We've come a long way in the last two years.  But when it comes to Granny D grit, we're not done yet.

Over 30,000 of combined miles when "Walking the Talk" around New Hampshire.  More than a hundred campaign events where we "Asked the Question."  Speaking to civic groups.   Tabling at rallies.  Our warrant article initiative.  And now that hard work is paying off:  A poll two years ago showed that only 9% of voters though anything could be done about fixing Big Money politics.  Last month, a new poll showed that number had risen to 39%!   

There's no doubt. Your donations helped make this happen. 

Just like the small-donation model we'd like to see for our elections, your $50 and $100 donations help feed and support our walkers, advertise the rallies, and underwrite our organizers.     We couldn't do this without your help.

Now, in the spirit of Granny D, we're planning another audacious event.   We've invited national speakers and presidential candidates to Walk the Talk with us this  February 5-7, 2016.  In a tent. In a city park.  In the dead of winter.    The We the People Convention to Fight Big Money brings in New Hampshire voters, national allies, and the leading voices for reform in the country for one weekend of solidarity and action.   This is our time.   

The We the People Convention kicks off our 2016 election year campaign to Fight Big Money politics.  Will you go the extra mile?

It's the end of the year, but we're in the big push to convince presidential candidates that they need to push reforms when they get to Washington.   That effort doesn't stop after the primary.   We're already talking about our participation in Democracy Spring, a massive action happening in Washington this spring.  

Help us get to $50,000 in small donations by year end.   And get a Walk the Talk NH Rebellion HAT to keep that warm feeling you'll get by donating!

Finally, THANK YOU for all you've done to restore our democracy and make America a better place.   You are truly patriots.   

Thanks, from
The NH Rebellion Team

PS.    You'll need that NHR hat when we march from the We the People Convention in Manchester to the Republican debate on Feb. 6 at St Anselm College in Goffstown.  RSVP today! 

Nashua Area Rebels: 

This coming Monday, Dec. 28, join the NH Rebellion in handing out "million dollar bills" and collecting We the People Pledge signatures at a Trump event in Nashua.   There is likely to be 1,000+ attendees at the rally, so we're leveraging Trump's position against Super PACs and the legislator-to-lobbyist revolving door to get more conservative support.    This is part of our effort to get Fight Big Money pledges from 10,000 NH voters!

MEET at 4:30 P.M.   We'll meet at the Pennachuck Middle School at 4:30 P.M., as near to the entrance as we can.   We're doing our "Hundred Dollar Bill" costumes, and Paul Revere will be there, too.   If you're not in costume, you'll get a NH Rebellion yellow vest, a clipboard, and a stack of million dollar bills to hand out as people go in.    I have two passes, so anyone who wants to go in with me and try to collect signatures inside is welcome.   The doors open at 5 P.M. and the rally starts at 7 P.M.

Pennichuck Middle School - 207 Manchester Street Nashua, NH 03064 - View Map

IF YOU CAN HELP, please send an email to Brian Beihl, [email protected]/ 

For two winters now, we've walked hundreds of miles through ice and snow across New Hampshire to protest the corrupting influence of big money in politics. Although the arctic action ain't over, as our We the People Convention on February 5-7 will show, we're already seeing signs of a democracy spring reaching far beyond the Granite State…

This April, a band of NH Rebels and thousands more patriots from across the country will take the walk for democracy to the next level. Departing from the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, the ten-day march will go all the way to Washington, DC, arriving on Capitol Hill for the biggest act of civil disobedience in a generation.

Will you join the nearly 1,500 rebels who have pledged to make history by walking from Philly to DC and protesting on Capitol Hill?

NH Rebellion launches 'We the People' campaign finance reform warrant articles, part of 'Long Walk' to NH Primary

With 80% of Republicans and 82% of Democrats supporting the overturning of the Supreme Court's Citizen United decision, campaign finance reform group NH Rebellion has launched a state-wide campaign to place warrant article resolutions on next spring's town meeting warrants around the state. The effort is a companion to the organization's "We the People" Pledge to Fight Big Money campaign launched in November, which will collect 10,000 signatures statewide and present them to Presidential candidates in February.

"Our legislators won't turn off the tsunami of money in Washington and New Hampshire because they are beholden to their big money donors. It's time for New Hampshire voters to take matters into their own hands," said Brian Beihl, deputy director of the NH Rebellion. "And it begins with ordinary citizens who stand outside for a few hours, talk to their fellow citizens, and collect signatures," he said.

On Monday, November 16, Republican presidential candidate Gov. George Pataki announced his support for tax incentives to empower small-dollar political donations, part of a package of reforms he supports to fight big money politics.  Good government reformers cheered the announcement and renewed their calls on all presidential candidates to present concrete solutions to combat the corrupting influence of big money in politics. 

Speaking at a public forum hosted by NH1 News, First Budget, and the NH Business and Industry Association in Concord, Pataki stated, “We have lost control of the campaign process.  One of the things I would do is … put in place a tax credit for up to $200 in contributions to presidential candidates to encourage small donations," a system practiced under President Reagan. Pataki underscored the importance of small donor incentives "because that’s the people who should be electing the president, not somebody who could be writing a $30 million check to a Super PAC.”

Thursday night, FEC Chairwomen Anne Ravel went on The Daily Show so that she could talk about the dysfunction of the FEC.  This hilarious segment has got to be seen to be believed!

One week after NH Rebellion officially launched the We the People Pledge to fight big money in politics, Senator Bernie Sanders endorsed every major component of the Pledge, adding substance to his longstanding calls for ending big money corruption in Washington. The Sanders announcement follows months of direct engagement of all presidential candidates by members of the nonpartisan NH Rebellion and the release of similar plans by Sanders' Democratic rivals Hillary Clinton and Martin O'Malley. It marks the first time in American history that every presidential candidate in a major political party has publicly committed to comprehensive campaign finance reform.

“Sen. Sanders' plan is a direct assault on the monied interests that are attempting to buy our elections and rob us of representation," said Daniel Weeks, director of the NH Rebellion. "We applaud the Senator for rejecting Super PAC support of his campaign, for speaking out against systemic corruption on the stump, and for today releasing a comprehensive plan to overhaul the big money system if elected president."

According to the campaign's newly-released position paper, "Getting Big Money Out of Politics and Restoring Democracy," Sen. Sanders will work to eliminate Super PACs and overturn Citizens United through new Supreme Court appointments and a constitutional amendment; fight for citizen-funded elections that amplifies small donations through public matching funds; insist on full transparency in the funding of campaigns and outside spending; and strengthen enforcement of campaign finance rules.

The plan also calls for an end to gerrymandering and improvements in voting and election administration such as automatic voter registration and a national Election Day holiday.

According to Weeks, the Sanders plan represents a major victory for the citizens Rebellion against big money in politics, which has so far mobilized hundreds of "rebels" to question the presidential candidates and march 30,000 miles collectively across NH in support of reform. "For the first time ever, every Democratic candidate for president has publicly committed to stopping the corrupting influence of big money in politics, and Republicans are starting to embrace solutions of their own," Weeks said. 

In September and early October, respectively, Hillary Clinton and Martin O'Malley presented their own reform agendas, consistent with the We the People Pledge, after consulting with NH Rebellion and other groups. And recent Democratic candidate Lawrence Lessig, a champion of the NH Rebellion, launched a presidential campaign solely focused on reforming money in politics.  

Last Thursday, NH Rebellion officially launched the We the People Pledge with a rally in downtown Manchester and a march to deliver the parchment Pledges to the presidential campaign headquarters throughout the city, led by the Rebellion's own "Paul Revere". The agenda calls on candidates at all levels of government, beginning with the presidential candidates, to support six fundamental reforms deemed necessary by campaign finance experts to curb the outsized influence of wealthy special interests in government:

1. Close loopholes and enforce campaign finance laws
2. Expose secret donors and require full transparency
3. Ban bribes from lobbyists and government contractors
4. Ban Super PACs and overturn Citizens United
5. Establish small-donor, citizen-funded elections
6. End gerrymandering and modernize voter registration

In addition to the Democratic candidates' support, every Republican vying for president has also publicly acknowledged the need to fight big money, according to NH Rebellion's online tracker of candidate statements, Questionr.us. The solutions offered by Republican candidates to-date center on stricter disclosure requirements and lobbying restrictions, and a few Republican candidates have also expressed support for citizen-funded elections, overturning Citizens United, and nonpartisan redistricting reform.

“Big money politics is a bipartisan problem and it demands a bipartisan response,” said Brian Tilton, Republican outreach coordinator for the NH Rebellion. “Just as the Rebellion reached out to Hillary Clinton, Martin O’Malley, and Bernie Sanders to give input on their plans, we are also been in talks with several Republican contenders about conservative-friendly approaches to breaking the big money-big government nexus that has voters up in arms. Republicans recognize that crony capitalism and wasteful spending won't be stopped until voters regain the upper hand against wealthy special interests. We call on the remaining campaigns to answer our invitation and work with us on solutions to stop big money.”

"Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others." -- Plato 

Late last week you received an email from Dan Weeks about our new "We the People" pledge to Fight Big Money.   Along with thousands of others, your signature will be delivered to all the presidential campaigns in person to demonstrate the commitment of NH voters to reform.   

Your help in getting others to sign the pledge is critical to our success. 

THIS WEEK'S ACTIONS:  

1. SIGN the "We the People" pledge -- If you haven't pledged, do so as soon as possible!
2. SEND emails to your friends  --  After you sign the We the People pledge to Fight Big Money, you'll receive an email containing links to the pledge.   Please forward this to your friends along with a note as to why its important that they stand against Big Money corruption in our government.   If you've already signed, THANK YOU!  Find that confirmation email and resend to your town committee colleagues or other groups to which you belong.
3. SHARE a Link to Facebook --  If you are a Facebook user, please post this link,  http://www.nhrebellion.org/pledge/  in your Status on Facebook. After you paste, our "We the People" pledge graphic will pop up.   Write a note as to why your friends should rebel against our legislators being bought by billionaires and special interests.   Once it is shared on your page, you may also SHARE this on pages to which you belong:   Town political committees, activist sites, candidate sites, etc.

Remember that this Thursday, Nov. 5th, 11:30 AM is our "We the People" press conference and rally at Manchester City Hall.   We hope to have the new version of our signs available, along with our new million dollar bill handout.   The weather is supposed to be great, so RSVP now!

We're counting on you to help us Fight Big Money politics!

-- Brian Beihl and the NH Rebellion Team

PS:   If your municipality has a vote on Tuesday, don't forget to VOTE!