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Letter: Support Penny Rich

Posted on July 16, 2009 by Staff

Penny Rich is participating in Voter Owned Elections not simply because she believes that campaign spending should be reigned in, but because she wants to help put government back into the hands of the public. Voter Owned Elections help to ensure that politicians are accountable to the voters and not to well-funded special interest groups that donate large sums to campaigns. Public campaign financing also ensures that marginalized groups such as women, minorities and low-income citizens who may not have access to special-interest funding or the ability to loan themselves large amounts of money still have an opportunity to participate in the electoral process.

Opponents of Voter Owned Elections point out that fundraising comes with the territory of running for office and that some people are uncomfortable with their tax dollars paying for the campaigns of candidates they do not support. Campaign reform involves questioning such assumptions. Public financing greatly reduces the amount of time candidates spend raising money, allowing them more time for serving the public through direct voter interaction. For candidates who are not independently wealthy or cannot afford to quit their day jobs in order to campaign, this can make running for office an option, and will serve to diversify the pool of candidates. As for the cost, Voter Owned Elections is expected to cost each Chapel Hill resident $1.88 during its first four years, which covers two elections. The 2009 elections will cost each taxpayer 0.94 cents.

As a final note, the citizens of Chapel Hill should remember that Voter Owned Elections was approved overwhelmingly by the Town Council, and is supported by over 30 statewide organizations such as the League of Women Voters, the AARP, the N.C. Association of Educators, and the N.C.
Council of Churches. Over a dozen cities and counties across the country have instituted public campaign financing and report overwhelmingly positive results.

Brooks Rainey Pearson
Campaign Manager
The Campaign to Elect Penny Rich

1 thought on “Letter: Support Penny Rich”

  1. Matt Stempeck says:
    July 17, 2009 at 6:05 am

    Props to Penny Rich! Voter Owned Elections are an incredible investment. For the $1.88 citizens chip in, they’ll save many, many times that with elected officials who owe nothing to campaign contributors, and everything to North Carolina’s voters.

    If you want a small glimpse at the wasted tax dollars at the federal level stemming from private campaign contributions, Google “Medicare Part D.” Or check out this fact sheet: http://bit.ly/govt-waste.

    Matthew Stempeck
    Americans for Campaign Reform

    “Bribery is the way the system works…the whole system is rotten. Money not only determines who is elected, it determines who runs for office. All of us have been corrupted by the process. We are the defenders of an elaborate influence-peddling scheme in which both parties conspire to stay in office by selling the country to the highest bidder.”
    -Senator John McCain

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