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SAN FRANCISCO — You can tell who sponsors NASCAR drivers by the patches on their jumpsuits. So why not do the same for politicians?
That’s the idea behind California entrepreneur John Cox’s proposed 2016 ballot initiative, which would require state legislators to wear the logos of their top 10 campaign contributors on their clothing when they advocate for policies on the Senate or Assembly floor.
He kicked off his campaign, “California Is Not for Sale,” this month with press events displaying life-size cardboard cutouts of all 120 members of the state Legislature, each adorned with logos from corporations such as Chevron and unions including the California Teachers Association.
Mr. Cox said he wants to “call attention to a problem,” namely that “our elected leaders are controlled by their funders.” In other words, this isn’t a stunt.
“This is a very serious initiative. This is not a joke,” said Mr. Cox. “If you came down from Mars and you looked at our electoral system, you’d say to yourself, ‘How dumb is this?’ You’ve got a system under which people who want something from government fund the campaigns of the people who make the decisions. How stupid is that system?”
The proposal would give the California Fair Political Practices Commission the authority to decide which 10 donor logos would decorate the suits of legislators. The logos also would appear in their advertisements.
“I frankly wish that every legislator who walks into that chamber would have a clean suit on,” Mr. Cox said.
His group plans to begin gathering signatures, using paid circulators and volunteers, in January, and he is confident that the idea will draw enough signatures to qualify for the general election ballot.
At his launch events, he said, “we had people coming up and asking if they could sign a petition.’
“It didn’t matter if they were liberal or conservative or no party. The public gets it, the public understands who controls the political system in this country.”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news...rnia-entrepreneur-proposes-donor-lo/?page=all
That’s the idea behind California entrepreneur John Cox’s proposed 2016 ballot initiative, which would require state legislators to wear the logos of their top 10 campaign contributors on their clothing when they advocate for policies on the Senate or Assembly floor.
He kicked off his campaign, “California Is Not for Sale,” this month with press events displaying life-size cardboard cutouts of all 120 members of the state Legislature, each adorned with logos from corporations such as Chevron and unions including the California Teachers Association.
Mr. Cox said he wants to “call attention to a problem,” namely that “our elected leaders are controlled by their funders.” In other words, this isn’t a stunt.
“This is a very serious initiative. This is not a joke,” said Mr. Cox. “If you came down from Mars and you looked at our electoral system, you’d say to yourself, ‘How dumb is this?’ You’ve got a system under which people who want something from government fund the campaigns of the people who make the decisions. How stupid is that system?”
The proposal would give the California Fair Political Practices Commission the authority to decide which 10 donor logos would decorate the suits of legislators. The logos also would appear in their advertisements.
“I frankly wish that every legislator who walks into that chamber would have a clean suit on,” Mr. Cox said.
His group plans to begin gathering signatures, using paid circulators and volunteers, in January, and he is confident that the idea will draw enough signatures to qualify for the general election ballot.
At his launch events, he said, “we had people coming up and asking if they could sign a petition.’
“It didn’t matter if they were liberal or conservative or no party. The public gets it, the public understands who controls the political system in this country.”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news...rnia-entrepreneur-proposes-donor-lo/?page=all
