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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.<br>
<br>
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<font face="Alaska" size="4">Dan Meek</font><br>
<font size="2">503-293-9021 phone<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:dan@meek.net">dan@meek.net</a>
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<br>
<br>
<b>What happened in 2010? Politics, corporations, and the state of
our democracy.</b><br>
Wednesday, November 10th ‐ 6pm<br>
Knight Law School Room 175<br>
Eugene, Oregon<br>
<br>
This will be a panel discussion of UO Professors of Political
Science and Sociology and Oregon political activists.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
Panel includes:<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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<br>
movement and its financiers.<br>
<br>
Tim Hermach: President and Founder of the Native Forest Council,
national advocate for the preservation of public lands.<br>
<br>
Lloyd Marbet: Environmental activist in Oregon for 35 years.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
Thank you for your support in discussing these important issues. We
hope you will join us.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
For more information please contact us:<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:julienh@uoregon.edu">julienh@uoregon.edu</a>, <a
class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:jwest@uoregon.edu">jwest@uoregon.edu</a>,
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:samantha@oregonfairtrade.org">samantha@oregonfairtrade.org</a>,
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:mmonsour@uoregon.ed">mmonsour@uoregon.ed</a><br>
<br>
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