John Ennis
The Official History of Monopoly Is a Fraud

The usurping of The Landlord’s Game makes for a great meta-monopoly story, but even this turned out to be a story within a story. The real history may not even have been uncovered were it not for one tireless Ralph Anspach. An economics professor in the 1970s, Anspach thought a good way to teach anti-trust law would be to make his own board game, which he called Anti-Monopoly. As seen above, Ralph Anspach fought Parker Brothers for years over his game and its name, and in a case that went all the way to the Supreme Court, the little guy prevailed, forcing the owners of Monopoly to settle. Ralph Anspach shared his remarkable story in a book called Monopolygate, alternatively released as The Billion-Dollar Monopoly Swindle. There could even be a movie in the works about Ralph’s comedic odyssey.

The Official History of Monopoly Is a Fraud
John Ennis
Who is Citizens United?

Floyd Brown, who co-created the Willie Horton ad, went on to found Citizens United that same year, 1988, to continue the effort of conservative trolling in the modern political landscape. The group was quiet for the first few years, until they ran ads attacking Senate Democrats who were considering against confirming Clarence Thomas for the Supreme Court, as he was mired in controversy surrounding sexual harassment. David Bossie joined Citizens United as Floyd Brown’s protege, leaving Capitol Hill where he worked as an aide for Newt Gingrich until some of his efforts to smear the Clintons had gone too far, which is saying something.

Who is Citizens United?
John Ennis
How Gerrymandering Works

A largely quiet tactic to disenfranchise voters of all persuasions has become a target of reform-minded citizens in the wake of the 2014 midterm elections. While we have seen widespread pushback against voter suppression, unreliable voting machines, and unchecked spending in elections, gerrymandering — the process of selectively re-drawing voters’ districts to ensure the outcome — has reached a critical mass in the fight for American democracy. This is a tactic favored by incumbents of either political party, and as such this is a non-partisan issue affecting the public at large.

How Gerrymandering Works
John Ennis
Wool Over Our Eyes: We Need Disclosure Laws Now

It is sad that it should come to this, but the reality of today’s governance is that spending money in politics offers a greater return on investment than any other form of enterprise — up to $22,000 percent according to the Journal of Law & Politics, and at the state level that ROI is doubled. You and I might think it unconscionable to turn a room full of people raising their hands to vote into a showroom of masked people shouting at you. But then, corporations have no conscience.

Wool Over Our Eyes: We Need Disclosure Laws Now

The Official History of Monopoly Is a Fraud

The Official History of Monopoly Is a Fraud

The usurping of The Landlord’s Game makes for a great meta-monopoly story, but even this turned out to be a story within a story. The real history may not even have been uncovered were it not for one tireless Ralph Anspach. An economics professor in the 1970s, Anspach thought a good way to teach anti-trust law would be to make his own board game, which he called Anti-Monopoly. As seen above, Ralph Anspach fought Parker Brothers for years over his game and its name, and in a case that went all the way to the Supreme Court, the little guy prevailed, forcing the owners of Monopoly to settle. Ralph Anspach shared his remarkable story in a book called Monopolygate, alternatively released as The Billion-Dollar Monopoly Swindle. There could even be a movie in the works about Ralph’s comedic odyssey.

Who is Citizens United?

Who is Citizens United?

Floyd Brown, who co-created the Willie Horton ad, went on to found Citizens United that same year, 1988, to continue the effort of conservative trolling in the modern political landscape. The group was quiet for the first few years, until they ran ads attacking Senate Democrats who were considering against confirming Clarence Thomas for the Supreme Court, as he was mired in controversy surrounding sexual harassment. David Bossie joined Citizens United as Floyd Brown’s protege, leaving Capitol Hill where he worked as an aide for Newt Gingrich until some of his efforts to smear the Clintons had gone too far, which is saying something.

How Gerrymandering Works

How Gerrymandering Works

A largely quiet tactic to disenfranchise voters of all persuasions has become a target of reform-minded citizens in the wake of the 2014 midterm elections. While we have seen widespread pushback against voter suppression, unreliable voting machines, and unchecked spending in elections, gerrymandering — the process of selectively re-drawing voters’ districts to ensure the outcome — has reached a critical mass in the fight for American democracy. This is a tactic favored by incumbents of either political party, and as such this is a non-partisan issue affecting the public at large.

Do Voter Identification Laws Suppress Minority Voting? Yes. We did the research.

Do Voter Identification Laws Suppress Minority Voting? Yes. We did the research.

The Justice Department just got a new boss: Jeff Sessions. He is raising alarms in the civil rights community. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is concerned about his “record of hostility” toward the Voting Rights Act and the enforcement of civil rights. The NAACP-Legal Defense Fund lamented that it is “unimaginable that he could be entrusted to serve as the chief law enforcement officer for this nation’s civil rights laws.” No one knows for sure how Sessions will perform as attorney general — the former Republican senator from Alabama did, after all, once vote to renew the Voting Rights Act, in 2006 — but for many his record is deeply troubling.

Solutions for Our Democracy ~ Pulse of the Movement, Dec 2016

What's going on with the integrity of our elections? What can we do to ensure a more perfect democracy? Get the inside scoop on this Pulse of the Movement webcast with David Cobb, former Green Party US Presidential Candidate, co-founder of Move To Amend, and one of the authors of the We the People Amendment; and Jan BenDor - statewide coordinator and a founding member of the Michigan Election Reform Alliance. Hosted by Holly Mosher - award-winning Filmmaker for Change, and producer of PAY 2 PLAY. 

Recount 2016

WHAT’S HAPPENING ACROSS THE COUNTRY:

Recounts Are Only as Good as They Are Allowed To Be

Why we need a recount VIDEO

Observers find tampered machines in Wisconsin

Alternet – Greens Heading to Federal Court to Seek Statewide Pennsylvania Recount

The Cap Times – Recounts will be needed until we adopt rigorous vote verification

Green party youtube discussion on recount effort

MediaEthics – Why the Exit Polls Sow Doubt About the Vote Count

WIRED – Hacked or not, audit this and all future elections

AlterNet – A Fair Election? Serious, Hard-to-Explain Questions Arise About Trump Vote Totals in 3 Key States

Former VP of Gallup on Value of Exit Polls

Rolling Stone – The GOP’s Stealth War Against Voters

Washington Post talks about the voter disenfranchisement that happened before election day.

The Guardian – Jill Stein raises over $2 million for recount

Dr. Alex Halderman – Want to know if the election was hacked? Look at the ballots.

Simple table of crucial exit polls vs. reported vote tallies.

Statistician calls for audit to address election hacking fears

Did the GOP Strip & Flip the 2016 Selection?

Experts Urge Clinton Campaign to Challenge Election Results in 3 Swing States

Read two articles about exit polls and Crosscheck in November 2016

USA Today – Still time for an audit

ABC News – Russian Hackers Targeted Half of States Voter Registration Systems (succeeded in four)

Did Voter ID had Wisconsin to Trump

Judge orders North Carolina to Restore Purged Voter Registrations

Greg Palast on GOP Effort to Remove African American Voter Rolls in Battleground State on Democracy Now

Foreign hacks reported by CNN in IL & AZ, FL, and elsewhere

Washington Post FBI investigating foreign hacks

http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/28/politics/fbi-james-comey-election-cyberattacks/

Donald Trump Was Right: The Election Was Rigged – In His Favor

Problems in the Primaries

Arizona

All Hell Is Breaking Loose at Arizona Election Fraud Hearing

Democratic Party, Clinton and Sanders campaigns to sue Arizona over voting rights

Judge to Hear Challenge to Arizona Presidential Primary

AUDIT-AZ’s lawsuit challenging the Arizona Presidential Preference Election

Judge David Gass Rules Against AUDIT-AZ in Elections Lawsuit, Bars Showing Evidence of Systemic Fraud in Arizona Elections

Bill Targets Increase in Polling Places

Ballot Box Breakdowns Nothing New in Maricopa County

Rep. Clark Proposes Five Policy Changes to the Arizona Elections Process

California

Voting Is A Right That Californians Are Giving Up Without A Fight

Open The Primary

California Poll Trainers Instructed to Give Provisional Ballots to No Party Preference Voters

Chicago

Election Fraud Special Report! (You Won’t Believe This)

Election Fraud Proven at Audit by Chicago Board Of Elections

 

Chicago Election Board Meeting 4/5/16 (watch starting around 35 min)

Kentucky

Did GOP Insiders Steal the Kentucky Governor’s Race for Tea Partier Matt Bevin?

Card Reader Issues In Kentukcy – Pike County Votes Erased

Missouri

One of the Most Racially Divided States in the Country Just Passed a New Voter ID Bill

Nevada

Nevada Democratic Convention: Stories of Voter Suppression

New York

Millions of New Yorkers Disenfranchised from Primaries Thanks to State’s Restrictive Voting Laws

After More Than 100,000 Voters Dropped In Brooklyn, City Officials Call For Action

New York’s Mayor Responds as Brooklyn Voter Purge Doubles to 126,000

A Top New York City Official Just Ordered an Audit of Elections Board

Top NY Election Official Ousted for Purging Over 125,000 Brooklyn Voters

New York voting fiasco just the warm-up for the November game

Jonathan Clarke: the lawyer suing NY over voter purges

Proof The NY Primary Wasn’t Legit

27 Percent of New York’s Registered Voters Won’t Be Able to Vote in the State’s Primary

Lawsuit filed to block certification of N.Y. primary results

North Carolina

Thousands March in North Carolina to Protest Voter Suppression

Does North Carolina voter ID law suppress minority votes? A federal judge will decide.

North Carolina’s Voter ID Law on Trial

Students Are Being Rejected From The Polls Because Of North Carolina’s Voter ID Law

Federal Judge Upholds North Carolina Voter Rules

Ohio

Ohio is Purging Infrequent Voters From the Rolls, Mostly From Democrat-Leaning Districts

Puerto Rico

Reducen a 455 colegios de votación en la primaria presidencial demócrata

Rhode Island

This Upcoming Primary State Just Closed 66% of Polling Places

Texas

More than half a million registered Texans don’t have the right ID to vote on Super Tuesday

Washington DC

Glitch believed to be based in mobile app erases some D.C. voters’ party affiliation

Wisconsin

Democracy Free-For-All

Former aide: GOP lawmakers privately touted voter ID as helping them win elections

National

Fraction Magic – Part 1: Votes are being counted as fractions instead of as whole numbers

Fraction Magic — Part 2: Context, Background, Deeper, Worse

Fraction Magic — Part 3: Proof Of Code

Fraction Magic – Part 4: Presidential race in an entire state switched in four seconds

Fraction Magic — Part 5: Masters of the Universe

GOP-led Purge Threat to 3.5 Million Voters

Is the 2016 election already being stripped & flipped?

191 Million US Voter Registration Records Leaked In Mystery Database

Election Fraud: Why Are Voter Registrations Changing?

Jim DeMint Admits Voter ID Intended To Elect Republicans

Accidental Republican candor about voter-ID laws

Deceptive Election Practices and Voter Intimidation

How trustworthy are electronic voting systems in the US?

Tampering with US voting machine as easy as ‘abcde’, says Virginia report

Researcher arrested after reporting pwnage hole in elections site

Legacy voting machines ripe for tampering, breakdowns

The Dismal State of America’s Decade-Old Voting Machines

Decertifying the worst voting machine in the US

Report: 2014 Voting Machine Tampering Likely in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Kansas
How the GOP Wired Ohio’s 2004 Vote Count for Bush to Win

Was the 2004 Election Stolen?  (PDF)

Reform Bills

BILLS BEFORE CONGRESS:

Voter Empowerment Act (H.R. 12)

Amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) to require each state to make available official public websites for online voter registration, same day registration and voter registration of individuals under 18 years of age.  Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit hindering, interfering with, or preventing voter registration.  Key Sponsor: Rep. Lewis
Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2015 (H.R. 2867/S. 1659)

A bill to amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to revise the criteria for determining which States and political subdivisions are subject to section 4 of the Act, and for other purposes.  Key Sponsor: Rep. Sewell/Sen. Leahy

Automatic Voter Registration (H.R. 2694)

To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require each State to ensure that each individual who provides identifying information to the State motor vehicle authority is automatically registered to vote in elections for Federal office held in the State unless the individual does not meet the eligibility requirements for registering to vote in such elections or declines to be registered to vote in such elections, and for other purposes.  Key Sponsor: Rep. Cicilline

 

What Pay-2-Play Looks Like

What Pay-2-Play Looks Like

Somehow, in the hundreds of pages necessary to fund the government, someone tripped and fell and dropped this bit of legislation in: party contribution limits were suddenly raised ten-fold. How messed up do you have to make campaign finance laws that even Citizens United denounces it as a gratuitous incumbent incentive? Our elected representatives agreed with no debate that the government couldn’t function without jacking up contribution limits for how much their parties can receive.

The Paper Chase, Starring James Bopp

The Paper Chase, Starring James Bopp

By this point James Bopp has basically wrecked all the laws everywhere. Through countless courts from numerous districts in states across the country, James Bopp has argued against limitations on spending in elections, fought against donors’ names being public, and ushered in two of the most transformative Supreme Court decisions of our time, Citizens United vs. FEC and McCutcheon vs. FEC. Between those two cases alone, Bopp has used the founders vision of free speech as the rationalization for large corporations and wealthy individuals to flood the election process with unprecedented cash.

People Power Prevails at the Supreme Court

People Power Prevails at the Supreme Court

At a volatile time in American democracy, where candidates by the dozens curry the favor of billionaires and citizens openly question the validity of elections, the Supreme Court this week upheld an important tool in revitalizing our democracy.

To be sure, the Roberts Court has proven to be a demolition derby for policy, where petitioners go to be bludgeoned with precedents, no matter how obtusely. In last week’s historic decision on marriage equality, the dissenting justices selectively built up their own arguments against gay marriage based on plaintive prejudice, willful misreading of the case at hand, and at times open contempt for those seeking dignity and equality under the law—a surprisingly prohibitive mindset considering the words over the front of the court read, “EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW.” (The justices probably enter through the garage.)

Movement to Reform Campaign Finance Keeps Growing

Reform rarely arrives as a silver bullet, clearing danger in a single shot. The way reform takes hold is more gradual and disparate, like ivy or tree branches growing, until one day you notice all the leaves you are surrounded by.

With the Run Warren Run campaign now retired, progressives will look for a new hope to upend the system. Even as Hillary tacts continually leftward, calling for a constitutional amendment in response to Citizens United, Bernie Sanders has stepped up to run for president on the very inequality that most Americans are most concerned about, according to a new CBS/NYT poll. “Almost three-quarters of respondents say that large corporations have too much influence in the country.”

In another new poll from CBS/NYT, most Americans recognize our campaign finance system for what it is, a morass of wealth and influence drowning out citizens voices in elections:

“By a significant margin, they reject the argument that underpins close to four decades of Supreme Court jurisprudence on campaign finance: that political money is a form of speech protected by the First Amendment. Even self-identified Republicans are evenly split on the question.”

Some seek to minimize these findings, because of a caveat included in the NYT article: “Virtually no one in the poll ranked campaign financing as the most important issue facing the country.” I could speculate that if you asked Americans what was the most important issue facing the country in 1800, virtually no one would identify ending slavery. That doesn’t mean it is widely-held as profoundly wrong, it’s just seemingly impossible to change.

Many Americans think things are impossible to change because not enough people feel the same way they do. But what if they found out most people shared their feeling—that the U.S. campaign process needs fundamental overhaul just to begin to try to be fair? When our Congress can’t reliably agree to keep the government open?

IMG_3471.jpg

Here is a harsh truth about this movement to reform our campaign finance system and why you won’t hear much about it on TV, like when a promising amendment is introduced into the 114th Congress: because networks make so much money from campaign ad buys, media conglomerates aren’t really looking to upset the business model anytime soon. Local TV stations in Ohio during campaign season can just run a full hour of ads, and forgo programming altogether, because they make so much more money from inflated ad rates—ads on publicly-owned airwaves to begin with.

Even when a grandiose movie moment happens in real life, such as Doug Hughes spectacular arrival at the U.S. Capitol on April 15 via gyrocopter, the media will all but censor his clearly stated intent of delivering letters to Congress demanding they act on campaign finance reform. Capitalizing on the loaded suggestion of “mailman” in the headlines, news outlets overlooked his explanations about needing a constitutional amendment in response to Citizens United. Yet there was virtually no coverage of how Doug Hughes had the book thrown at him, facing up to 9 years, and is now being let go by the U.S. Postal Service for his demonstration.

But like Doug Hughes has found, he is not alone, many others are working away without being the subjects of reality TV shows. From Washington to Florida to California and everywhere in between, Americans are working on the state, county, city, and local levels on reform. If you put your ear to the ground, you can actually listen to the dissent growing.

Citizens United, Explained With Dogs

Citizens United, Explained With Dogs

This election cycle shows that the impacts of Citizens United are no laughing matter, with more anonymous money flowing through our elections than ever. While our campaign finance laws may have gone to the dogs, our democracy does not have to. On Election Day, use your voice at the polls, because you don’t want just any old hound dog representing your needs.

President Obama Is Right: It’s Time for Mandatory Voting

President Obama Is Right: It’s Time for Mandatory Voting

“It would be transformative if everybody voted. That would counteract money more than anything. If everyone voted, it would completely change the political map in this country. Because the people who tend not to vote are young, they’re lower income, they’re skewed more heavily towards immigrant groups and minority groups. And, you know, there are often the folks who are scratching and climbing to get in to the middle class, and they’re working hard. There’s a reason why some folks try to keep them away from the polls, we want to get them into the polls. So that might be a better strategy, in the short term,” [Referring to the time it takes to pass a constitutional amendment.]

The Pay 2 Play Board Game, More Realistic Than Monopoly!

The Pay 2 Play Board Game, More Realistic Than Monopoly!

Something about the game Monopoly seemed like the right metaphor for our priced-out political process—perhaps because the player with the most money wins, just like in almost all elections. But upon discovering its true origins as an educational folk game taken over by a corporation, I realized how appropriate Monopoly really is as a symbol for the corporate takeover of our democracy.