Newsletter - February 2024

Congress is responsible for funding appropriations and for passing legislation designed to address the critical problems vexing our society. Solutions to these critical problems aren't easy, but funding appropriations and passing legislation should be the easy part. Unfortunately, Congress is frequently unable to do the "easy part," failing to conduct basic business like passing a budget and keeping the government open.

In last month's newsletter, I shared my vision and my expectations of Congress. In support of that vision, I developed eight good government principles that provide a foundation for Congress to meet those expectations. Over the course of this year, I will review each principle, and articulate why each principle is critical to the effectiveness of our Legislative branch.

The first of my good government principles is free and fair elections for all. Given that we are in the midst of an election year, this principle is particularly salient. In his 1960 State of the Union speech, President Eisenhower said, "In the long perspective of history, the right to vote has been one of the strongest pillars of a free society. Our first duty is to protect this right against all encroachment."

Voter trust of Congress is at all time low, with many voters feeling that their legislators aren't working for them.

Having a Congress that truly represents us and meets our expectations starts with representative districts, secure elections, and easy access to the ballot box.

My work with the Center for Electoral Quality and Integrity is designed to support the work of election officials and increase voter confidence by providing an objective framework for evaluating election operations. We are spending much of this year soliciting input from election officials and election experts on whether the Operations System map that we developed with the support of a small group of election officials and election experts, accurately reflects the key activities necessary for free and fair elections.

I encourage you to share the Operations System map with local election officials and get back to me with their feedback and recommendations.

There are a number of other outstanding organizations doing great work to support and safeguard our elections. You can find links to several of them in the resources section of my Elections principle.

Social media posts this month:

• Issue One's latest installment of Faces of Democracy. The series highlights election officials and the heroic work they do to protect our democracy.

• Voice of the People's public consultation on government and elections, which highlights voting reforms and election integrity reforms supported by bipartisan majorities.

• Information on how one Ohio college is working to make politics "saner"

• Impact of funding delays on election administration

Have a great month!

Newsletter - January 2024

Welcome to the January 2024 Speak Up for Good Government newsletter.

During this election year, wading through misinformation, engaging in constructive conversation, and protecting our election will be critical.

The mission and vision of Speak Up for Good Government and my eight good government principles continue to guide my expectations for our government and for Congress.

My vision continues to be a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people". We elect politicians to represent us, but all too often they focus their efforts on their party, their donors, and the next election. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect Congress to serve its constituents by working in good faith to consistently produce legislation designed to address the critical problems in our country.

Unfortunately, we remain very far from realizing that vision. Nonetheless, I remain committed to identifying and supporting organizations whose work supports the good government principles that underpin my vision.

My intention for this year is to devote each newsletter to one of my good government principles. I will attempt to articulate the importance of each principle and provide insight into how each principle supports my vision and mission.

January social media posts:

• I shared Issue One’s newest report, "Dangerous by Design," which details the dangers of social media, and offers possible interventions that could reduce that danger and maximize the positive impact of social media. Although I recommend reading the entire report, here's a link to a summary I've posted on my website.

• I shared information about News Literacy Week. This annual initiative highlights the vital role of news literacy in our democracy, providing people of all ages with the knowledge and tools to become better informed and more civically engaged.

• I shared information about Citizen Connect. Citizen Connect is dedicated to healing our political divides and strengthening our democracy. Citizen Connect's current focus areas are:

  • The 2024 election, starting with a simple nonpartisan, action-oriented page to increase voter participation.

  • Creating a single, simple page focused on "Political Non-Violence" to highlight ways citizens can help make 2024 a peaceful election cycle, before, during and after.

As always, I welcome your engagement and feedback.

Please share this newsletter with others, and like us on Facebook and follow me on LinkedIn and X!

Have a great month.

Dangerous by Design

In December 2023, Issue One published a powerful report, Dangerous by Design that details the dangers of social media, and offers possible interventions that could reduce the danger and maximize the positive impact of social media.

Although I recommend reading the entire report, here's a summary of its findings.

• In a largely unregulated environment, social media amplifies the most extreme content, promoting addictive behaviors and company profits with an army of lobbyists to protect their interests and agenda

• Eight out of 10 surveyed in a recent national poll — including 84% of Republicans and 83% of Democrats — want to hold social media companies accountable for the harm they are doing, and strongly support federal legislation that increases transparency, ensures privacy, and protects children.

• Legislative principles articulated in the report:

  • Our children, our communities, and our national security must come first. No longer can Big Tech be allowed to design addictive products, harvest user data, and manipulate users to maximize their profits with no regard to the consequences.

  • Americans have a fundamental right to privacy. Congress must stop social media platforms from collecting our information without permission, and collect only the data they need to operate effectively and in the interest of consumers.

  • Social media products must protect the mental, physical, and developmental health of American children by design and by default. This includes ending addictive practices like the endless scroll and targeted advertising to minors.

  • We have a right to know how social media technology is controlling the content we see and to understand the impact on our health and well-being. Parents, policymakers, researchers, and all Americans should be able to easily understand how these platforms are designed and operated.

  • Social media platforms must adopt safeguards to prioritize fact-based information to stop foreign and domestic adversaries from spreading false or misleading information.

  • Social media companies must be open and transparent. Social media’s secretive nature makes it nearly impossible to design effective, fact-based policies. Laws that require that social media companies make information available to researchers and the public — including statistics about content moderation, data about viral content, and descriptions of recommendation algorithms — would be an obvious starting point. That would mean regular and complete disclosure of key design, content, and data-collection decisions. This transparency must also include information relating to online advertising and content pushing, including microtargeting, in order to prevent the amplification of harmful content.

  • Social media platforms must no longer be used as tools by foreign and domestic adversaries. Congress must mitigate the ability for bad actors to use social media to sow distrust in American institutions, recruit and radicalize, and threaten our national security.

  • Social media companies’ core business model must be fundamentally changed away from the pervasive monitoring, tracking, and sale of user data. Comprehensive privacy protections are crucial to restore user ownership of their own data and end social media’s extractive, manipulative practices.

  • Social media companies must reverse the tide of self-perpetuating echo chambers on their platforms. For social media companies to live up to their own missions to “bring the world closer,” they must rethink systems that send users to their extreme corners.

  • Social media companies must stop using algorithms to elevate the most extreme content. Algorithms that amplify inflammatory content, filter users into rabbit holes of questionable content, and recommend joining hate groups must be redesigned.

  • Social media platforms should adopt measures that slow down the speed at which things are shared and cause people to pause and think before sharing harmful or untrue content. Creating “friction,” or pauses, in the system to slow down the spread of material can and should be built into the platforms.

  • Social media companies must build better capacity to ensure veracity. If a social media company provides its services anywhere, its value of sharing accuracy and facts must be included and built into the platforms, including overseas.