WASHINGON – Yesterday presidential candidate Martin O’Malley released his agenda for taking on the destructive effects of big money in our democracy. In July, People For the American Way and twelve other organizations released a comprehensive platform on fighting big money in politics and called on each presidential candidate to endorse the set of policies, many of which are included in O’Malley’s plan.

People For the American Way Executive Vice President Marge Baker issued the following statement:

“Martin O’Malley has released a strong proposal aimed at fixing our broken campaign finance system. In particular, his support for a constitutional amendment to overturn decisions like Citizens United echoes the calls for reform across the country, and should be applauded.

“There are some aspects in which O’Malley’s agenda falls short of the comprehensive policy platform released by leading democracy groups. But his proposal is a strong step in the right direction, and we look forward to hearing more from his campaign going forward.”

Reforming our money in politics system is a top concern for Americans across the board. New national polling released this week by Bloomberg Politics found that 78 percent of Americans believe that the Supreme Court Citizens United decision should be overturned. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll this summer found that when ranking top concerns about the 2016 election, a third of respondents highlighted “the sway that companies and wealthy individuals may have over the outcome” – more than any other issue asked about in the poll.

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