AOC and other new House progressives are tweeting their dissatisfaction with orientation at Harvard

[Hortensis]

101. :) Same right back. Here's a reminder for anyone

around of why we need the Democratic Party to be successful. This statement is carefully nonpartisan but, like healthcare reform, this is strictly a Democratic Party commitment and the Republicans will fight almost all the bills in this package tooth and nail.

CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS STATEMENT: House’s Democracy Reform Package Offers Once-in-a-Generation Opportunity to Curb Culture of Corruption

Today, U.S. House of Representatives leadership and newly elected members of Congress announced the framework for the democracy reform bill that will become H.R. 1 in the new Congress.

The historic legislative package contains bold solutions to reduce big money and dark money in politics; impose stronger ethics restrictions on public officials; and strengthen voting rights to empower American voters.

The Center for American Progress has long advocated for anti-corruption policies and has been a leading member of the Declaration for American Democracy, a diverse coalition of more than 100 organizations representing millions of Americans, that is demanding strong, clear solutions to make our democracy more representative of everyday Americans.

Following the announcement of the bill, Michael Sozan, senior fellow at CAP, released the following statement:

Voters sent an unmistakable message in the November midterm elections: The culture of corruption in Washington is out of control and must be fixed. Congress now has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to unrig the system with this comprehensive legislative package. The legislation’s bold solutions represent a giant step forward toward returning power to people, so that the government and the economy work for everybody, not just millionaires and corporations.

As Congress debates this legislation, members must be willing to take bold steps to block the avenues for corruption that rot our government and prevent progress for people, such as the huge hauls of money raised by lobbyists that give corporations improper power over policymaking. Banning lobbyists from fundraising for politicians would help change corrupting incentives and clearly show the American people that their elected representatives work for them.

Those 3 main foci include various bills each. Although reversing Citizens United will take constitutional amendment, we will be able to undermine its power in various ways, including increasing publicly funded elections at both the state and federal levels.

Only 4 of about the 88 or so members of the Democratic Progressive Caucus -- all believers in getting money out of politics -- were able to refuse big donor money in 2016 because most represent lower-income districts that don't donate enough to elect anyone. We can fix that.

Public funding will above all help create clear choices in voters' minds, making it very questionable not to be publicly funded. We also plan to require disclosure of "dark" money donations, who and how much. And, of course, we're going to close the hole the Republicans wrote making it legal for their PACs to take money from foreign powers.

Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.