Common Cause
Common Cause is creating people-powered change, and they need your help. Please read below to learn more about the issues they're working on and how you can get involved. Thank you!
Campaigns
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Stop silencing voters in Georgia & nationwideRepublican legislators in states across the country are using Trump’s baseless, incendiary lies about the 2020 election to pass extreme anti-voter laws. Laws that drastically cut early voting hours… laws that make it harder for eligible voters to cast an absentee ballot... and as we’ve now seen in Georgia, even laws that make it illegal to give snacks or water to those who are in line to vote. These restrictions are specifically designed to keep voters -- especially Black and Brown voters -- from the ballot box. It’s blatant voter suppression. Republican lawmakers are angry that their party lost -- and now, they’re using widely-disproven conspiracy theories to try to make sure those who won’t vote for them can’t cast a ballot. That is not how our country is supposed to work. Every eligible voter deserves to be heard in our democracy -- and have a say in the people and policies that impact their everyday lives. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 -- a landmark civil rights bill -- used to protect voters from this type of egregious voter suppression. But the Supreme Court gutted the law back in 2013, giving states a green light to take away our rights. Congress must reverse this decision and put a stop to this wave of targeted attacks on voters by passing the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act -- a new, updated Voting Rights Act that would protect voters in Georgia and nationwide. If you agree, add your name today.20 of 100 SignaturesCreated by Common Cause
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Limit Tax Money Spent on TrumpsTrump's family business trips and vacations cost taxpayers over $11 million in just his first month in office. That $11 million paid for security on Trump's children's business trips on behalf of the Trump business organization and for Trump's three trips to the Mar-a-Lago resort, which he owns. By contrast, the Obamas' personal travel expenses averaged $12 million per year through eight years in office. In light of this exorbitant spending, Representative Earl Blumenauer introduced the No Taxpayer Revenue Used to Monetize the Presidency Act, or, the No TRUMP Act, to prohibit the use of taxpayer funds to pay for events, overnight stays, food, and other miscellaneous expenses at hotels owned or operated by a president or his or her relatives. What's worse, while the taxpayers continue to pay millions for him to play golf, Trump recently unveiled his cruel and immoral budget plan that would cut funding to PBS, NEA, Meals on Wheels, heat assistance, and other important social services. Essentially, we, the taxpayers, are paying exorbitant sums for the wealthy Trumps to further enrich themselves personally. It's hypocrisy and it's unfair to taxpayers. Lawmakers must find a way to limit extravagant spending by this administration—especially when it profits the president personally—and prevent similar behavior by future administrations and presidents.219,062 of 300,000 SignaturesCreated by Maja Seif
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Investigate Trump's Hush Money to Stormy DanielsThe American people have a right to know who has influence with our elected officials and we are all agree that no one, not even President Trump is above the law. Donald Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen has now admitted that he made the $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election. But despite Cohen’s assertions, this admission doesn’t solve the Trump campaign’s legal problems. As Trump’s personal attorney, Cohen was an agent of then-candidate Trump. And his October 2016 payment to Daniels while she was considering going public about her affair with Trump certainly seems like an effort to influence the election in the form of hush money. The law says that any money spent to influence an election on a candidate’s behalf is an in-kind “contribution” to that candidate -- subject to a $2,700 limit and disclosure requirements, neither of which were followed here. That’s why Common Cause has filed official complaints with the DOJ and FEC -- and they must fully investigate whether the hush money paid to Stormy Daniels was an illegal in-kind contribution to the Trump campaign. We deserve to have transparency about how and where money was spent during Trump’s presidential campaign, and we need to hold our elected officials accountable to the law. Michael Cohen -- and anyone else involved in this payment -- must answer questions under oath so we can discover the full truth of what happened. And if Cohen didn’t act alone, and he coordinated this payment with Trump or any other member of his campaign, they must be held accountable for breaking the law as well.49,916 of 50,000 SignaturesCreated by Aimee Martinez, Common Cause
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Devin Nunes must be removed from Russia probeThe House Intelligence Committee just voted along party lines to release the so-called “Nunes memo” -- a document drafted at the direction of the committee’s chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA). Many who have seen the memo say it gets basic facts wrong, cherrypicks information and has absolutely zero credibility. This memo is just the latest in a long string of attempts by Republicans in Congress to undermine and smear Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Donald Trump and Russian election meddling. It’s especially telling that during last night’s partisan vote, Committee Republicans blocked release of the Democratic members’ memo which rebuts Nunes' claims. We cannot afford to let this become a partisan fight -- our democracy was attacked and Americans deserve the full truth. We can't allow Devin Nunes to continue spreading unfounded innuendo about the Russia probe to undermine its credibility as Mueller investigates the President for obstruction of justice. Please speak out and pressure Speaker Paul Ryan to remove Nunes from participating in the Russia investigation.177,801 of 200,000 SignaturesCreated by Aimee Martinez
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Stop Pennsylvania GOP's gerrymandering power grab!Last month, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down the legislature's redistricting plan as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander, and ordered that new maps be drawn for the 2018 elections. But Republicans in the legislature, who deliberately drew state and congressional districts to box out Democrats and protect their own incumbents, aren’t taking no for an answer. They've already unsuccessfully petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to let them keep their gerrymandered maps in place. Plus, the Senate President says he'll ignore parts of the ruling -- and he could be held in contempt of court if he follows through. Now, it looks like some Republicans in the state legislature are fast-tracking an attempt to retaliate against the judges who ruled against their crooked maps. Rep. Cris Dush has introduced legislation that would impeach these five justices -- and we must speak out to stop him. Impeaching these five judges would flagrantly violate the principle of separation of powers -- a cornerstone of American democracy. And their ongoing attempts to circumvent the court’s decision deny Pennsylvania voters their constitutional right to fairly select their representatives. The only thing that can stop this brazen power grab is a massive, nationwide, public outcry. Please join us in condemning Rep. Dush, and any other lawmakers who go along with his scheme.28,317 of 30,000 SignaturesCreated by Common Cause
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Stop Trump's attacks on transparency and the COVID-19 response packagePresident Trump is once again waging a war against legitimate, independent oversight of his administration. His latest target? Glenn Fine -- the acting inspector general who was set to watchdog the administration's management of the $2 trillion COVID-19 response package that Congress passed last month. Fine, a longtime and dedicated public servant, was chosen by a panel of inspectors general to lead these oversight efforts. But Trump just had Fine removed from his position -- without explanation. This is just the latest attempt by Trump to eliminate any and all supervision over his actions. He also recently fired Michael Atkinson, the inspector general who brought the Ukraine whistleblower’s complaint to Congress -- and he attacked inspector general Christi Grimm on Twitter after she released a report describing widespread COVID-19 testing delays in the U.S. Trump took one lesson from his party’s lockstep defense of his impeachable conduct: there’s no line you can’t cross that Republicans in Congress won’t back you up on. We’re seeing the consequences of that inaction now -- as Trump continues to openly abuse his power. Unless we speak out, Trump won’t stop until there isn’t a single watchdog left in the White House -- no one overseeing his administration's decisions, and nobody to put a stop to waste, fraud, or abuse of power. The Special IG must aggressively oversee the administration of this money and use their subpoena power to get necessary information. Similarly, both the SIGPR, the Congressional Oversight Commission and the PRAC must be given live access to the computer servers of the Treasury and any agency shoving money out its doors. Add your name to condemn Trump’s firing of Glenn Fine -- and to demand strict oversight of the Trump administration.108,019 of 200,000 SignaturesCreated by Common Cause
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Tell the FEC: Investigate Bush and WalkerIt appears that some 2016 presidential hopefuls are defying campaign finance laws and raising huge sums of money through Super PACs, 527s and other political committees disguised as sham nonprofits, by claiming they're not candidates or even "testing the waters." Governor Jeb Bush's Right To Rise Super PAC has set a fundraising goal of $100 million, but hasn’t said what for (I wonder!). Meanwhile, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker bragged at an event in Iowa: "You know, the process tells us that legally we have to say we are 'exploring,' because the minute you say something else, a whole series of things happen. So as we 'explore,' we will come back many more times." Supposedly they’re just private citizens raising millions and millions of dollars in donations. More likely, their real goal is to dodge contribution limits, coordination restrictions, and disclosure requirements meant to prevent corruption.33,017 of 35,000 SignaturesCreated by Common Cause
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Demand strong recusal standards for all judges!The Wisconsin Supreme Court recently ended the investigation of possible illegal activity between Scott Walker's 2011-2012 recall campaign and outside special interest groups. Four of the justices of the court were the beneficiaries of dark money spent in their behalf and which was the heart of this case. They should have recused themselves and did not. This type of behavior can happen all across the country: in Wisconsin, many states and the U.S. Supreme Court, it is up to the court itself to adopt recusal rules. Demand that judges adopt strong rules and abide by them to ensure our courts are fair and impartial.225 of 300 SignaturesCreated by Common Cause
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We the people demand to see Donald Trump's taxesPresident Donald Trump has refused to release his tax returns ever since he entered the presidential race, breaking decades of bipartisan precedent. Now, Trump's top advisors say he'll never release them, claiming that “we litigated this all through the election." So instead, public interest watchdogs are doing some litigating of their own. They're suing President Trump for violating the Constitution's ban on elected officials taking money from foreign governments, and demanding to see his tax returns as part of the discovery process. We deserve a clear picture of President Trump’s background, experience, and business interests -- and we have a right to know about any potential conflicts of interest. Without a full accounting of Trump's assets, there's no way to know the extent of his personal foreign entanglements, or if he is using the presidency to enrich his own wealth. Trump says he can’t release his returns because the IRS is currently auditing them -- but he didn’t have a problem doing that when his private business interests were at stake. And the commissioner of the IRS gave him the go-ahead too, saying “if you’re being audited, and you want to... share that information with your returns, you can do that.” We can't let Trump's "alternative facts" deny us our right to transparency. He wants to conduct the people's business from the White House, so we deserve to know how he's conducted his private business too. Donald Trump must release his tax returns to the American people.36,399 of 40,000 SignaturesCreated by Jack Mumby
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INVESTIGATE: Lindsey Graham tried to toss GA ballotsSouth Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham has once again proven that his loyalty to Donald Trump will always come before our democracy and the rule of law. According to a Washington Post story, Graham urged Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger -- a fellow Republican -- to throw out legally-cast ballots from targeted Georgia counties during the state’s recount. The conversation reportedly left Raffensperger “stunned.” Let’s be clear: every eligible vote cast in this election should and WILL be counted, no matter what Graham says or does. These voters faced a global pandemic, vote-suppressing laws, and rampant disinformation to make themselves heard in this all-important election year -- and Graham has no right to try to shut them out of our democracy. This is just another desperate play by Republicans to overturn the legitimate results of this election. As Trump files meritless lawsuit after lawsuit to stop ballot counting or otherwise interfere with election officials' work -- his lackeys are falling in line, doing everything in their power to support Trump’s futile effort. It’s time for direct action in response to their outrageous attempts to sow doubt about our electoral process and shut out voters. Graham currently chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee -- and if his party maintains its Senate majority, he'll oversee crucial legislation like the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. If Graham has been actively trying to toss out eligible ballots, he should not lead this committee’s work. Add your name to tell the Senate Ethics Committee: this heinous voter suppression attempt must be swiftly investigated -- and in the meantime, Senator Graham should step down as Judiciary Committee Chairman.74,068 of 75,000 SignaturesCreated by Common Cause