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 the State Elections Board
• Media Reform
  • Balanced Print Media Reporting (! – I like this: “A better solution would be to have the State put legal ads on the Internet and avoid putting them in the papers altogether. This would save a ton of taxpayer money and lower our local property taxes; As one Town Board Chair once told me his biggest expense is paying the local weekly paper for legal ads.)”
  • We (the public) own the airwaves and should be free to use it.

I’m not sure my synopsis did justice to Lorge’s document. Print and read it yourself here: 155K PDF. Or read it by clicking below…

News for Immediate Release Friday, October 29, 2004
LorgeForSenate@aol.com
Bill Lorge outlines needed Reforms
Campaign, Election and Media Reforms needed now!
Bear Creek, WI – Just in time for the November 2nd Elections, 14th State
Senate Candidate Bill Lorge has outlined the most comprehensive and workable
Campaign, Election and Media Reforms for Wisconsin in over a century.
“We really need drastic reforms in our American Democratic system, especially
in Wisconsin which needs to get back and be a leader on this issue. We no
longer have one person – one vote. How can we export Democracy all over the
World when we don’t even do it right here at home? I put together the needed
changes that must be passed into law, and after this election the first thing I
will do as the new State Senator from the 14th District will be to pass these
reforms into Wisconsin Law,” says Lorge
Bill Lorge challenges all candidates for office to support these needed
reforms. Lorge outlines some of his reforms in three categories, saying that all
three need to become law for the reforms to work. “The goal of these Reform
measures is to bring back one person – one vote, to make our election system
work, to have our campaigns become more fair and truthful, and to finally hold
the media accountable for their gross malfeasances in our election process,”
Lorge concluded.
***
Needed Wisconsin Reforms – by Bill Lorge
Campaign Reform:
$100 Limit:
The main change needed and the most monumental in it’s positive effect, even
though it is so easy, is to change the law to lower the maximum allowable
donation to $100 per year per person per candidate per campaign in Wisconsin.
This alone will be the most effective and successful change to guarantee one
person – one vote. This is the main point, and is non-negotiable. How many
average citizens do you know who will write out a check for $10,000.00 to a
Politician? Not even 99% of the people in Wisconsin would consider it, but that is
the current limit for our most important elected offices in Wisconsin. The
people who donate this amount of money are usually people who do business with
our Government and are people who get their investments back a thousand times
over, and always at the expense of us taxpayers. This simple $100 limit will
bring back the one vote per person goal of our U.S. Constitution, as it is clear
that the millionaires who finance the big money that win their campaigns are
buying our votes right out from under us all. Most of this big money is used
to brainwash us voters with TV ads, and it’s so effective, the big money
donors are able to change voters’ minds to vote their way within seconds. An
effective TV ad will make us vote for or against a candidate in a way that we
voters would not normally do so had we not been exposed and thus contaminated with
those advertising campaigns. Wisconsin was once known as the “Clean
Government State”, but not anymore, not by a long shot. The big special interest money
and the clear obedience from our elected officials to these big donors have
caused Wisconsin to now be known as the Chicago of the north. This single $100
limit campaign reform change will bring us back to that clean government
image.
Get rid of $1 check off:
Our income tax returns should not be questionnaires that force us to decide
the important problems our elected official fail to get done themselves. That
is why we elected them. We need to put the ball back in their courts and end
this foolish failed attempt to appear democratic by getting rid of the $1
check-off that is on the ballot. It doesn’t work anyway, and it never will.
Increasing it to $2 wont put the needed money into public financing either, it
will actually lower the amount collected in the end, because increasing the
amount to $2 from $1 will just kill the program altogether. I have never checked
that box and I never will, just like 99% of the rest of the taxpayers who don’t
check it.
Instead, we need to fully finance the public grant program for candidates:
The public-grant system must be geared towards rewarding candidates who
follow simple guidelines that will make them accountable only to the voters and
taxpayers, not to big donors. The system needs to be fully funded and provide
enough incentive that even the Speaker of the Assembly will apply for it. A
matching-grant system must be set up where a candidate who gets a $20 donation
from a voter in the District where they are running, will get $20 or more from
the State in return, if they follow certain ethical guidelines and fair rules
in their campaign. Even if this reform costs a billion dollars, it is cheap
compared to the alternative, where our elected officials are bought and paid for
by corrupt special interests who get many billions more of our tax revenues.
The special interests are first in line in getting our tax dollars, and the
people are last in line. This reform will guarantee that the special interests
are totally taken out of the tax revenue line and that the people are the
only ones who will be standing in line for our tax revenues. This is worth more
than billions of dollars, but wont even cost a fraction of that. No matter
what the cost is to fully finance this system, it will be the best investment
our government makes. We need to fully fund the public grant system with
general-purpose revenue.
Matching grant money:
Only donations from inside the District where the Candidates seek office are
going to be counted towards the Matching Grant money provided by the State.
Incumbents not allowed to raise money until June 1st:
Incumbents always have a huge advantage over their challengers in raising
money. Always. This is because incumbents use their influence to get that
money, and most get the majority of their campaign donations before the election
even gets started, before they even have an opponent, and before their opponent
even registers to run. Wisconsin needs to prohibit any fundraising by
incumbents until the election season starts on June 1st. Discussion has been going
on for years to limit fundraising during the budget process, which proves that
this reform is needed, but limiting it just during the budget process is
foolish, as incumbents will make up for this once the budget is passed. To level
the playing field and to make our election process more fair, we need to hold
incumbents accountable in a major way, they need to wait until June 1st to
start their fundraising.
Funding the Public-Grants:
The Legislature must commit to full funding so that all candidates who apply
and receive the grant money will get every penny. Many sources are also
available to help fund this program. Any money left over in a Candidates account
after the election year is over could be put into the public-grant program.
Also, candidates who do not participate in the public-grant program should be
charged a certain % fee on the money they spend that will go to help fund the
public-grant program. Also, Candidates who self fund their own campaigns over
the $100 individual limit would also pay a % fee to help fund the public-grant
program. Freedom of speech will be preserved in these reforms, where a Herb
Kohl would still be able to buy a seat in the U. S. Senate, it would just cost
him a bit more, and in doing so, he would help fund the system that will allow
us to have a majority of our elected officials only accountable to the
public.
State Contractors are prohibited from donating:
This is the most appalling abuse going on in Government today. The Law needs
to be changed to prohibit anyone who bids on Government Contracts from dona
ting to any Candidates who would be associated in any way with their business
contracting. A classic example of this is the road builders, who are known for
being the largest donators to the Governor and Legislative Leaders, and who
receive millions of dollars in contracts when they do business with our State.
This must end. It may be unconstitutional to also prevent their family
members from donating, as we all know that this will be a way to get around the law,
so a penalty needs to be added to prevent money filtering to family members
or employees.
Prohibit PAC money:
Political Action Committee money should be prohibited period. Enough said.
Election Reform:
Ballots mailed out with Tax forms:
Voters should get several months, instead of 15 seconds, to decide whom to
vote for. Again, we export Democracy now days, so we have to get it right here.
No more slacking off and condoning a system where voters enter polling
booths, stare at 90% of the names on their ballot that they have no clue who they
are, and then in a few seconds take guesses and vote for people based on poor
judgments rather than serious deep thought. Mailing out ballots along with the
income tax forms will do many things, lower taxes is one by holding our
elected officials more accountable, but this will also allow voters plenty of time
to review, study, learn, inquire, and vote for the best candidates that they
believe in. People can turn in their ballot on Election Day at the polling
places, or they can mail them in early, such as they do with absentee ballots.
This reform will give every taxpayer and registered voter in Wisconsin their
ballot earlier.
Computer Voting:
Online Computer voting would be the easiest and most cost efficient way to
allow people to vote. Our Election process is slow and cautious in this area,
which is fine, but the technology is already here to allow each citizen to vote
safely and securely online. This reform will get it going by the 2006
elections. We can sign people up to vote using the same database as our Department
of Revenue who collects our tax returns. Voters will use a username and
password to vote, just like they do with everything else online.
Term Limits:
I used to oppose Term Limits, because there are a lot of good reasons to keep
seasoned people in office, but I realize later, that if they are real good,
they can always come back after a rest period. Being a private citizen again
will make them better elected officials anyway. I now fully support and
advocate term limits. Any term limits are better than none. To get the debate
going, I propose the following: The Governor and all State Constitutional
Officers limited to 2 four year terms; Legislators: State Senators limited to 2
consecutive four year terms; State Representatives limited to 3 consecutive two
year terms; Congress Members limited to 3 consecutive two year terms; US
Senators limited to 2 consecutive six year terms. Wisconsin would also provide
incentives for local units of government to limit their terms as well.
High School Seniors allowed to Vote:
In an effort to start people voting earlier, this reform will allow any
Wisconsin High School Senior to vote in school as part of their government or civic
courses. Our younger voters have the lowest turnout on Election Day. That
is because we fear the unknown, and our young people who have never voted
before wont start until they have to. If we get them started in our High Schools,
they will continue this good habit and vote in every election for the rest of
their lives. We all know the Teachers Union will love this reform, but I’m
proposing it because I have been speaking out on this for decades, and I have
always received a very positive response from everyone. My goal is to increase
voter turn out. So, if a High School Senior is 17, 18 or even 19 years old,
they will be voting in all our elections in every High School in Wisconsin, and
their vote will count.
Get rid of the State Elections Board:
Historically the Wisconsin State Elections Board was created to assist voters
and candidates. Today they do the opposite. The State Elections board is
known for removing people from the ballots, stopping people from voting, and
fining candidates and voters when they try to exercise their Constitutional
rights in our Democratic system. Less people are running for office all the time,
thanks to the incompetence and lack of dedication of this lost agency. The
politically appointed members of the State Elections Board are the most corrupt
and unaccountable pawns in our State Government. We need to totally gut this
agency and eliminate it, and to restore this legal need back to the elected
Secretary of State to handle Election assistance, and give our County Clerks
back the power to run their elections. Wisconsin has the worst Election’s Board
in the Country and to try to fix this would be a waste of time. We need to
totally wipe it out and start over.
Media Reform:
Let’s face it. Our media companies control our elections. It gets worse
every year. I ran for Governor of Wisconsin in 2002, and a major Wisconsin
television station was so afraid of my Candidacy, that the first time they
mentioned my name was at 8:02 PM after the polls closed. They refused to cover my
race, they refused to report on the news of my campaign, and when they did refer
to me in the race, my name was always: “Token Opposition”, or “Republican
Opponent”, but on Election night at 8:02 PM, for the first time, this TV station
referred to me as, “Former State Representative Bill Lorge”. I have seen
numerous abuses from the local weekly newspaper all the way up to the corrupt and
very biased Wisconsin Broadcasters Association. Major reform is needed here,
and our elected officials need to be tough and take on the media. You can’t
have election or campaign reforms without reforming the media.
Printed Media:
Freedom of speech will be respected and even strengthened with these reforms
I propose. I agree we can’t make Playboy stop printing pornography, and we
can’t edit the Bible. The printed media must remain sacred in this reform to
protect freedom of speech. My proposal is simple. If a printed news
publication receives any taxpayer funds for legal ads, or any other government related
funds, then they must follow this simple and fair reform measure: They must
report the news from candidates, they must stop favoring one candidate over
another, they must cover all candidates who are in a race, they must provide free
space in their July, August, September, and October publications to all
candidates who are running in their publication area. This is a good thing, and is
drastically needed. If a printed news publication such as a Daily newspaper
fails to do this, including editorializing to endorse a candidate, they will
lose their right to do business with the taxpayers/voters. (A side note: –
Legal ads should be put out for bids by all printed news publications anyway, not
just newspapers. Shoppers Guides should also be able to bid on legal ads;
this increased competition would lower the costs and save taxpayers money. A
better solution would be to have the State put legal ads on the Internet and
avoid putting them in the papers altogether. This would save a ton of taxpayer
money and lower our local property taxes; As one Town Board Chair once told me
his biggest expense is paying the local weekly paper for legal ads.)
Broadcast Media:
The airwaves are owned by the public. The broadcast media is not protected
in the Constitutional Freedom of Speech area like the printed media is. We own
the airwaves, and this reform measure will do what is long overdue; Let the
public take back our airwaves. Free airtime must be provided to all candidates
on the ballot, period. Part of the problem with the big money that corrupts
our campaigns is that it takes millions of dollars to run for Statewide office
in Wisconsin mostly because of the broadcast mediums. To take the big
corrupting money out of the process is easier if we mandate that our candidates
receive fair and equal airtime on all the airwaves broadcast stations that the
public owns. Many broadcast stations do a great job of giving candidates free
and fair airtime today, but too many also abuse their power and are such a large
part of the problems in American Democracy. State law needs to be changed to
reform this entire medium to more fairly inform the public of who is running,
so the voters can make better choices when they vote for one candidate over
another.
# # #
(Paid by Lorge Campaign Fund)
Bill Lorge
“Write-In” Candidate, 14th State Senate District
PO Box 47
Bear Creek, WI 54929
608-698-0300 Bill’s Cell Phone
LorgeForSenate@aol.com