Winograd Challenges Harman to Return Corporate PAC Money

January 25, 2010, Marina del Rey, CA

In the aftermath of a U.S Supreme Court decision in favor of unlimited corporate campaign expenditures, Congressional Candidate Marcy Winograd (CA-36) calls on her opponent Jane Harman to agree to end the corruption now by refusing money from corporate political action committees (PACS). Specifically, Winograd challenges her opponent Jane Harman to return the $34,000 she has accepted from military contractors to fund her 2010 congressional campaign. Opensecrets.org lists the 5 top contributing political action committees to Harman’s 2009-2010 campaign as: Northrop Grumman, Raytheon Co., Boeing Co., Space X, and SAIC.

“If we want to get big money out of politics, we need to start with politicians pledging not to accept money from industries which they oversee," says Winograd. “My opponent’s oversight responsibilities on the Homeland Security Committee should preclude her from taking money from companies whose profit margins rise or fall based on her support for war and occupation.”

In 2006, during Winograd’s last challenge to Harman, Harman accepted $51,000 from Wall Street and banking institutions. Says Winograd, “It is one thing for a candidate to profess to support campaign finance reform; quite another for a candidate to refuse corporate campaign contributions. I challenge my opponent to make good on her promises to support campaign finance reform.”

Winograd endorses the federal Fair Elections Now Act, as well as the California Fair Elections Act. Both efforts would enable candidates to run for office without relying on large contributions from corporations and big money bundlers.

Adds Winograd, “To reverse the damage done by last week’s Supreme Court ruling, we need to redefine corporations as business entities, not persons guaranteed free speech rights under the Constitution. That’s why I have introduced a petition (http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/states-strip-corporations-of-personhood ) urging states to ratify a constitutional amendment to strip corporations of personhood. Such a campaign, however, will take a long time. In the short term, we need candidates and lawmakers to step up to the clean money plate and reject corporate dollars, particularly from industries they oversee.”

To learn more about the Winograd For Congress campaign, visit:
http://www.WinogradForCongress.com
http://www.Facebook.com/WinogradforCongress
http://www.Twitter.com/MarcyWinograd
http://www.youtube.com/Winograd4Congress
http://www.flickr.com/photos/winograd4congress/
http://www.meetup.com/Winograd4Congress

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Winograd Challenges Harman to Return Corporate PAC Money

January 25, 2010, Marina del Rey, CA