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Crowd-sourced political lobby

wethelobby.com

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Re: Crowd-sourced political lobby

#31

Post by sankho »

joelthelion wrote: post #24
dangrossman wrote: post #2

Why is a representative going to listen to our lobbyist over the MPAA's lobbyist? We can raise enough money to hire someone to work in Washington for us, but I somehow doubt we can consistently raise enough money to make matching campaign contributions so that our lobbyist is taken seriously. Even if we could, it feels fundamentally wrong that we need a self-imposed tax on citizens for their representatives to repres…

In France we have a lobby fighting for internet freedom, La Quadrature du Net: http://www.laquadrature.net/ The lobby is only three people, and was started by one guy on his own. He pays himself with donations. And yet he's been very efficient: almost all newspaper stories on the subject quote him. Also, more and more French politicians understand the electoral weight of the issues, and less and less support restrict…

We do have similar groups, the EFF is one of the bigger ones. However, they have to compete with the millions of dollars the American recording & media industries have.

It's great to hear La Quadrature du Net does well with so little. We're sure We The Lobby cannot match special interests in terms of money, but we are hoping the causes can resonate given the donations represent the actual voting constituency.

Re: Crowd-sourced political lobby

#32

Post by snowwrestler »

I know you guys are in startup mode, but I hope you have retained a lawyer to advise and, if necessary, defend you. Lobbying is highly regulated and violations can result in federal prosecution. Just by paying a lobbying firm you will have to register with various federal agencies and report on the activities you fund.

Re: Crowd-sourced political lobby

#33

Post by sankho »

jarsj wrote: post #19
dangrossman wrote: post #2

Why is a representative going to listen to our lobbyist over the MPAA's lobbyist? We can raise enough money to hire someone to work in Washington for us, but I somehow doubt we can consistently raise enough money to make matching campaign contributions so that our lobbyist is taken seriously. Even if we could, it feels fundamentally wrong that we need a self-imposed tax on citizens for their representatives to repres…

I think the idea should be to put complete force behind passing some legislation which in a meaningful way restricts the influence corporations can have over congress.

We The Lobby's main idea thus far is to rally for lobbying money while legislation is being discussed in the House or Senate - just like SOPA / PIPA are being discussed now after the vote has been cancelled.

If someone puts out legislation illustrating what you said, and there is enough popular opinion behind it, we will try and list it on our site.

I'd also encourage you to check out the second cause currently listen on We The Lobby, entitled "Corporations are not people." It is in support of S.J.Res.33, a proposed Amendment by Bernie Sanders which contains verbiage to restrict corporation's influence on congress via campaign donations. Check it out and make a pledge! http://www.wethelobby.com/causes/2

Re: Crowd-sourced political lobby

#34

Post by sankho »

tomx wrote: post #30

Is there an opportunity for a data driven approach to politics? I would be interested in a service that segmented people into large groups based on their political ideas. A cross between a semi-anonymous Facebook, groups and politics, none of the social networky stuff, just ideas, viewpoints, groups and votes. For example, you might belong to a very large simple 'liberal' group, with vague and general ideas. Within t…

I'd encourage you to look into www.popvox.com and www.votizen.com - they are not exactly the idea you've talked about but are similar in vein of organizing data to present to congress.

However, the problem is getting congress to recognize these systems are better. Currently, lobbying groups do the education of topics, and donate to campaigns of candidates. This system needs to be changed first, and We The Lobby believes a fundamental positive change would be to alter where the money comes from; and thus whose influence (special interests vs. the general population) is being made on Congress.

Re: Crowd-sourced political lobby

#35

Post by sankho »

ypcx wrote: post #28

Well don't forget to add some serious revolving doors, as a motivation for the lawmakers ( http://www.opensecrets.org/revolving/ ), because, you know, they already got that. Secondly, but even more importantly, don't forget to set aside a large chunk of the cash to hire an army of assassins and mercenaries, because, you know, anybody of any importance is already under a death threat if they step out their line, and y…

We're aware of the revolving door concept, and if we gain traction on a few issues and are about to provide continual funding with them - it's definitely a concept we are looking into exploiting.

As for the death threats - 0 so far, but it's been 6 days since launching. If I get shot I'm looking at you to cry foul!

Re: Crowd-sourced political lobby

#36

Post by sankho »

ifearthefeds wrote: post #23

Get rid of the indirection. Hiring lobbyist isn't necessary. Instead, a two step system would be nice: 1. People add money to pool. The pool's contents are publicized. 2. After congressional votes, the pool is distributed to all politicians who voted "correctly". Note that this incentivizes politicians to oppose the status quo, as the less politicians supporting a piece of legislation, the higher the payout.

This is an interesting idea, but for it to work, I'd add one more stipulation:

3. Have politicians sign an agreement that accepting money from We The Lobby's pool means you cannot accept money from other donors.

This would ensure that special interests had no more power than the majority of a democracy's population - as they do now.

But I seriously doubt any politician would agree with this.

Re: Crowd-sourced political lobby

#37

Post by sankho »

Vivtek wrote: post #22
mtgentry wrote: post #4

Can crowd sourced lobbying compete against the deep pockets of corporate interests? That's my biggest concern. I like this idea a lot though. Hopefully it gains traction.

Can it compete? Let's find out.

Let's find out indeed!

Make a pledge guys!

Sorry for the overt plug. Figured I should do it at least once though :)

Re: Crowd-sourced political lobby

#38

Post by sankho »

MrJagil wrote: post #27
sankho wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was just about to go to sleep, but this is an important question. We want to spend as much money as we can on lobbying efforts. The site itself was made completely pro bono because we all believe in the idea. We are committed to being as financially transparent as possible. Right now our only costs are for hosting and setting up the site; a little under $100 to date. As things progress we will disclose the informat…

Seperate pages would definitely be the best in regards to transparency.

Definitely. Once we do some serious accounting we'll know best how to divy up the data information architecture-wise.

Re: Crowd-sourced political lobby

#39

Post by sankho »

fredBuddemeyer wrote: post #20

its not just the pigs in animal farm that turned into the wicked rulers they ousted so justly; on many levels it is every group that ever successfully revolted. one of the earliest steps into the dark is using the tactics of the enemy. no doubt there are successful lobbies that havent made the deals that render them useless. but playing the game is not the tactic that is working and inspiring people anymore; it is th…

We The Lobby feel that characterizing Lobbyists as pigs, or Lobbying as essentially evil, is foolish at best.

At this point, it simply is what it is.

It's not what lobbyists do that make you call them pigs - it's the fact that they are eating from the troughs of corporations.

Let's we the people feed them individually so they'll fight for us instead. Maybe then, one day, we can do something about the troughs.

Re: Crowd-sourced political lobby

#40

Post by sankho »

snowwrestler wrote: post #32

I know you guys are in startup mode, but I hope you have retained a lawyer to advise and, if necessary, defend you. Lobbying is highly regulated and violations can result in federal prosecution. Just by paying a lobbying firm you will have to register with various federal agencies and report on the activities you fund.

Thanks for the warning, and yes, we are in talks with several tax lawyers about how best to handle this.
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