Last week, hundreds of Americans for Campaign Reform members contacted their Representatives and Senators to reinforce their support for publicly funded elections. It is critical that our elected officials understand that we, the American people, will not rest until we have regained control of our political system.

View full size. Word cloud created from messages sent to Congress by Americans for Campaign Reform supporters. Created by Wordle.net and shared under Creative Commons license.

What follows are selected excerpts of messages that public funding advocates recently sent to Congress. Americans for Campaign Reform does not necessarily endorse every point made below:

"I urge you to support any proposed legislation to publicly fund all elections. The overall cost to the citizens of our country would be far less than the costs incurred by letting interest groups provide funding with the attendent negligence of legislation that would benefit the citizenery."

"Voluntary public funding of federal campaigns would give our elected officials more time to communicate with voters and less need to ask for money from special interests. I support full public funding of federal elections. I'd rather have my federally-elected politicians beholden to the people at large than to a bunch of deep-pocketed contributors. Politicians: be in the pocket of the electorate at large!"

"It is time for our government officials to be beholding to the American public and the preservation of this Republic. Americans want our elections back: support public funding campaigns and put an end to all the special interests and corporations governing this country."

"I believe fair, healthy elections are the cornerstone of our Democracy. The system is broken. Congress must create new election laws requiring both publicly founded elections and media requirements for prosenting educational election programing on the issues, not the polls and election horse races. This is one of my most important issues of the day. As my representative, do something to toward publicly funded elections!"

"I have been a supporter of campaign finance reform since the very first effort was made by the proposed legislation of Senators Feingold & McCain. As long as there are loopholes in campaign funding there will vested interests using them...the only answer is public funding of federal elections and it has to happen NOW!"

"just6dollars.org has as comprehensive a take on this issue as I've seen. They advocate that we can run our public elections for just 6 dollars a person. That's incredibly cheap freedom and democracy if you ask me."

"I urge you to support any proposed legislation to publicly fund all elections. The overall cost to the citizens of our country would be far less than the costs incurred by letting interest groups provide funding with the attendent negligence of legislation that would benefit the citizenry."

"Public funding of elections will eliminate the need for our politicians to have millions of dollars to spare simply to serve the country. Public funding will open the field to candidates who may serve brilliantly who have been previously unable due to financial constraints."

"Public funding will substantially lower the practice of pandering to special interest groups who make huge campaign contributions to help push their own agendas. Politicians have truly been in a bind because their survival depends on such large amounts of money."

"With public funding we can truly begin to consider the interests of the people as a whole. We will be encouraged to spend our resources more wisely for the good of the entirity of the diverse populations of our country."

"I support public funding of elections. I believe we could truly revolutionize the American political process in a productive way that will benefit the country."

"As you well know, funding a federal election campaign is very expensive. Unless the rules are changed to make public funding a viable alternative to the big bucks private funding and 527 organization spending on elections, the days of citizens like yourself running are over.

Please support needed legislation to correct the gaps and omissions and make publicly funded elections realistic. We Oregonians want you and your successors to spend your time legislating and not fund raising for expensive election campaigns."

"You have probably heard of the just6dollars.org which is an organization that supports the public funding of federal elections. It is far past time that we take big money out of our election process. How many good people say "no" to running for office because the price is so high? And once in office the goal becomes raising a war chest in order to stay in office. And how many elections are influenced by big money with the expectation of favors in the future? Please give this idea your support."

"I think publicly funded congressional campaigns are absolutely essential for the health of our government. I am certainly no expert in the matter, but it frustrates me to know that those who can donate more will undoubtedly have a greater influence on our affairs than I, even if my ideas or opinions are more realistic. Furthermore, it annoys me that my elected officials who I have elected to serve me and my peers is spending an inordinate amount of time trying to raise money for his or her next campaign or the campaigns of his or her peers. It just doesn't seem right to me. Please support public funding legislation; I think it is of the utmost importance for our country. Thank you."