155K PDF<\/a>. Or read it by clicking below…<\/p>\n
\nNews for Immediate Release Friday, October 29, 2004
\nLorgeForSenate@aol.com
\nBill Lorge outlines needed Reforms
\nCampaign, Election and Media Reforms needed now!
\nBear Creek, WI – Just in time for the November 2nd Elections, 14th State
\nSenate Candidate Bill Lorge has outlined the most comprehensive and workable
\nCampaign, Election and Media Reforms for Wisconsin in over a century.
\n“We really need drastic reforms in our American Democratic system, especially
\nin Wisconsin which needs to get back and be a leader on this issue. We no
\nlonger have one person – one vote. How can we export Democracy all over the
\nWorld when we don’t even do it right here at home? I put together the needed
\nchanges that must be passed into law, and after this election the first thing I
\nwill do as the new State Senator from the 14th District will be to pass these
\nreforms into Wisconsin Law,” says Lorge
\nBill Lorge challenges all candidates for office to support these needed
\nreforms. Lorge outlines some of his reforms in three categories, saying that all
\nthree need to become law for the reforms to work. “The goal of these Reform
\nmeasures is to bring back one person – one vote, to make our election system
\nwork, to have our campaigns become more fair and truthful, and to finally hold
\nthe media accountable for their gross malfeasances in our election process,”
\nLorge concluded.
\n***
\nNeeded Wisconsin Reforms – by Bill Lorge
\nCampaign Reform:
\n$100 Limit:
\nThe main change needed and the most monumental in it’s positive effect, even
\nthough it is so easy, is to change the law to lower the maximum allowable
\ndonation to $100 per year per person per candidate per campaign in Wisconsin.
\nThis alone will be the most effective and successful change to guarantee one
\nperson – one vote. This is the main point, and is non-negotiable. How many
\naverage citizens do you know who will write out a check for $10,000.00 to a
\nPolitician? Not even 99% of the people in Wisconsin would consider it, but that is
\nthe current limit for our most important elected offices in Wisconsin. The
\npeople who donate this amount of money are usually people who do business with
\nour Government and are people who get their investments back a thousand times
\nover, and always at the expense of us taxpayers. This simple $100 limit will
\nbring back the one vote per person goal of our U.S. Constitution, as it is clear
\nthat the millionaires who finance the big money that win their campaigns are
\nbuying our votes right out from under us all. Most of this big money is used
\nto brainwash us voters with TV ads, and it’s so effective, the big money
\ndonors are able to change voters’ minds to vote their way within seconds. An
\neffective TV ad will make us vote for or against a candidate in a way that we
\nvoters would not normally do so had we not been exposed and thus contaminated with
\nthose advertising campaigns. Wisconsin was once known as the “Clean
\nGovernment State”, but not anymore, not by a long shot. The big special interest money
\nand the clear obedience from our elected officials to these big donors have
\ncaused Wisconsin to now be known as the Chicago of the north. This single $100
\nlimit campaign reform change will bring us back to that clean government
\nimage.
\nGet rid of $1 check off:
\nOur income tax returns should not be questionnaires that force us to decide
\nthe important problems our elected official fail to get done themselves. That
\nis why we elected them. We need to put the ball back in their courts and end
\nthis foolish failed attempt to appear democratic by getting rid of the $1
\ncheck-off that is on the ballot. It doesn’t work anyway, and it never will.
\nIncreasing it to $2 wont put the needed money into public financing either, it
\nwill actually lower the amount collected in the end, because increasing the
\namount to $2 from $1 will just kill the program altogether. I have never checked
\nthat box and I never will, just like 99% of the rest of the taxpayers who don’t
\ncheck it.
\nInstead, we need to fully finance the public grant program for candidates:
\nThe public-grant system must be geared towards rewarding candidates who
\nfollow simple guidelines that will make them accountable only to the voters and
\ntaxpayers, not to big donors. The system needs to be fully funded and provide
\nenough incentive that even the Speaker of the Assembly will apply for it. A
\nmatching-grant system must be set up where a candidate who gets a $20 donation
\nfrom a voter in the District where they are running, will get $20 or more from
\nthe State in return, if they follow certain ethical guidelines and fair rules
\nin their campaign. Even if this reform costs a billion dollars, it is cheap
\ncompared to the alternative, where our elected officials are bought and paid for
\nby corrupt special interests who get many billions more of our tax revenues.
\nThe special interests are first in line in getting our tax dollars, and the
\npeople are last in line. This reform will guarantee that the special interests
\nare totally taken out of the tax revenue line and that the people are the
\nonly ones who will be standing in line for our tax revenues. This is worth more
\nthan billions of dollars, but wont even cost a fraction of that. No matter
\nwhat the cost is to fully finance this system, it will be the best investment
\nour government makes. We need to fully fund the public grant system with
\ngeneral-purpose revenue.
\nMatching grant money:
\nOnly donations from inside the District where the Candidates seek office are
\ngoing to be counted towards the Matching Grant money provided by the State.
\nIncumbents not allowed to raise money until June 1st:
\nIncumbents always have a huge advantage over their challengers in raising
\nmoney. Always. This is because incumbents use their influence to get that
\nmoney, and most get the majority of their campaign donations before the election
\neven gets started, before they even have an opponent, and before their opponent
\neven registers to run. Wisconsin needs to prohibit any fundraising by
\nincumbents until the election season starts on June 1st. Discussion has been going
\non for years to limit fundraising during the budget process, which proves that
\nthis reform is needed, but limiting it just during the budget process is
\nfoolish, as incumbents will make up for this once the budget is passed. To level
\nthe playing field and to make our election process more fair, we need to hold
\nincumbents accountable in a major way, they need to wait until June 1st to
\nstart their fundraising.
\nFunding the Public-Grants:
\nThe Legislature must commit to full funding so that all candidates who apply
\nand receive the grant money will get every penny. Many sources are also
\navailable to help fund this program. Any money left over in a Candidates account
\nafter the election year is over could be put into the public-grant program.
\nAlso, candidates who do not participate in the public-grant program should be
\ncharged a certain % fee on the money they spend that will go to help fund the
\npublic-grant program. Also, Candidates who self fund their own campaigns over
\nthe $100 individual limit would also pay a % fee to help fund the public-grant
\nprogram. Freedom of speech will be preserved in these reforms, where a Herb
\nKohl would still be able to buy a seat in the U. S. Senate, it would just cost
\nhim a bit more, and in doing so, he would help fund the system that will allow
\nus to have a majority of our elected officials only accountable to the
\npublic.
\nState Contractors are prohibited from donating:
\nThis is the most appalling abuse going on in Government today. The Law needs
\nto be changed to prohibit anyone who bids on Government Contracts from dona
\nting to any Candidates who would be associated in any way with their business
\ncontracting. A classic example of this is the road builders, who are known for
\nbeing the largest donators to the Governor and Legislative Leaders, and who
\nreceive millions of dollars in contracts when they do business with our State.
\nThis must end. It may be unconstitutional to also prevent their family
\nmembers from donating, as we all know that this will be a way to get around the law,
\nso a penalty needs to be added to prevent money filtering to family members
\nor employees.
\nProhibit PAC money:
\nPolitical Action Committee money should be prohibited period. Enough said.
\nElection Reform:
\nBallots mailed out with Tax forms:
\nVoters should get several months, instead of 15 seconds, to decide whom to
\nvote for. Again, we export Democracy now days, so we have to get it right here.
\nNo more slacking off and condoning a system where voters enter polling
\nbooths, stare at 90% of the names on their ballot that they have no clue who they
\nare, and then in a few seconds take guesses and vote for people based on poor
\njudgments rather than serious deep thought. Mailing out ballots along with the
\nincome tax forms will do many things, lower taxes is one by holding our
\nelected officials more accountable, but this will also allow voters plenty of time
\nto review, study, learn, inquire, and vote for the best candidates that they
\nbelieve in. People can turn in their ballot on Election Day at the polling
\nplaces, or they can mail them in early, such as they do with absentee ballots.
\nThis reform will give every taxpayer and registered voter in Wisconsin their
\nballot earlier.
\nComputer Voting:
\nOnline Computer voting would be the easiest and most cost efficient way to
\nallow people to vote. Our Election process is slow and cautious in this area,
\nwhich is fine, but the technology is already here to allow each citizen to vote
\nsafely and securely online. This reform will get it going by the 2006
\nelections. We can sign people up to vote using the same database as our Department
\nof Revenue who collects our tax returns. Voters will use a username and
\npassword to vote, just like they do with everything else online.
\nTerm Limits:
\nI used to oppose Term Limits, because there are a lot of good reasons to keep
\nseasoned people in office, but I realize later, that if they are real good,
\nthey can always come back after a rest period. Being a private citizen again
\nwill make them better elected officials anyway. I now fully support and
\nadvocate term limits. Any term limits are better than none. To get the debate
\ngoing, I propose the following: The Governor and all State Constitutional
\nOfficers limited to 2 four year terms; Legislators: State Senators limited to 2
\nconsecutive four year terms; State Representatives limited to 3 consecutive two
\nyear terms; Congress Members limited to 3 consecutive two year terms; US
\nSenators limited to 2 consecutive six year terms. Wisconsin would also provide
\nincentives for local units of government to limit their terms as well.
\nHigh School Seniors allowed to Vote:
\nIn an effort to start people voting earlier, this reform will allow any
\nWisconsin High School Senior to vote in school as part of their government or civic
\ncourses. Our younger voters have the lowest turnout on Election Day. That
\nis because we fear the unknown, and our young people who have never voted
\nbefore wont start until they have to. If we get them started in our High Schools,
\nthey will continue this good habit and vote in every election for the rest of
\ntheir lives. We all know the Teachers Union will love this reform, but I’m
\nproposing it because I have been speaking out on this for decades, and I have
\nalways received a very positive response from everyone. My goal is to increase
\nvoter turn out. So, if a High School Senior is 17, 18 or even 19 years old,
\nthey will be voting in all our elections in every High School in Wisconsin, and
\ntheir vote will count.
\nGet rid of the State Elections Board:
\nHistorically the Wisconsin State Elections Board was created to assist voters
\nand candidates. Today they do the opposite. The State Elections board is
\nknown for removing people from the ballots, stopping people from voting, and
\nfining candidates and voters when they try to exercise their Constitutional
\nrights in our Democratic system. Less people are running for office all the time,
\nthanks to the incompetence and lack of dedication of this lost agency. The
\npolitically appointed members of the State Elections Board are the most corrupt
\nand unaccountable pawns in our State Government. We need to totally gut this
\nagency and eliminate it, and to restore this legal need back to the elected
\nSecretary of State to handle Election assistance, and give our County Clerks
\nback the power to run their elections. Wisconsin has the worst Election’s Board
\nin the Country and to try to fix this would be a waste of time. We need to
\ntotally wipe it out and start over.
\nMedia Reform:
\nLet’s face it. Our media companies control our elections. It gets worse
\nevery year. I ran for Governor of Wisconsin in 2002, and a major Wisconsin
\ntelevision station was so afraid of my Candidacy, that the first time they
\nmentioned my name was at 8:02 PM after the polls closed. They refused to cover my
\nrace, they refused to report on the news of my campaign, and when they did refer
\nto me in the race, my name was always: “Token Opposition”, or “Republican
\nOpponent”, but on Election night at 8:02 PM, for the first time, this TV station
\nreferred to me as, “Former State Representative Bill Lorge”. I have seen
\nnumerous abuses from the local weekly newspaper all the way up to the corrupt and
\nvery biased Wisconsin Broadcasters Association. Major reform is needed here,
\nand our elected officials need to be tough and take on the media. You can’t
\nhave election or campaign reforms without reforming the media.
\nPrinted Media:
\nFreedom of speech will be respected and even strengthened with these reforms
\nI propose. I agree we can’t make Playboy stop printing pornography, and we
\ncan’t edit the Bible. The printed media must remain sacred in this reform to
\nprotect freedom of speech. My proposal is simple. If a printed news
\npublication receives any taxpayer funds for legal ads, or any other government related
\nfunds, then they must follow this simple and fair reform measure: They must
\nreport the news from candidates, they must stop favoring one candidate over
\nanother, they must cover all candidates who are in a race, they must provide free
\nspace in their July, August, September, and October publications to all
\ncandidates who are running in their publication area. This is a good thing, and is
\ndrastically needed. If a printed news publication such as a Daily newspaper
\nfails to do this, including editorializing to endorse a candidate, they will
\nlose their right to do business with the taxpayers\/voters. (A side note: –
\nLegal ads should be put out for bids by all printed news publications anyway, not
\njust newspapers. Shoppers Guides should also be able to bid on legal ads;
\nthis increased competition would lower the costs and save taxpayers money. A
\nbetter solution would be to have the State put legal ads on the Internet and
\navoid putting them in the papers altogether. This would save a ton of taxpayer
\nmoney and lower our local property taxes; As one Town Board Chair once told me
\nhis biggest expense is paying the local weekly paper for legal ads.)
\nBroadcast Media:
\nThe airwaves are owned by the public. The broadcast media is not protected
\nin the Constitutional Freedom of Speech area like the printed media is. We own
\nthe airwaves, and this reform measure will do what is long overdue; Let the
\npublic take back our airwaves. Free airtime must be provided to all candidates
\non the ballot, period. Part of the problem with the big money that corrupts
\nour campaigns is that it takes millions of dollars to run for Statewide office
\nin Wisconsin mostly because of the broadcast mediums. To take the big
\ncorrupting money out of the process is easier if we mandate that our candidates
\nreceive fair and equal airtime on all the airwaves broadcast stations that the
\npublic owns. Many broadcast stations do a great job of giving candidates free
\nand fair airtime today, but too many also abuse their power and are such a large
\npart of the problems in American Democracy. State law needs to be changed to
\nreform this entire medium to more fairly inform the public of who is running,
\nso the voters can make better choices when they vote for one candidate over
\nanother.
\n# # #
\n(Paid by Lorge Campaign Fund)
\nBill Lorge
\n“Write-In” Candidate, 14th State Senate District
\nPO Box 47
\nBear Creek, WI 54929
\n608-698-0300 Bill’s Cell Phone
\nLorgeForSenate@aol.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bill Lorge (LorgeforSenate@aol.com) email his list of Political & Media Reforms (a very useful list it is): Campaign Reforms $100 Limit Eliminate $1 Check-Off Matching Grant Money State Contractors Cannot Donate Eliminate PAC’s Ballots mailed out with Tax Forms (timing challenge, I think) Online Voting (more challenges) Term Limits High School Seniors can vote Eliminate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.zmetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.zmetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.zmetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.zmetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.zmetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.zmetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.zmetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.zmetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.zmetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}