You all are tearing up the letters to the editor page - this is terrific! After the front page, the letters to the editor page is the mostly read section of the paper, so this is the way to get the word out about Clean Elections, and the Fair Elections Now Act in the Senate. Keep reading for what Clean Elections activists are writing.

The Chicago Sun-Times has a great article on the Fair Elections Now Act, praising its potential to reign in campaign spending and produce a Congress mroe responsive to the needs of constituents. Overall, a very clear explanation of the bill, and a pragmatic enumeration of its benefits.

Deborah Burger, President of the California Nurses Association, knows as well as anyone the effects our current campaign finance system has on health care policy: while HMOs write checks up and down Capitol Hill, we watch insurance premiums spike and affordable health care move further and further out of the grasp of ordinary people. That's why she's excited by what the Fair Elections Now Act could mean for comprehensive healthcare reform.

Likening the Fair Elections Now Act to a campaign finance revolution, the Philadelphia Daily News heralds the work of Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) in introducing a bill that represents a simultaneously far-reaching and practical solution to the money in politics woes of Congress.

From the editorial:

The Baltimore Sun tells the Maryland legislature that if the latest revelations of corruption among their ranks are making them nervous they need to get serious about passing Clean Elections: The message of the transcripts is that companies such as Comcast are expected to do favors for a top leader in the General Assembly. This isn't how public policy ought to be conducted.

The text of public financing bills introduced yesterday in the Senate and the House will be available online in the next few days if you'd like to read them for yourself. The Fair Elections Now Act (Senate) is here and the Clean Money Clean Elections Act (House) will be here.

Homestate newspapers of both Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) covered their introduction of the Fair Elections Now Act yesterday.

Ari Berman at The Nation writes on the introduction of the Fair Elections Now Act today by Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Arlen Specter (R-PA). Berman notes the prominence of the two sponsoring Senators and expresses hope that "the conversation is shifting, from how corrupt Washington is to how to clean it up."

Today marks a major milestone in the work to win full public financing of congressional elections. Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) have announced their introduction of the Fair Elections Now Act to bring spending limits and full public financing to elections for Congress. Rep. John Tierney (D-MA) will lead up the companion bill, the Clean Money Clean Elections Act, in the House.

Public Campaign's President and CEO Nick Nyhart, spoke in praise of the bill introduction:

What are we really fighting for when we embark on campaign finance reform? Mark Schmitt, of the New American Foundation and The Decembrist, opens an engaging dialogue on TPM Cafe urging reform-minded folks to not get bogged down in the details of campaign finance and to keep our eyes on the ball: using policy (like Clean Elections) to create opportunities for more people to become involved in politics and spark social change.