Showing posts with label Lawrence Lessig. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lawrence Lessig. Show all posts

Monday, July 27, 2015

MAYDAY.US PAC Gets a New CEO




Lawrence "Larry" Lessig is an American academic and political activist. In May 2014, he launched a crowd-funded political action committee which he termed Mayday.US PAC with the purpose of electing candidates to Congress who would pass campaign finance reform.

Different Election Funding
We are launching a project to recruit Americans across the country to help convince members of Congress to be the leaders they were elected to be – by supporting fundamental reform of the way campaigns are funded.

That sounds like an impossible task. But the solution is actually quite simple.

Right now, members of Congress must raise huge sums of money to win elections. And that requires spending 30–70% of their time raising money from wealthy donors and special interests. The incentives are clear: more money = higher chance of getting elected. And more money comes from pleasing their donors, creating a system of cronyism.

To fix this, we need to change from whom our representatives are raising their money – and with that change, we will change how they raise their money. That change will require legislation – just legislation. A statute, requiring just a majority in Congress to enact it.


I am a member of MAYDAY.US.

He announced today that Zephyr Teachout will be taking over as CEO and Board Chair at MAYDAY.US.

Zephyr is a rising star in our movement who spearheaded a bold campaign against the Democratic establishment in her bid for Governor of New York last year. I first met her when she first entered politics as the director of online organizing for Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign. That campaign showed the world the potential for online organizing. A proven fighter with a spirit that is not afraid, Zephyr will be an extraordinary leader for the organization you helped build.

CLICK HERE to view the 43 nominations to unlocking the majority they need.

CLICK HERE to take part in MAYDAY.US.











NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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Thursday, May 29, 2014

Mayday PAC Thunderclap Campaign




The Mayday PAC is a crowd-funded political action committee in the United States created by Harvard Law School professor and activist Lawrence Lessig to elect candidates to the United States Congress to pass campaign finance reform by 2016.

The MaydayPAC was launched on May 1, with a goal of raising $1 million in 30 days.



They made their match!

The more than $1M, yes I helped them raise, is now over $2M.  Which means the Mayday experiment continues and needs to get much, much bigger.

First, we need your help to launch the second stage of Mayday.



On June 4, they are planning a Thunderclap -- a way for everyone to join together and commit to broadcasting the same message, at the same time, on social media networks.

If enough of us do it, we can make a huge statement for the launch.



Thunderclap doesn't keep any of your personal information, and certainly doesn't keep the list of your friends.  Think of it like a free Super Bowl ad. The potential network effect can be enormous, but it depends on your joining the effort.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Lawrence Lessig's MayDay PAC


Last week, Lawrence Lessig introduced a “Super PAC to end all Super PACs” called MayDay PAC.  They're going after politicians who won't stand against corruption.

The “kickstarter-style" campaign behind MayDay PAC launched just 5 days ago and is already halfway to its goal.  It can succeed if we all support it, so let's push them over the top.

Click the video below, to view Lawrence Lessig explain the plan.


Lawrence Lessig is a Harvard Professor and inspiring anti-corruption leader.  He’s also one of our strongest allies and a co-author of the American Anti-Corruption Act.  Of all the bold ideas this movement has had, this is one of the most audacious and that’s exactly why it just might work.

MayDay PAC has already gotten the attention of major press.

Click MayOne.US to learn more.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Monday, April 2, 2012

One Way Forward

I am reading an e-book called, One Way Forward, The Outsider's Guide to Fixing the Republic, by Lawrence Lessig.

From the Prologue:

I offer these ideas, not as a politician but a citizen, and a committed outsider, who wants a citizen politics to have an important and lasting effect on the Republic.

Money in Politics

In this section he wants to change the source of political funding to be the "People".

1. Public elections must be publicly funded - a system that incentives candidates to raise campaign funds from all of us, in small donations that effectively spreads the influence to all of us. At $50 per voter, this could generate $7 billion each year.

2. Contributions to political campaigns must be encouraged, but optional - This should not be mandated but up to each citizen.

3. Political expenditures separate from a campaign (so called "independent expenditures"), whether by individuals or corporations, should not be banned, but they should be limited - a system where the first x amount of tax revenue paid by each citizen, receives a "democracy voucher". Voters could allocate that voucher, or any part of it, to any candidate who agrees to be funded this way. Unused vouchers could be sent to a party selected by the voucher holder.

When I finish the book I will blog more.









NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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