Non-profit groups attempt to fill the political void

When faced with difficult problems that pose unclear solutions, we often delegate the duty of governing to our politicians. But, over the past several years, it has become increasingly clear that our elected officials are struggling with how to effectively address the problems facing our country.  As more and more voters accuse politicians of putting their personal agendas ahead of civic responsibility, a handful of wealthy individuals appears willing to finance a number of fresh initiatives and novel reforms.

The Advancement Project, a non-profit based in Los Angeles with the goal of "engineer large-scale systems to remedy inequality, expand opportunity and open paths to upward mobility"  is looking to jump into the state initiative battle with a proposal to raise funds for our ailing public school system with a series of tax increases, primarily landing on the wealthiest of Californians. While this plan resembles the "tax the rich!" mantra being shouted from parks across the country, this plan is funded by the same group who would foot most of the bill--the rich. We will cover some of the more specific details of the proposal as they are made publicly available.

Molly Munger, President and co-director of the Advancement project, is a successful and wealthy civil rights attorney. Her father, Charles Munger Jr., has spent millions of dollars on non-partisan reforms in California including Proposition 11 that established independent re-districting.  He also supports the Independent Voter Project, author of the "Open Primary" initiative passed in 2010 and publisher of IVN.us.

For more information about upcoming initiatives in California, you can visit the websites of the Advancement Project, The Think Long Committee, and California Forward.