contributions that proud and diverse communities — like Maryland’s Muslim community — bring to our broader society.”
Our third and final panel explained why the time for reform is now. John Sarbanes, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-MD) argued that fixes are in political reach. He explains, “If we can build on the way people feel about [what] they’re passionate on and lead them that way to this need for reform, then we’re going to build the kind of broad, deep coalition that will achieve success ultimately.”
Those of us who cherish the First Amendment often argue that the best antidote to offensive speech is not a ban or regulation, but simply more speech. A similar logic supports a bill in Congress that would rebalance the grotesque influence of big money in political campaigns by giving a louder voice to small donors. “We’re not restricting anyone’s speech,” said US Representative John Sarbanes of Maryland, sponsor of the bill. ‘‘We’re adding speech.”
In a campaign year when a few dozen deep-pocketed plutocrats dominate the public discourse, it’s heartening to know that someone is trying to design a system where ordinary voters can be heard — and without running afoul of the Supreme Court’s decree that money is a form of speech and therefore can’t be restricted. On the sixth anniversary of the Court’s Citizens United decision, the gusher of campaign cash is unabating. And yet, less than half of one percent of the country’s population contributes even $200 to political campaigns. Short of a constitutional amendment, fixing that will take creativity.
Last week, over 100 experts from across the U.S. came together at the Brookings Institution on the sixth anniversary of the Citizens United decision to analyze its disastrous consequences and how to repair them. The room was as diverse as it was packed. Two dozen current and former members of Congress, representatives of the executive and judicial branches, both state and federal, attended. They sat side-by-side with business leaders and lobbyists, activists and scholars. Conservatives and Tea Party leaders mingled with liberals and progressives. All were united by their agreement that the current system is broken—and their determination to fix it….
… Third, and perhaps the most important takeaway from the event, was that those fixes are in political reach. Expert after expert, all from vastly different backgrounds and political orientations, argued that we are much closer to achieving these solutions than we think. The entire program was evidence of that—the size, diversity, and passion of the attendees mirroring a nation of voters who are demanding their representatives do what’s necessary to fix our broken campaign finance system. In the concluding panel, Congressman John Sarbanes predicted, “I think the public is going to demand this. That’s why the time is now. The broad public has arrived at a moment where they are demanding a response to the way they feel. If they don’t get it from some of the solutions we’re proposing, because we don’t educate them that those solutions are there, they’re going to grab a pitchfork and they’re going to go somewhere else. But there’s plenty of evidence that the public will not be denied some remedy to the way they feel.”
Maryland Reps. Elijah E. Cummings and John Sarbanes said during Thursday's news conference that it would be hard to dismantle the law and take away health coverage from millions of people across the country. The Democrats continued to encourage people to enroll.
A Democrat, Sarbanes has convinced the majority of his caucus to support his Government By the People Act, a bill that would institute a public financing system for federal candidates and would amplify small donations with matching federal funds.
Sarbanes says that since the 2010 ruling, which unleashed a new rash of outside spending, big money’s presence is palpable on Capitol Hill. “There’s a heightened feeling among members of Congress that you’re moving around inside a system that is overwhelmed with money,” Sarbanes told the Prospect, “and that it’s distortive of the way politics and policy gets made in Washington."
To undo the damage that Citizens United caused, we need a constitutional amendment establishing that Congress and the states have the power to regulate and limit election spending. Doing so will overturn Citizens United, and end the backwards notion that “money equals speech” in our society. We also need to enact strong campaign finance reform to empower all voices to have a say in our society. For the last two Congresses, Rep. John Sarbanes has introduced the Government by the People Act, which would provide every American with a $25 refundable tax credit to help spur small-dollar contributions to candidates; establish a fund to match funds from small-dollar donations if the candidate forgoes traditional PAC money; and provide additional resources for citizen-funded candidates to help break the monopoly that super PACs currently hold.To undo the damage that Citizens United caused, we need a constitutional amendment establishing that Congress and the states have the power to regulate and limit election spending. Doing so will overturn Citizens United, and end the backwards notion that “money equals speech” in our society. We also need to enact strong campaign finance reform to empower all voices to have a say in our society. For the last two Congresses, Rep. John Sarbanes has introduced the Government by the People Act, which would provide every American with a $25 refundable tax credit to help spur small-dollar contributions to candidates; establish a fund to match funds from small-dollar donations if the candidate forgoes traditional PAC money; and provide additional resources for citizen-funded candidates to help break the monopoly that super PACs currently hold.
President Obama’s overhauled federal education law, known as the Every Student Succeeds Act, includes money for environmental education. This is the first time a federal education bill recognizes environmental literacy programs as part of a child’s “well-rounded” education. We explain what this means for Rhode Island….
… Knowlton said the new law’s inclusion of environmental education is the result of a movement known as No Child Left Inside. Sen. Jack Reed and Rep. John Sarbanes of Maryland introduced a bill by that name. Now parts of that bill are included within the new overhauled education law.
Representative John Sarbanes, Democrat of Maryland, who has introduced legislation to finance congressional campaigns with public money, said the order would be part of a “package of solutions” he has discussed with Mr. Obama to contain the influence of corporations in politics and empower ordinary citizens.
“It’s about having a referee there to police the conduct of the big-money players, but also bringing everyday Americans out of the bleachers and out onto the field themselves,” Mr. Sarbanes said.
"Money consistently is standing in the way of progress on any issue you can identify. It is the gateway issue," Sarbanes said, adding that when people realize that, they get interested in something as seemingly arcane as campaign finance reform.
"Over time you start to build a kind of army of people who get the fact that the issues they care about -- they need to stand up and become part of this fight against big money in politics. And that can be a pretty impressive coalition. It can cut across the political spectrum. And I think over time it's an undeniable force in our politics."
Sarbanes has talked about his ideas to Obama, who pledged in his State of the Union speech to push in the last year of his presidency to make politics better and easier for Americans again.
A White House spokesman praised Sarbanes' bill, but declined to say whether it figured in Obama's plans.