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Best Practices
for Campaign Finance Disclosure in the Digital Age
Welcome to
Sunshine Week, March 13–19, a week-long national and nonpartisan
focus on the importance of open government and freedom of
information. To celebrate, the Institute has just released our
Best Practices for State Campaign-Finance Disclosure, 2010. This
document is an integral part of our diligent work to enhance public
access to state campaign finance information.
When the Institute first began collecting campaign-finance reports
in the 1990s, staff had the unenviable task of first obtaining
copies of paper reports that had been all but forgotten in state
agency basements (no easy task) and then processing those mountains
of paper. Fortunately, those days are mostly in the past; recent
technological advancements have greatly enhanced the public's
ability to access and utilize disclosure data.
The Institute surveyed the 2010 disclosure practices in each of the
50 states and identified the best practices for disclosing
campaign-finance data to the public. You can now see how your state
is doing, and compare it to other states, on
FollowTheMoney.org.
But don’t just look—get busy! The key is to note any shortcomings,
and advocate for changes in your state’s campaign finance disclosure
practices. Change will come only when you demand it.
Don’t forget to check out the related entry in our blog,
The Money Tale.
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Shifting Values Towards an Agenda
Agenda 21 was unveiled in 1992 as a United
Nations blueprint of action to govern every
country in the world. Over the years our
Presidents, State leaders, and County/City
officials have embraced and implemented many
parts of this plan under the name of
“sustainability”. See below for more
information on Agenda 21.
One of the major goals of Agenda 21 is that
our country must shift our values and
beliefs to a new way of thinking about life,
economics, our planet, and more. Some people
call it socialism, some call it communism,
but there is a religious zealousness with
which these new values are being imposed on
all of us; all for the sake of the planet
and a one-ness, interdependent quality of
thinking and living. Gone are our old
fashioned tools of measuring financial
success and failure by the dollar, and all
decision-makers are being forced to consider
the impact of their policies on the wellness
and happiness of the community at large, not
on the merits of the project itself.
In Olympia some of the bills that exemplify
this attempt to shift our values and beliefs
are:
1)
Banning wood stoves and fireplaces in homes
and businesses
HB 2326 &
SB 6102: Protecting air
quality that is impacted by high emitting
solid fuel burning devices.
This bill would severely regulate the use of
wood stoves and fireplaces. No more romantic
evenings in front of your fireplace, no more
Christmas Eve family gatherings in the glow
of the cheery fire. Unless you have no other
source of heat the government will now tell
you when and if you can burn wood in your
own home. You may only use government
approved devices, and behind the scenes
there is discussion on how to “tax” the
smoke as well as offering a bounty to
encourage people to turn in their neighbors.
The
Pierce County the News Tribune had
an article on how that county would
implement this type of law which includes
plans to expand the “burn ban police” and to
use infrared devices to ensure compliance to
the regulations.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/12/09/1939307/tacoma-pierce-county-group-looks.html#storylink=misearch
2)
Creating a new economic structure to fit
Agenda 21 goals
HB 2239 &
SB 6230 – Establishing Social
Purpose Corporations
Currently the success / failure of a
business is measured in terms of dollars. A
business usually exists because there is a
need and the business performs a service to
fulfill that need. The fair market value
represents a compromise between a willing
buyer and seller. One if the final pieces of
the Agenda 21 puzzle is to change those
long-standing assumptions and to create a
new assumption that the purpose of a
business is to serve the common good – as
defined by social justice fairness for all
and less harmful effects on mother earth.
This new “social purpose corporate”
structure is a step towards that change.
Information on Social Purpose
Corporations:
Understanding Social Purpose corporations
from their point of view:
http://www.corporation2020.org/
Article on Social Purpose corporations
http://www.dwt.com/LearningCenter/portalresource/LaVerneWoods_PSBJMay2011
New York Times article on this trend of
corporations
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/13/business/a-quest-for-hybrid-companies-part-money-maker-part-nonprofit.html?pagewanted=all
The new measurement tool – Corporate social
responsibility rankings
http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Case-in-Point/2010/0317/Are-corporate-social-responsibility-rankings-irresponsible
More in depth analysis of the need to
transform corporations
http://gtinitiative.org/documents/PDFFINALS/5Corporations.pdf
The standards on which to judge corporations
– Int’l Organization for Standardization
http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=42546
Example of the rating system
http://www.bcccc.net/pdf/CSRIReport2011.pdf
3)
Using the “litter tax” to fund the Dept of
Ecology’s Americorp program
HB 2260 - Increase penalties for
littering
This bill appears to be stopped for now, but
it is an example of shifting values about
the purpose of meaningful work. The bill
increases fines for illegal dumping and
apportions part of the increase to a
“sustainable” fund for the
Dept of Ecology’s Washington Conservation
Corps. In times of plenty it might
be good to subsidize college age young
adults to go out and make trails and help in
the forest, but these folks also go into
schools to “teach environmentalism.” Just as
businesses provide a product or service to
solve a problem or satisfy a need, good job
creation should be about solving a problem
or satisfying a need and not about creating
a job to satisfy the needs of the
GOVERNMENT. In this case we must remember
that the need of the
Dept of Ecology, according to
their website, is to follow the U.N.
Earth Charter. Dept Ecology
Sustainability webpage -
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/sustainability/
See below for more information on
the Earth Charter.
4)
Adding health to transportation goals
HB 2370 – Including health in state
transportation system policy goals.
Transportation policies should focus
primarily on the movement of goods and
people and flow of vehicles in the most
effective and efficient manner. With the
emphasis on “sustainability” and now health,
the new approach dictates that
transportation decisions must include the
impact on the health and wellness of the
people and the planet. Transportation “cost
/ benefit” analysis are to include the
consideration of how many more children
walked and biked under the policy thereby
decreasing obesity. Air quality and carbon
emissions considerations may have a higher
priority than the movement of goods and
people.
Information on blending health
and transportation decisions:
U.S. Dept of Transportation webpage on
transportation as a public health issue
http://fastlane.dot.gov/2010/07/dot-doing-its-part-to-keep-kids-moving.html
Understanding the “theories of change”
policies guiding the interlinking of health
with transportation and more.
http://depts.washington.edu/waaction/plan/append/a.html
Toolkit to merge transportation and health
http://www.convergencepartnership.org/site/c.fhLOK6PELmF/b.4950415/k.4FF7/Transportation_and_Health_Toolkit.htm
5)
Finally, in the area of education, the
teaching of United Nations doctrines in our
schools
SB 6300 – Encouraging educating students
on …Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Every year it seems that there is one bill
that is introduced to “test” the awareness
and acceptance of the public. One year it
was the carbon tax, one year it was to place
a tax on intangible assets, and this year it
is to teach of United Nation's policies in
schools. JUST SAY NO !!
More
bills can be found at
ResearchMom.Homestead.com
Continue to call TO OPPOSE the
other bills such as
Civil Marriage, Early Learning
and Elections!
LINKS TO CONTACT LEGISLATORS
Legislative Hotline
1-800-562-6000
Information on Agenda 21:
Good websites to find information
http://www.freedomadvocates.org/
http://americanpolicy.org/
http://www.discerningtoday.org/
http://www.democratsagainstunagenda21.com/
Read the Agenda 21 book
http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/agenda21/
Information on The Earth Charter
– the companion to Agenda 21
Read the charter
http://www.earthcharterinaction.org/content/pages/Read-the-Charter.html
Article about the Earth Charter
http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/25233
Essay on the significance of the Earth
Charter in International Law
http://www.earthcharterinaction.org/invent/images/uploads/ENG-Bosselmann.pdf
Maurice Strong and the Earth Charter
http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/NewAge/Earth_Charter_Ark.htm
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