Impressively, Matt Stoller of IPac noticed my pet issues entry through somebody’s incoming referrer link or something, and wrote me personally about IPac’s goals and methods. Because I’m egotistical, it totally worked; because his email was a well-written statement, I’m reprinting it here:
Brendan,
Thanks for your comments on your blog about IPac. We love Downhill Battle and the EFF, and we are ideologically aligned with what they are doing. The reason we are designated as a political action committee is because that is the only legal designation that allows a group to give to political candidates. I suspect, though, your concerns run a bit deeper, hitting the general unseemly nature of the political, electoral, and lobbying process.
Part of IPac’s goal is to demystify the legislative process and get politicians to openly deliberate on the web about what they are doing so that we can reengage and get rid of this system of quasi-bribery. Right now, Congressmen put these bills through voice votes, so the public can’t even track who voted for what.
In the short-term, what IPac is doing is trying to get politicians to realize that there is a cost to cutting off innovation. I would hope that you consider joining our mailing list at www.ipaction.org, just for a few months, as I suspect there’s value in acquainting yourself a bit with the political world on the issues you care about.
Anyway, let me know if you have any questions, and once again, thanks for the feedback.
best,
Matt Stoller
IPac
Like I said, it worked. I’m not pulling out the credit card quite yet, but I’m watching with interest now, and I am on the list.