[CFR-Announce] U of O Public Seminar Tonight to Discuss Campaign Finance Reform

Dan Meek dan at meek.net
Wed Nov 10 07:32:15 CST 2010


Proponents of campaign finance reform may want to attend this public 
seminar this evening at the University of Oregon Law School.  It 
includes a presentation by me.

Dan Meek
503-293-9021 phone
dan at meek.net



*What happened in 2010? Politics, corporations, and the state of our 
democracy.*
Wednesday, November 10th - 6pm
Knight Law School Room 175
Eugene, Oregon

This will be a panel discussion of UO Professors of Political Science 
and Sociology and Oregon political activists.

The year began in January with the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens 
United allowing unlimited corporate spending to influence elections. The 
Center for Responsive Politics has predicted that $3.7 billion will be 
spent in this election cycle; a continuation of the trend of rapidly 
rising campaign costs. Increasingly the source of this money is unknown, 
as funds are funneled into independent organizations with apolitical 
names. While voters ask for a break from pay-to-play and special 
interest dominated politics, corporate and moneyed interests continue to 
hold enormous power in our democracy. Meanwhile the country remains 
mired in economic recession and political discourse is polarizing, and 
increasingly extreme. It is important at this moment to take a critical 
look at our democracy and ask some hard questions. Is our democracy 
functioning for the demos -- the people? What are the affects and 
outcomes of corporate influence in our political system and society? 
What are solutions to strengthen our democracy? How to separate 
corporate power from political power? To answer these questions, we 
would like to include the following issues in our discussion: 2010 
midterm elections including the Tea Party movement, the Citizens United 
ruling, corporate personhood, campaign finance, and our two-party system.

Panel includes:

Professor Gerald Berk: UO Professor of Political Science: research 
interests include American politics, business regulation, political 
economy, and constitutional studies. Will address corporate personhood 
and Citizens United.

Samantha Chirillo, Organizer of Lane County Fair Trade Campaign and 
Co-Director of Cascadia's Ecosystem Advocates. Will address corporate 
control over our economy, food, forests, and drinking water and what we 
can do about it.

Professor Michael Drieling: UO Professor of Sociology: research 
interests include corporate political action and US trade policy, social 
movements, and network analysis of collective action. Will address 
corporate power and the Tea Party
movement and its financiers.

Tim Hermach: President and Founder of the Native Forest Council, 
national advocate for the preservation of public lands.

Lloyd Marbet:  Environmental activist in Oregon for 35 years.

Dan Meek: Oregon lawyer, founder of two political parties in Oregon and 
advocate of campaign finance reform. Will address campaign finance and 
third party movements.

Thank you for your support in discussing these important issues. We hope 
you will join us.

This event is cosponsored by the UO Survival Center, Students against 
Empire, Lane County Fair Trade Campaign, the Graduate Teaching Fellows 
Federation, as well as support from other local organizations.

For more information please contact us:
julienh at uoregon.edu, jwest at uoregon.edu, samantha at oregonfairtrade.org, 
mmonsour at uoregon.ed

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