May 20, 2019, Dark Money

Despite the torrential rains on Monday, we held our do-over film night of “Dark Money” on Monday. (Our February screening was cancelled due to damaging wind storms.)

Thanks to Mascoma Forward for the use of the auditorium in the Mascoma Valley Regional High School and to POV,  “point of view”,  television’s longest-running showcase for independent non-fiction films, who provided the film for screening.

And many thanks to Rights and Democracy, Open Democracy, Take Back Our Republic, and Wolf PAC, who collaborated with the UVDems and Mascoma Forward on the screening.

The film, Dark Money,  exposed the role of hidden money in our elections and detailed the shocking and vital truth of how American elections are bought and sold.

Our panelists, Jim Rubens (Take Back Our Republic), Rick Bourdon (Open Democracy) and Jodi Newell (Wolf PAC), spoke at the conclusion of the film, and answered questions.

To watch the presentation and Q&A, click on the links below.

Click here for the introduction from the panelists. The take away from Jim Rubens is that our nation’s system of political corruption is as damaging to conservative ideals as it is to progressive’s. Jim believes the Right and Left share policy objectives and concerns and can work together on issues of military restraint, military procurement pork, criminal justice reform, drug policy reform, privacy and government spying, and crony capitalism. The sound may be difficult for some listeners, but you can click the CC icon for closed captions.

Click here for the Q&A session. The Q&A opens with a question from the audience: “Wouldn’t an article 5 amendment process open up the constitution to all sorts of crazy types of proposals? Once the convention is open, anyone can bring up an issue, like balance budget”. Click the CC icon for closed captions.

Put your mouse over the photos below to see titles.

Our next program will be: A Conversation About Institutional Racism, on Monday, June 24th. Save the date!

Photos by Bill Secord. Video by iPad and iPhone.

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