Citizen Equality Act of 2017
[3] On November 2, 2015, Lessig ended his bid for the presidency, citing changes in Democratic Party rules that excluded him from the stage during televised debates.
"[5] He argued that other policy goals could not be realized until campaign financing laws diminish the influence of super PACs and corporate entities over Congressional election results.
His 2011 book Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress—and a Plan to Stop It also investigates a second Convention as a solution to the influence of business interests on legislature.
It contains provisions for increased access to polling places and voter registration agencies for underserved and tribal regions, as well as for absentee ballots and early voting on designated Indian lands.
[10] The latter would require states to administer online voting registration, provide opportunities for correcting clerical errors, and expand random audits of federal election results.
It would institute matching funds for small contributions to congressional and federal elections, as well as limit opportunities in government service positions for those with interests in the private sector.
Thomas Mann, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, responded to his platform that "our problems right now are that we have highly polarized parties and midterm elections that routinely produce gridlock.
"[16] Steven Rosenfeld of AlterNet named Lessig a "case study in the dangers of single-issue politics," maintaining that "... adopting nationwide publicly financed campaigns ... has been the agreed-upon solution among progressive reformers for decades.
Writes Mann, "We don't have the luxury of using the election to try to build a mandate for a set of political reforms that would have no chance of passing in the face of GOP opposition and would be of only incremental utility if they did.
"[15] Lessig has come under fire for his statements expressing apparent support for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's positioning on corporate political influence.
