All I Want for Christmas Is My Democracy Back

Democracy in Distress. Please help! 

Democratic National Committee
Representative Nancy Pelosi
Senator Chuck Schumer
Governor Roy Cooper

Dear Democratic Leaders,

I'm a citizen in gerrymandered district NC11. While we were not successful in getting our Democratic candidate elected, I donated what I could to support his efforts, as well as many other Democrat's campaigns, both in the House, Senate and some Governor races. I donated my time in a variety of efforts to get out the vote.  I also lifted my voice, every single day, for the last few years. Clearly, I was not alone.

The amount of money that was spent by individual contributors (me and many others), in an attempt to compete with large PAC and SuperPAC donations, is nothing less than gross waste. Imagine how many homeless vets we could have housed, or orphaned children we could have helped. I'm certain our forefathers never dreamed that citizens would have to financially compete with corporations to get our voices heard.

This must be corrected.

The blame lies in many places. As citizens, we must own part of the blame for not paying enough attention to politics for too long, and allowing those who wish to corrupt, free rein. Democracy is a ship that requires a captain to steer it. We, the citizens, are that captain. We must steer the ship. I assure you, we are steering now.

Look at the money that came from individual contributors, through Democratic organizations and to individual campaigns. Take this letter and multiply it by all those individual contributors, and hear our voice:

We need campaign finance reform. We do not want to spend so much money getting our voices heard. We are not here to employ and support a massive campaign system. We prefer to spend that money on making our country better and helping each other. This system must be made efficient.

Still, I don't regret it. This is where we are now and it had to be done. However, I insist you work toward changing this in the future. We should not have to fight so hard, and spend so much to have our voices heard.

As you consider how to use our new found power, I want to share my priorities. You can consider this my Christmas Wish List.

Protect the Mueller Investigation

I don't care if you have to shut down the entire federal government to do it. Do it. Get it done. Our national sovereignty is at stake. States should prepare to help the most needy in the case of a shutdown. This may be a long battle.

Strengthen Democracy

The Will of the People must once again ring through the Halls of Congress and in our State Houses. Once that is done, all other policies become easier to pass, because most Americans are not that far apart on most policy.

Fix Election Problems

We need federal minimum election standards. I want:

• Paper ballots.
• An optional receipt documenting our votes.
• An online account where we can privately check that our vote still matches what shows on our receipt.
• A national hotline where we can report discrepancies.
• Automatic auditing of a sampling of the paper ballots to make sure they match the online count, in all states, in all cases. A close race should not be required. Auditing deters fraud/hacking. If discrepancies are found, a full recount should be done.
• A mandatory full recount in the case of close races.
• A small tax credit for all who vote.
• Civics education nationwide. Our system is confusing and not understanding the process is a big reason young voters don't participate.
• Laws that hold candidates, their teams and vendors, and election officials, and elected officials,  accountable, under threat of serious jail time and disqualification from running for any office, for voter suppression. No person who has any connection to, or benefit from an election should participate in any activity, purposefully, or through gross negligence, to suppress the vote.

Outlaw Individually Targeted Political Ads and Fear Campaigns

Not near enough national attention has been paid to the targeting of individuals with political ads. This is harmful to society, because it creates a different reality of the state of our country. Talk to the American Psychological Association (APA) about it and seek their expertise. We must all live in the same reality and have a common understanding of where we are so we can form a common vision of how we need to change. Individual targeting gives people a different sense of reality, a different sense of now.

Further, fear campaigns are a vile abuse on the individual and must end. They exploited individual weaknesses. Can you imagine being high on the neurotic scale and getting pounded daily by ISIS and MS-13 fear campaigns? That is psychological assault. Ask the APA about the damage my fellow Americans are suffering from this.

We have been downgraded to a "flawed democracy" for the second year in a row, by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), due to the doubts about our elections. Our trust has wavered and this must be corrected.

Thank you for listening to my voice. As my civic duty requires, I will be watching your actions and I will be holding you accountable by my future votes and contributions.

Lisanne Lombardo
Citizen of the United States
NC11, Candler, North Carolina

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