Protest: We must get money out of politics

I just spent two weeks in Washington, D.C., to join the Democracy Spring protest calling for congressional hearings on voting rights and campaign finance reform.

My wife and I were arrested twice; once we were detained 8½ hours in handcuffs and later detained for 3 hours. Protesters from all over the country were subjected to 1,400 arrests in 11 days, which is a 21st century record.

Though many news organizations and social media covered the event, It is sad that the corporate press did not. It has been estimated that the total evening and weekend TV coverage was 29 seconds.

We did get a better response from about 90 House lawmakers who signed a letter asking for hearings on five important pieces of legislation: the Voter Empowerment Act, Government By the People Act, Democracy for All Amendment, Automatic Voter Registration Act and Voting Rights Advancement Act.

The New York Times reported in June 2015 that 84 percent of Americans felt that money has too much influence in politics. Until we get the money out of politics, we cannot fix the many problems plaguing our country.

This story was originally published April 25, 2016 at 1:35 PM with the headline "Protest: We must get money out of politics."