A bipartisan group of former members of Congress and ex-governors is banding together to put a new spin on a long-standing cause: reducing the influence of big money in American elections.
The ReFormers Caucus, as the group of more than 100 former officeholders is known, plans to kick off its effort Nov. 5 with an event on Capitol Hill. It’s all part of a push by a group called Issue One to put the spotlight on overhauling the system.
Goals include boosting small donations to campaigns, finding ways to restrict political contributions from lobbyists and unmasking secret contributions made to tax-exempt groups that are active in politics.
The boldfaced political names in the group range from former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and former Utah governor Jon Huntsman to Leon Panetta, a former California congressman who also ran the CIA and the Defense Department. Some, such as Daschle, have ties to the lobbying business themselves.