How to Take Back Government

You may not have millions of dollars to donate to your Senator's or Representative's reelection campaign. But you probably do have a dollar. And there are also probably tens of thousands of other people - just in your district, and millions elsewhere - who feel the same way that you do on the issues.

Theoretically, if you could somehow all work together, and if it didn't take too much effort, your collective donations of $1.00 each could add up to be larger than those of the wealthy, the special interests, and even the politically connected. With your pooled contributions, you could easily outbid these monied interests for influence. And you could thus easily motivate your representatives to vote the way you want them to instead.

Enabling that to happen is what Take Back Government is all about.

TakeBackGovernment.com Enables You to Influence Your Representatives on Any Issue that's before Congress through a "Contingent Campaign Contribution" of Just $1.00

The way TakeBackGovernment.com works is simple.

Let's say there's a bill before Congress, and it's up for a vote. And let's say you want your Representative to vote in favor of it. To express that opinion (remember the Supreme Court said that "money is speech") you make what we refer to as a "Contingent Campaign Contribution" (basically, a pledge) of $1.00 to your Representative on the Take Back Government Web site.

• If they vote the way you want them to vote on the bill, we will forward your donation to your Representative, in your name.
• If they vote against the way you want them to vote on the bill however, we will return your dollar to you, and you can opt to leave it in your Take Back Government account for later use, you can donate it to a competing candidate in the next election, or you can invest it in another bill.

It's like "a buck for a bill." Your Representative doesn't get your $1.00 campaign contribution (or those from other people who feel as you do on the issue) until and unless they vote the way you want them to vote on the bills that you care about.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is the Minimum Contingent Campaign Contribution?

There is no minimum or maximum donation. For bills before Congress, the only Contingent Campaign Contribution that you can make is $1.00 per bill or legislative action per representative. The reason for this is to prevent wealthy donors and special interests from having more influence over your representatives than you, as an ordinary citizen, do.

How Can My Little $1.00 Contingent Campaign Contribution Possibly Influence My Representative?

One donation of $1.00 obviously can't possibly influence a Congressional Representative or Senator to vote one way if they have a special interest offering them $5,000 to vote another way. But if 10,000 of your neighbors all feel the same way, and they all offer $1.00 towards their representative's reelection campaign, now you're talking about real money.

Your representative would be foolish to turn down $10,000 and vote against their constituents, and instead take $5,000 from a special interest for their vote - especially if they didn't have to play Dialing for Dollars to get it. They would also, under this pressure, be foolish to write or support laws that don't appeal to the widest possible constituency.

As you can imagine, this suggests that getting your like-minded neighbors to make Contingent Campaign Contributions is a worthwhile activity. It's certainly more productive than calling your representative. It's a lot more effective than complaining about the problem of partisanship and money in politics. And with tools like Facebook and Twitter, it's easy to do.

How Will My Representative Know about My Contingent Campaign Contribution?

All Contingent Campaign Contributions will be available for your representatives to see on the TakeBackGovernment.com Web site. You will also have the option of identifying yourself as being associated with that Contingent Campaign Contribution, if you want, when it is forwarded to them.

The most important thing is that your representative will know (as will you) how their constituents (i.e. you and your neighbors) feel, based on the number of donors supporting each position before they vote on the bill - because we will publish the data on this site. No longer will the validity of polls be debated. And even more importantly, no longer will a politician be able to say that their constituents want them to vote a certain way if it isn't true.

Instead, your representatives will gain the most if they better represent their constituents' wishes, instead of the wishes of the wealthy and politically connected.

What If My Representative Doesn't Vote the Way I Want Them To?

Contingent Campaign Contributions are forwarded to your representative only after they vote. If they don't vote the way you want them to, we won't release your donation to them. You can either get your dollar back, or you can leave it in your account to use on another bill, or you can give it to a competing candidate in your district's next Congressional or Senatorial race.

What If More People in My District Offer Contingent Campaign Contributions to My Representative to Vote Against My Position than For It?

Given the divisions in our society, it is bound to happen that you will have neighbors with whom you disagree. This is feature of democracy, not a bug. And your neighbors are entitled to their opinions.

Here's what you should keep in mind:

• A standard and affordable donation of $1.00 levels the playing field. No one can have more or less influence on your representatives than anyone else based on how much money they have, nor on how loudly they scream.


• For any issue, there will generally be two pots of money, one "for" and the other "against", with regard to how your Representative should vote. Your Representative can certainly choose to take the smaller pot (and, in effect, vote with the minority) if they feel, based on the issue and other factors, compelled to vote that way. Again, that is a feature of representative democracy; it is not a bug.

The good news is that if your interests are not reflected in your representative's vote, you will not have spent any money for a lost cause. And your voice will have been clearly heard, unlike when you call your Representative's office.

Can I Make a Contingent Campaign Contribution on TakeBackGovernment to a Representative of Another District?

Yes. In fact, this is a good way to extend your influence. This is because, while a representative from another district will ignore your phone call, they cannot ignore your Contingent Campaign Contribution.

Are There Limits as to How Many Contingent Campaign Contributions I Can Make?

By law, you may contribute up to $2700 to an individual candidate per election cycle. Reports on the TakeBackGovernment Web site will help you keep track of your Contingent Campaign Contributions.

But the irony of it is that, while more than 6,000 bills are introduced each year, only around 5% ever get voted on. And nearly half of those have no effect on the typical voter. This means that you could weigh in on virtually every issue that might have an impact on you, and it would cost you less than $10/month.

For many people, that's less than they spend on lottery tickets, and it has a significantly greater probability of paying off.

Why Can't I Just Donate My Dollar Directly?

In most cases, Congressional Representatives require a minimum donation of as much as $25.00 on their Web sites. This is because they want you to donate as much as possible, so they suggest a minimum amont that they think people will tolerate. But it's also because they want your money more than they want your opinions (which, notice that they don't ask for with your donation). By combining the Contingent Campaign Contributions of many voters like you, however, TakeBackGovernment enables you to have a lot more influence for a lot less money.

You can still donate directly to anyone you want, up to the statutory limits, but your direct donation will likely not have nearly the impact.

Why Shouldn't I Just Donate to a Political Party or Special Interest Group?

Freedom of association is one of our most cherished rights. But no group or party can perfectly represent any individual's views on every issue. TakeBackGovernment enables you to agree with one group on one issue, and disagree with them on another issue.

TakeBackGovernment makes another fundamental right, the right to petition your government, a lot more effective for you and more manageable for your representatives.

What If Congress Changes a Bill, or I Change My Mind?

You can change your position on a bill, for any reason, up until the day before voting starts. This is so your Representative can know how their constituents feel before they cast their vote.

How Will I Know What's in a Bill?

We will make every effort to publish the content of any bill before Congress where we are accepting Contingent Campaign Contributions. This way you can make an informed decision with regard to your position on it.

Why Do We Focus on Legislation?

One of the biggest problems in politics is that politicians say one thing in order to get elected, and then they do something different once they're in office. We don't care what a politician says. We only care about what he or she does (i.e. how he or she votes on bills) once they're in office.

Of course, some pundits will say that, if voters don't like how their Representative voted on various pieces of legislation, they'll just vote them out of office. But we no longer believe that to be true, which is why we created TakeBackGovernment.com.

Extra Credit: Feel free to discuss the impact of partisanship, the media, gerrymandering, money (of course), demagoguery, incumbency and outright lying on electoral outcomes that are contrary to the will of the people.

Are Donations Made through TakeBackGovernment.com Tax Deductable?

Donations to politicians are never tax deductable, nor are donations to political parties, regardless of who you make them through.

Who Is Take Back Government LLC?

Take Back Government is a user-supported onganization based in New Jersey. We are non-partisan, which means we support neither the Democratic nor Republican parties. And we don't care if you're pro-life, pro gun control, liberal, conservative, white, black, or green with yellow stripes.

The only thing we care about is giving you, the individual voter, a way to have your voice heard - above the influence of the wealthy and special interests, on whatever issues you care about.

How Much Does Using TakeBackGovernment.com Cost?

Administrative costs (e.g. credit card fees, development, hosting and forwarding Contingent Campaign Contributions to reresentatives and politicians) amount to approximately 10% of the value of your Contingent Campaign Contributions. To cover these costs you will be charged $1.00 when you fund your account with $10.00, which will enable you to make 10 Contingent Campaign Contributions of $1.00 each. We also offer recurring billing so you can always have funds available when legislation comes up that you care about.

Why $1.00?

1) Because you can afford it, and
2) Because George Washington.

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