Democracy aficionados ~ Read on for interesting developments about Clean Elections for Congress! We had a great meeting with Pelosi's office, and Change Congress has declared a donor strike, which got them some national media..... * MEETING WITH PELOSI* We had a great meeting with Speaker Pelosi's office a couple of weeks ago! Pelosi's staff was extremely positive about our presentation and the Fair Elections Now Act, and encouraged us to continue to build up support in San Francisco for the idea. We were informed that everything we'd done so far was impressive and would help our case greatly. In that vain, I'm still making presentations to different local groups and getting letters into the Speaker's office. Are you part of a group that would be interested in having me speak? If so, I'll be there. Let me know. In any case, please take the time to write the Speaker's office with our easy to use online tool: http://www.commoncause.org/CA/Speaker-FairElections * DONOR STRIKE! *Change Congress declared a donor strike against any congressperson who was unwilling to declare support for Clean Elections. With lots of donations coming from well-meaning small and large donors, whose good faith donations are nonetheless overwhelmed by those of special interests, this is an exciting idea, that caught the attention of nation media. Read the AP/MSNBC article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28569404/ Join the cause and check out their fancy new web site at change-congress.org * SATURDAY WORKING GROUP MEETING* This Saturday, the SF chapter of the California Clean Money Campaign will be meeting, and I'll be speaking about the Fair Elections Now Act. I'll arrive at 11am, though the meeting starts at 10am, if you're interested in finding out their plans for passing the June 2010 statewide ballot initiative, which would institute a pilot program of full public financing for Secretary of State offices. Here are the details for the meeting: WHEN: Sat, January 17th from 10:00am - 11:30am. I'm arriving at to speak at 11am. WHERE: 592 Pennsylvania Ave (A home on Potrero Hill between 20th & 22nd Streets) CA Clean Money SF Working Group Info: SF-info@CAclean.org Thanks! Rob -- Rob Arnow San Franciscans for Voter Owned Elections www.voterownedelections.org 415-552-2229 "I also believe that if we're serious about change, we need to have a real discussion about public financing for congressional elections. Because even if we can stop lobbyists from buying us lunch or taking us out on junkets, they'll still be able to attend our fundraisers -- and that's access the average American doesn't have." --- Barack Obama, August 2, 2007