CORRUPTION BUSTERS • 2020 NEWS
Baltimore Sun Op-ed on Dark Money (June 2022)
Corruption Busters Newsletter
Dispatches on the state of holding power accountable and assuring fair elections during the pandemic
CORRUPTION BUSTERS 10 November 16, 2020
Infections, Death, and Suffering While Congress and President Do Nothing
Much Bailout Spending Wasted While Lack of Oversight Continues
Big Money Handcuffs Our Government
Count Every Vote! Maryland Campaign Was Successful
CORRUPTION BUSTERS 9 August 27, 2020
Volunteers Can Save the Election
Corruption is Bipartisan and Systemic
Nearly 11% Considered Suicide in One Month
CORRUPTION BUSTERS 8 August 6, 2020
Honor the Memory of John Lewis by Taking Action on the 55th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act
This Depression Is Hurting Families
Money in Politics and COVID Corruption
CORRUPTION BUSTERS 7 July 21, 2020
Will Congress Help the People & Save the Election?
Gory Details of Possible Election Chaos
Other Pandemic News
CORRUPTION BUSTERS 6 July 2, 2020
A Crisis as Profound as the Civil War
Inequality is the Kiss of Death
Mitch McConnell is Going on Vacation
CORRUPTION BUSTERS 5 June 13, 2020
Fighting for Fair Elections and Exposing Corruption
Excruciating Suffering Amidst Federal Paralysis
Congress' and the Administration's Scattershot Approach
CORRUPTION BUSTERS 4 May 23, 2020
Federal Reserve's Pandemic Response
Federal Government's Response to Human Need and Fair Elections
Bonus Resources
CORRUPTION BUSTERS 3 May 6, 2020
Pelosi Diddles While Virus Burns
Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury Actions
Threats to Elections
CORRUPTION BUSTERS 2 April 22, 2020
Inefficient CARES Act
Fed Buying Questionable Securities
Pelosi's Choice for Oversight Commission
CORRUPTION BUSTERS 1 April 12, 2020
Severe Economic Jeopardy
What Could Go Wrong?
Oversight
2020 News
November election
Compilation of media links: Get Money Out – Maryland was a co-founder of Count Every Vote! Maryland, a campaign for a pledge that every lawful vote be counted. The campaign was endorsed by 78 faith and civic organizations and 56 elected officials. One of the campaign’s main goals was to have Gov. Hogan insist that every lawful vote be counted. He responded forcefully and repeatedly.
August 3
The Transition Integrity Report has published its report—a comprehensive and serious study of how the presidential election may be undermined, and how We the People can successfully respond if Trump tries to remain in power unlawfully. "We assess with a high degree of likelihood that November’s elections will be marked by a chaotic legal and political landscape. We also assess that President Trump is likely to contest the result by both legal and extra-legal means, in an attempt to hold onto power.... The purpose of this report is not to frighten, but to spur all stakeholders to action."
GMOM Board member Doug Miller has an op-ed published in The Baltimore Sun.
July 18
Local election boards complain about Governor Hogan's November election plan.
July 17
“The U.S. Supreme Court has left in place a lower court order that likely will prevent hundreds of thousands of felons in Florida from voting in the November election. It is the fourth time that the court has refused to intervene to protect voting rights this year.”
June 27
Local election officials in Maryland have spoken out for the first time and have proposed a detailed plan. They say that there would not be sufficient polling places or election judges to hold a traditional election. Republican elected officials, though, have called for a traditional, in-person election. Gov. Hogan has delayed action beyond the time that election officials requested a decision.
June 22
"Ahead of November's election, Republicans face an intense Democratic challenge to unseat Donald Trump, with dark money pouring in on both sides, and consumers who are significantly more vocal and critical of corporations' politics, especially in the wake of Citizens United. But this year's election also coincides with the decennial census, from which demographic data helps determine the number of seats in the House. The state legislatures elected this fall will be in charge of drawing almost all the maps."
June 6
Police unions spend big money to stop reforms.
June 4
Native Americans face exceptional obstacles to voting, a new study documents.
June 2
"House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) has expressed support for an early return to session to address police reforms. The National FOP’s PAC [Fraternal Order of Police] has contributed more to Hoyer between 2014 and 2020 than any other representative.”
May 28
One of the only federal checks on campaign contributions is being done away with by the Trump administration. The new policy will allow some nonprofits to conceal who their biggest money donors are and will allow foreign cash into U.S. election campaigns.
May 26
NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave immunity to nursing home execs after big campaign donations—now people are dying.
May 20
Presidential candidate Joe Biden signals that big donors should contribute to Priorities USA SuperPAC. Whatever happened to the ban on coordination between campaigns and SuperPACs?
May 5
Touchscreen voting machines pose particular danger of infection and election chaos; they must be completely powered down to be sanitized.
April 24
Seventeen more Wisconsin communities vote to overturn Citizens United, under the leadership of Wisconsin United to Amend, bringing the total number of successful local referenda in the state to 173.
April 21
Sarah Bloom Raskin was a Governor of the Federal Reserve Board and then Assistant Treasury Secretary in the Obama administration. She is the wife of Rep. Jamie Raskin. She explains the need for transparency in the CARES Act and related actions by the Federal government and also indicates that a large-scale restructuring of the entire economy may be imminent. It could heighten economic inequality and monopoly, or it could help build a more equal and sustainable system.
March 18
Under the leadership of two new presiding officers in Maryland—House Speaker Adrienne Jones and Senate President Bill Ferguson—the legislature adjourned on an emergency basis due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the Democracy Amendment Resolution was not considered.
March 6
Maryland Matters covers the Democracy Amendment Resolution.
March 5
View the hearing SJ 2 in the Maryland Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee. Committee Chair and prime sponsor Sen. Paul Pinsky was absent due to family illness.
March 4
GMOM Board member Doug Miller has an op-ed published in Maryland Matters.
March 2
View the hearing of HJ 10 in the House Rules Committee (starts around 2:32:00).
February 7
Maryland Del. Sheila Ruth introduces HJ 10 in the House of Delegates, companion to SJ 2, the Democracy Amendment Resolution.
January 31
GMOM Board member Sheila Ruth is appointed a Maryland State Delegate from District 44B, Baltimore County.
Massachusetts Commission recommends using Article V Convention path to a U.S. Constitutional amendment.
January 27
Sen. Paul Pinsky introduces SJ 2, the Democracy Amendment Resolution with every Maryland Senate committee chair, the Majority Leader Nancy King, and the Majority Whip Susan Lee as co-sponsors. Last year, we fell one short of the six votes required. For reasons of legislative tradition, the Senate must pass this measure before the House will consider it.