According to ProPublica.org : The entertainment industry made $5,579,819 in contributions to US Senators, with an average contribution of $55,798. The $92,700 I took from them is $36,902 more than the average senator.
Hi. My name is Chris Coons. I am a Senator from Delaware. A proposed bill in the Senate, PIPA, threatens to treat the concept of free speech in much the same way that totalitarian regimes in China, Iran and North Korea do. This bill is why so many internet sites have 'gone black' in protest. It was written for lobbyists to place corporate greed over the fundamental freedoms our nation was founded on, and I support it.
What Are SOPA and PIPA ?
SOPA and PIPA are two poorly conceived bills in the US House and Senate, respectively, that were written to address issues regarding content theft and piracy.
How does your representative stack up?
Don't see your representative? Data out of date?
We're working on it! This site was quickly built off a few datasets; when important data is missing, we had to hide that person. We're hoping to re-enable everyone soon!
Does my support of this bill mean Lobbyist Money is more important to me than Free Speech?
Would it surprise you to know that, during the 2010 Election Cycle, I accepted at least $92,700 in contributions from members of the Entertainment industry, who are leading the push to have these bills hastily approved.?
And hey - how does the campaign money I was legally required to report is compare to all the steak dinners my lobbyist friends take me out to. Do you think they take me on many fancy golf vacations too?
What are you going to do? Complain? Go ahead, see if I care.
I've ignored the advice and warnings of hundreds of experts in Constitutional Law, Free Speech and Technology. Do you think I'll listen to *you*?
These are my contact details
| http://facebook.com/7209432197 | |
| Phone | 202-224-5042 |
| Online Web Form | http://www.coons.senate.gov/contact/ |
| YouTube | http://www.youtube.com/senatorchriscoons |
| ProPublica SOPA/PIPA record | http://projects.propublica.org/sopa/C001088 |
Free Speech and Good Government are not Partisan
Notice the lack of Political Party affiliations on this site. This was by design.
Free speech is a fundamental concept to the history and laws of the United States. When it comes to campaign contributions, elected officials in all parties have skirted ethics and morals.
The best government money can buy is not a good government at all.
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The sad truth is that politicians like money. That's why Campaign Finance Reform is such a hot -- and important -- topic.
Citizens shouldn't have to compete for representation with lobbyists who funnel cash through PACs and "intermediaries" or "bundlers" -- elected officials should be working for the people, not the wealthy.
A single person can't compete with the hundreds of thousands of lobbyist dollars that candidates typically receive, but together we might be able to.
If you tweet at a Senator or Representative with the hashtag #buythevote, we'll start tracking it. We'll keep a running tally of how many people want their representatives to give back lobbyist dollars before their vote. We'll also track the total number of people and dollars offered to congresspeople for them to represent people, not lobbyists.
Here are some messages you can tweet