Ex Wisconsin Senator Feingold Starts “Progressives United” Campaign

Former U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, defeated in last year’s election, has started his own political action committee (PAC) in response to increasing corporate power over elections:  “Progressives United.”

Feingold made a name for himself, during three terms in the U.S. Senate, as a principled politician; Feingold was the only senator to vote against the “Patriot Act,” which granted government agencies broad surveillance powers over American citizens, and was recognized by colleagues on the far right for a pro-gun rights stance that pre-dated his political career.

Progressives United is Feingold’s attempt to form a grassroots movement aimed at countering and overturning the infamous Citizens United Supreme Court decision that many see as allowing unlimited corporate influence on elections.  The group will also support progressive candidates at the local, state and national levels and act as a watchdog on the media and elected officials.

From an article in the Huffington Post:

“In my view – and the view of many people – it’s one of the most lawless decisions in the history of our country,” said Feingold of Citizens United in an interview with The Huffington Post.  “The idea of allowing corporations to have unlimited influence on our democracy is very dangerous, obviously.  That’s exactly what it does … Things were like this 100 years ago in the United States, with the huge corporate and business power of the oil companies and others. But this time it’s like the Gilded Age on steroids.”

Feingold, who is now also teaching law school at Marquette University and writing a book on foreign policy, has first-hand experience with the effects of big money in politics.  While he shunned outside spending on his behalf in his campaigns, his 2010 opponent, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, was the beneficiary of millions of dollars from conservative interest groups.  After his win, Johnson even went to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s national headquarters to personally thank CEO Tom Donohue for the lobbying group’s unsolicited support of his candidacy.

Feingold said that Progressives United will follow the example of his own campaigns and not take any soft money or unlimited contributions. “We’re going to be reporting every dime that we get, whether required by law or not,” he insisted. “Every penny of every contribution — a practice I used as a U.S. senator. So it will be very different from the 527s and other groups that have been spawned by Citizens United. It will be 100 percent accountable, and that is an important principle that I believe in that we’ll follow to the T with Progressives United, as a way of contrasting it to what’s going on with the corporate money power that’s been unleashed by Citizens United.”

This post was written by

Gabriel Caplett – who has written 106 posts on Headwaters - Community Journalism for the Great Lakes.

Gabriel Caplett is a writer and market farmer from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

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