Wampum

Supporting PAYGo, campaign-style

One of the little known, but hotly contested issues of the past few weeks has been a requirement that Congressional budgets return to the "pay-as-you-go" requirements first established in 1991, under the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act. Ironically, although initially the brain-child of fiscally conservative Republicans to reign in spending in the Democrat-controlled House, it is now the Democrats who are demanding any increase in spending, or reduction in revenue, be balanced by matching spending cuts or revenue increases. The few Senate Republican hold outs who have sided with Democrats in demanding such responsible budgeting, Snowe and Collins of Maine, Chafee of Rhode Island and McCain of Arizona, are under increasing pressure, both by Congressional party leaders and the Administration. So far, they're not budging.

In solidarity with the Maine House and Senate delegation, all of whom support PAYGo, I've decided to run the remainder of my primary campaign along similar "pay-as-you-go" lines as well. This means that for each major expenditure, I'll raise funds dedicated specifically to that project. That way, my supporters can see where and how their money is spent.

This decision is quite timely, as my first piece of campaign direct mail literature is being printed as I write. Tomorrow, it will be labelled, sorted and mailed to 1700 Democratic households in my district here in Portland. I've included .gifs of both the back and front (it's a 4 panel folded piece) in the extended entry section. The amount to be spent on the literature and mailing:

Printing (union shop, of course): $270.00
Labels: $ 4.50
Postage (1700 x .226 bulk rate): $384.20

Total: $658.70

$658.70. That's the goal for my current fundraiser. As soon as the money is raised, I stop asking until the next big expenditure (probably literature for door-to-door canvassing, in a few weeks.)

If you'd like to help me reach this goal, one large step in my campaign to keep my House District in the hands of a Progressive Democrat, please contribute by clicking on the "Make a Donation" button on the sidebar.

And if you think this is a good, or bad, idea, feel free provide feedback, in comments below or via email. I think that many of us would like to see a little more accountability in political campaigns, and politics in general. This is my attempt, while trying to raise awareness of the PAYGo battle our Dems (and a few good Republicans) in Congress currently face.

Outside panels (4 panel brochure)

Inside panels

Posted by MB Williams at April 6, 2004 03:27 PM | TrackBack