To: President Donald Trump, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Get Big Money Out Of Politics
Get Big Money Out Of Politics!
Eight months ago, I decided to run for U.S. Congress from District 8, Texas. I entered the race because I was frustrated by the dysfunctional polarization of our government and wanted to devote my energies to getting our government back to work. While we have the greatest constitution in the world, we cannot balance our federal budget and instead are continually running up the national debt. As the former CFO of a large corporation, I have tried to understand why we have this crippling problem. Now I have the answer. It is the overwhelming influence and consequence of big money controlling our politicians’ votes. We must get big money out of politics to restore our democracy.
Big Money Produces Big Time Corruption
With the Citizens United ruling, the massive use of campaign financing to promote the power of special interests in Washington has polarized Congress like never before. Yes, we already had a campaign financing system that had the potential for undue influence, since a Congressman or Senator could receive bundled election contributions through lobbyists and special interest groups. Even so, at the federal level these individual contributions were limited by FEC rules to specific amounts. Now, a small group of Americans or even a couple of billionaires, acting under the cover of a Super PAC, can outspend the American people. They do this with no financial limits whatsoever. Since the Citizens United ruling, the “bought and paid for” politician has become the norm. The paid advertisements of such Super PACs churn up the negative atmosphere to the detriment of all our citizens. Enough is Enough. As your candidate for U.S. Congress, I am proposing a bill to return our democracy to the people.
If elected, I will introduce the FREEDOM Act, which stands for “Fair Representation in Every Election, Democracy Over Money. The planks of this bill will be drafted based on the following principles:
-- Full and prompt disclosure of all contributions greater than $250.00 made to all Super PACS.
-- FEC Caps on contributions to Super PACS ($2,500.00 per person).
-- Registered Lobbyists and their firms be restricted from making donations to candidates.
-- Initially, presenting all proposed laws, with full disclosure of source, to a bipartisan committee that would, in turn, refer the proposals to standing Congressional committees for action.
I have made a commitment that I will not make pledges to special interests. It is time for our incumbent politicians in Congress to do the same and to act in the best interests of the nation as well. The Freedom Act will make this happen.
Voters of the 8th Congressional District support adherence to the Constitution, smaller government and less regulation. This is why we must change the system so that these principles are upheld. We must not allow our freedom to be taken over by special interests, which with their wealth end up controlling Congress and destroying government by the people and for the people.
Please join me in support of the Freedom Act!
Neil Burns, Candidate US Congress, District 8, Texas
Eight months ago, I decided to run for U.S. Congress from District 8, Texas. I entered the race because I was frustrated by the dysfunctional polarization of our government and wanted to devote my energies to getting our government back to work. While we have the greatest constitution in the world, we cannot balance our federal budget and instead are continually running up the national debt. As the former CFO of a large corporation, I have tried to understand why we have this crippling problem. Now I have the answer. It is the overwhelming influence and consequence of big money controlling our politicians’ votes. We must get big money out of politics to restore our democracy.
Big Money Produces Big Time Corruption
With the Citizens United ruling, the massive use of campaign financing to promote the power of special interests in Washington has polarized Congress like never before. Yes, we already had a campaign financing system that had the potential for undue influence, since a Congressman or Senator could receive bundled election contributions through lobbyists and special interest groups. Even so, at the federal level these individual contributions were limited by FEC rules to specific amounts. Now, a small group of Americans or even a couple of billionaires, acting under the cover of a Super PAC, can outspend the American people. They do this with no financial limits whatsoever. Since the Citizens United ruling, the “bought and paid for” politician has become the norm. The paid advertisements of such Super PACs churn up the negative atmosphere to the detriment of all our citizens. Enough is Enough. As your candidate for U.S. Congress, I am proposing a bill to return our democracy to the people.
If elected, I will introduce the FREEDOM Act, which stands for “Fair Representation in Every Election, Democracy Over Money. The planks of this bill will be drafted based on the following principles:
-- Full and prompt disclosure of all contributions greater than $250.00 made to all Super PACS.
-- FEC Caps on contributions to Super PACS ($2,500.00 per person).
-- Registered Lobbyists and their firms be restricted from making donations to candidates.
-- Initially, presenting all proposed laws, with full disclosure of source, to a bipartisan committee that would, in turn, refer the proposals to standing Congressional committees for action.
I have made a commitment that I will not make pledges to special interests. It is time for our incumbent politicians in Congress to do the same and to act in the best interests of the nation as well. The Freedom Act will make this happen.
Voters of the 8th Congressional District support adherence to the Constitution, smaller government and less regulation. This is why we must change the system so that these principles are upheld. We must not allow our freedom to be taken over by special interests, which with their wealth end up controlling Congress and destroying government by the people and for the people.
Please join me in support of the Freedom Act!
Neil Burns, Candidate US Congress, District 8, Texas
Why is this important?
Limiting contributions to SuperPACS, Restricting Lobbyist access to elected officials.