As people of faith, we recognize the responsibility of government to seek justice for all people and to build the common good. Justice cannot be achieved unless the rules governing the democratic process are just and fair for all. Central to that process is a citizen’s vote—not limited by the powers of money, social class, and unequal access to public media. 

Money has always played a role in electoral politics, but what kind of role it plays should be subject to regulations that reflect ethical and democratic values. Most important, it is necessary to have policy safeguards in place which ensure that more than just the wealthiest interest groups have a voice in the public sphere.

Historic three-day ‘We the People Convention’ will be held at ‘Political Ground Zero’ -- in a heated tent

In the final days before the First-in-the-Nation presidential primary, the grassroots movement NH Rebellion is bringing together presidential candidates, celebrities and voters from across the political spectrum to focus the national debate on the one issue almost everyone agrees on: the need to #FightBigMoney in politics.

For its We the People Convention to Fight Big Money – to be held February 5-7 in Manchester’s Veterans Park – the Rebellion is hosting a long lineup of speakers, candidates and entertainers who believe the influence of high-dollar political donors is corrupting our democracy.  Appearances will include:

• Actor, producer and director Sam Waterston

• Pulitzer-prize and Emmy-winning journalist Hedrick Smith

• John Pudner, the conservative political strategist who helped Dave Brat unseat then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and currently executive director of Take Back Our Republic

• NYTimes best-selling author and lecturer on spirituality Marianne Williamson

• Comedian and former CBS “60 Minutes” commentator Jimmy Tingle

• Richard Painter, who served as associate counsel to President George W. Bush and is now a professor of corporate law at the University of Minnesota Law School

• Former NH Supreme Court Chief Justice John Broderick

• NH Rebellion founder and Harvard Law professor Larry Lessig, who also founded Creative Commons, clerked for US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, and was a candidate for president during 2015

• Congressman John Sarbanes (MD), author of the “Government by the People Act”

• New Hampshire Congresswoman Annie Kuster and former U.S. Representatives Paul Hodes, Carol Shea-Porter and AmbassadorDick Swett

• Activist and author Derek Cressman, whose book “When Money Talks” is now the best-selling book in Amazon’s constitutional law category

• Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream and founder of the Stamp Stampede.

Presidential candidates from both parties have been invited to speak to the Convention, along with contenders for US Senate, the US House of Representatives and Governor.

National groups cosponsoring the Convention include: Every Voice, Issue One, People for the American Way, Represent.US, the Stamp Stampede and Take Back Our Republic.

The New Hampshire Primary is upon us! NH Rebellion invites you to attend the first-ever We the People Convention to #FightBigMoney on February 5-7 at "political ground zero" in Manchester, NH. Come hear presidential candidates, meet actors and activists, enjoy food and entertainment, and declare independence from big money politics, all in a massive heated tent.

Two years ago on this day, we had just finished a 185-mile walk from Dixville Notch to Nashua - the inauguration of the New Hampshire Rebellion.  Since then, NH Rebels have walked thousands of miles and asked what feels like millions of presidential candidates how they will stop the billions of dollars corrupting our political system.

Now, with only two weeks until the New Hampshire Primary, I'm asking you to take two actions to make sure that this campaign is defined by what each candidate pledges to do to restore our democracy.  

First, Change Politics is crowdsourcing questions for the candidates in the Democratic primary for President. I'm asking the follow-up to the question the NH Rebellion was founded on, "What will you do to end the corrupting influence of money in politics?"  Right now, that question is first in the poll, but I need you to go upvote it to make sure it gets asked to the candidates.

Second, please join me at the NH Rebellion's We the People Convention in downtown Manchester February 5-7.  These last few days before the primary are a crucial opportunity to put our issue at the center of the Presidential election.  I'll be there with authors, activists, and entertainers from both sides of the aisle including Sam Waterston, Marianne Williamson, John Pudner, Zephyr Teachout, and Jimmy Tingle.  Register now to join us, and help push the NH Rebellion through this critical final stretch.

See you there,
Lessig

Friend–

During the past few decades, huge portions of the financial resources in the United States have been siphoned off into the hands of a very few. This imbalance amounts to a direct threat to our democracy, for in the words of the late Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, "You can have large amounts of money concentrated in the hands of a very few, or you can have democracy. You cannot have both."

Welcoming Donald Trump back to the Granite State today, one day after his latest statement in favor of campaign finance reform, the grassroots organization NH Rebellion called on the businessman to get specific about how he plans to fix America’s broken political system.

“Mr. Trump started his presidential campaign by talking about how our politicians ‘are controlled fully by the lobbyists, by the donors and by the special interests’ – that’s a direct quote from his announcement speech,” said NH Rebellion Executive Director Dan Weeks. 

“He has talked a lot about the issue throughout his campaign. It seems to be part of Mr. Trump’s stump speech, and it really resonates with the voters,” Weeks observed.  “Just yesterday, he was on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ saying he supports campaign finance reform.”

With just three weeks to go until New Hampshire voters cast their ballots in the First-in-the-Nation Presidential Primary, it's time to call out the Jedi and the Nun against Darth Vader and Dark Money…

Join us for a lively week of action as we summon the Force to #FightBigMoney, and get ready for the historic We the People Tent Convention on Primary Weekend, Feb 5-7!

• Tuesday 1/19 at 6pm: NH Rebellion house party featuring former NH Chief Justice John Broderick in Durham, NH
• Tuesday 1/19 at 12 noon: Kickoff of "NH Speaks" presidential candidate online town hall with NH Rebellion's Dan Weeksand other groups in Concord, NH
• Wednesday 1/20 at 6pm: "Faithful Democracy" symposium with nationally-acclaimed nun Sister Simone Campbell, Karenna Gore, and other religious leaders in Manchester, NH
• Thursday 1/21 at 10am: Citizens United Anniversary press conferencefollowed by Jedi actions at presidential candidate events in Concord and Manchester, NH
• Thursday 1/21 at 5pm: Special FREE SCREENING of Star Wars: The Force Awakens with light brigade and special guests in Nashua, NH
• Friday 1/22 time TBD: Further Jedi actions at presidential candidate events with our partner, US Rebel Alliance, in Nashua and southern NH (reply for more info)
• Monday 1/25 at 5pm: NH Rebellion house party with former Congressman Paul Hodes and Take Back Our Republic founder John Pudner in Etna, NH

All events are free and open to the public, but none would be possible without small donations from people like you. Please consider a $50 donation and receive a limited-edition NH Rebellion hat! Together we will defeat the Dark Side of big money in politics,

The NH Rebellion Team

PS. There's still time to pre-register for the We the People Tent Convention with candidates and comedians, artists and activists, and leading reformers from across the country on February 5-7.

Cross-partisan movement calls on president and presidential candidates 
to commit to concrete actions that will “fix our politics”

NH Rebellion Executive Director Dan Weeks today applauded President Barack Obama’s view that “the most important thing” we must do as a county is “fix our politics.”

“In his State of the Union speech last night, President Obama gave voice to what those of us at the grassroots level already know: ‘democracy breaks down when the average person feels that their voice doesn’t matter; that the system is rigged in favor of the rich or the powerful or some special interest.’  Our country is at that tipping point right now,” Weeks said.  “Poll after poll has found that Americans of all political stripes agree – overwhelmingly – that money has too much influence over our politics.  Unlimited campaign money is corrupting our government, and voters have reason to be angry about that.”

“It was refreshing to hear President Obama address the problem in such a high-visibility way,” Weeks said. “Too many elected officials shy away from talking about it.  And far too many elected officials have actually voted against measures that would help fix the problem.”

As one example, Weeks cited last week’s vote by the New Hampshire House of Representatives against a bill to study proposed constitutional amendments that would help limit the influence of money in politics.  He also noted the US Senate voted in September 2014 against sending a proposed constitutional amendment to the states for consideration.

President Obama endorsed a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling last February.

In last night’s State of the Union speech, President Obama also endorsed other parts of the NH Rebellion agenda: ending gerrymandering and making it easier for citizens to vote, saying “over the course of this year, I intend to travel the country to push for reforms.”

Weeks noted that campaign finance reform advocates have studied the influence of political spending on federal contracting, and are calling for measures to increase transparency. 

“This is one area where President Obama could, himself, make a big difference,” Weeks said.  

“Congress has been moving away from transparency,” Weeks observed, noting thatthe federal budget passed last month specifically prohibited the Securities and Exchange Commission from issuing a new rule requiring corporations to disclose their political spending.

“But President Obama could take executive action, and issue an Executive Order requiring at least those corporations that contract with the federal government to disclose their political spending,” Weeks said. 

A 2014 Sunlight Foundation study found that “on average, for every dollar spent on influencing politics, the nation’s most politically active corporations received $760 from the government.”

“We the people – taxpayers – are the ones who pay for government contracts,” Weeks said. “We deserve to know how much federal contractors are spending, trying to influence the budget and contracting decisions. We deserve to have transparency in that process.”

“We hope President Obama will follow his State of the Union remarks with concrete action,” Weeks added.  “Congress may be moving in the wrong direction on transparency, but President Obama can issue an Executive Order and help us move a little bit more in the right direction.”

Weeks also called on the candidates for president to take clear positions on the issue.

Members of the Rebellion have been attending campaign events, asking each candidate “What specific reforms will you advance to end the corrupting influence of money in politics?”  Candidates’ answers can be found here.

When we launched the NH Rebellion in January 2014 with our first frigid walk across New Hampshire, 96% of people supported our #FightBigMoney cause but only 9% believed it could be achieved.

Two years later, that first daring act has inspired thousands of citizens to Walk the Talk all across the state, Ask the Question of every presidential candidate, and Pledge to Fight Big Money. According to the latest poll, 39% of the public now believes real reform is possible – a remarkable four-fold gain.

One month from now, NH Rebellion will stage our final bold act before the first presidential primary and we need you!

On Primary Weekend, February 5-7, hundreds of voters will gather at “political ground zero" in downtown Manchester for the first-ever We the People Convention to #FightBigMoney. The heated tent convention will feature artists and activists, politicians and pundits, marches and demonstrations to set the agenda for the 2016 election. If the presidential candidates wish to earn our votes, they will be there too.

Will you pre-register today to join us on February 5-7 in Manchester, NH?

We have come a long way together these last two years – 30,000 miles to be precise. What better way to conclude the NH Primary than by going to where the action is and ensuring the presidential candidates commit to #FightBigMoney at the We the People tent convention?!

Please sign up to join us today!

The NH Rebellion Team

PS. In the meantime, join us on January 20th at Manchester City Hall as we mark the 6th anniversary of the disastrous Citizens United decision with a public event "Faithful Democracy" featuring renowned nun Sr. Simone Campbell and Karenna Gore of the Institute for Earth Justice.