Democracy4Change.org
Citizen Reformers
David Denham – A troublemaking minister and anti-corruption activist
Democracy Rebellion — A Reporter's Notebook with Hedrick Smith
The 'Badass Grandmas' Who Fought Corruption and Won"
Gang Member from Chicago's Southside Turns to Public Service to Help His Neighborhood Combat Crime and Violence
'Badass Grandmas' in North Dakota Fighting Corruption
Defeating Gerrymandering
Non-Partisan Civic Action Organizations
U.S. Democracy
This Year Marks the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment Giving Women the Vote
U.S. ranking among world's democracies continues an 8-year decline — We're now tied for 53rd with Belize
Fixing What's Broken in America – RepresentUs & the American Anti-Corruption Act
A How-To Guide for Politics
National Popular Vote Initiative
Voting Rights, Gerrymandering, Voter Suppression and More
Voting Rights Timeline
Ordinary Citizens Reforming Our Democratic System
Virginia Voters Eager to Break Political Gridlock are Organizing for Electoral Reform
Fighting Polarization in American Politics—through Ranked-Choice Voting
Action Civics
Philadelphia Citizen – Ideas We Should Steal: Action Civics in Schools
Civics in Action
Meet the reformer: Louise Dubé, driving more equitable and inclusive civics learning (from The Fulcrum)
Citizen Activist Comments on Ohio Dark Money Scandal
United Against Corruption
Most Americans believe politics are rigged to favor big money and special interests
Dark Money in American Politics
Is Congress For The People Possible?
Defeating the NRA with New Power
Citizen Reformers Podcast
Ep. 008: Hedrick Smith talks grassroots democratic reform & reclaiming the American Dream
Ep. 007: Vicki Barnes — Volunteer Activist for a 28th Amendment to the Constitution to Ensure Free & Fair Elections
Ep. 006: Wolf-PAC National Director Michael Monetta
Ep. 005: Covid-19 Pandemic Response Hurt by Health-care Industry Political Spending: Health-care Professionals Sound Alarm
Ep. 004: David Denham – Troublemaking Minister & Anti-Corruption Activist
Ep. 003: Virginia among the worst states in the union in terms of ethics and transparency
Ep. 002: Kyle Bailey: Advocate for Ranked Choice Voting
Ep. 001: Grassroots campaign to end gerrymandering in Michigan
Ellen Greene Bush
Ohio Representative Larry Householder has been driven from his role as Speaker of the House following his arrest on racketeering charges. The FBI charges that Householder oversaw a $61 million scheme involving bribes and hidden campaign cash to bail out Ohio's two cash-strapped nuclear power plants and return himself to power.
Ellen Greene Bush, along with fellow citizen activists with American Promise, had sought a meeting with Householder to press their case for getting big money out of politics.
Quoted in The Columbus Dispatch, "It just reeked of dark money," Greene Bush said. "Of course nobody knew at the time who was behind it, (but) when this story broke, there really wasn't any surprise to those of us in American Promise."
The goal of American Promise (a non-partisan non-profit dedicated to limiting money in politics) is to organize Americans to win the 28th Amendment to the Constitution to restore American democracy in which 'We the People'—not big money, not corporations, not unions, not special interests—govern ourselves.
Through Ellen's civic engagement and that of thousands of other concerned citizens around the country, she is optimistic about the prospects for a constitutional amendment to place reasonable limits on Big Money in politics.
It will take two-thirds of the House and Senate to accomplish that, plus ratification by a similar percent of the states. Thus far, 220 members of the House Representatives have co-sponsored a bill (HJR-2) to accomplish that, and 47 Senators have co-sponsored a companion bill (SJR-5). Twenty states have approved non-binding resolutions thus far, over half the 38 states required to ratify an amendment. American Promise's goal is for the amendment to be passed by 2026.
Ellen Greene Bush, of Port Clinton, Ohio, who has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and a master's degree in nursing, has worked as a psychologist in a group practice for most of her career. Having grown up living on the shores of Lake Erie, Ellen explained how devastated she was in 2014 when Toledo's drinking water was declared to be contaminated. Uncontrolled phosphate run-off from concentrated animal feeding operations led to dangerous algae levels in the lake. She found that ordinary citizens have little influence in these matters and was spurred to become engaged with others who shared her concern.
Ellen described her chapter of American Promise in Ohio as consisting not just of meetings and socializing. They are action oriented. As a non-partisan group, her chapter and others across the country are intent on writing letters to the editor, opinion pieces, and, most importantly, talking to their elected representatives.
Listen to the Citizen Reformers podcast in which Ellen is joined by two other American Promise citizen activists in discussing how the Covid-19 pandemic response has been hurt by health-care industry political spending.
Posted by M.Deal
View all posts by M.Deal
David Denham – A Troublemaking Minister & Anti-corruption Activist December 17, 2020
This Year Marks the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment Giving Women the Vote August 18, 2020
Citizen Activist Comments on Ohio Dark Money Scandal August 13, 2020
Ep. 008: Hedrick Smith talks grassroots democratic reform & reclaiming the American Dream July 27, 2020
Democracy Rebellion — A Reporter's Notebook with Hedrick Smith July 11, 2020
Please sign up to receive future blogposts and/or leave a message