June 6, 2007 - Missoulian

It's time to get naked - regarding the truth about political corruption, that is.

Political activist Matt Singer thinks pharmaceutical companies are driving the country's health care policy, oil companies are getting undeserved tax breaks and billions of dollars are disappearing into Iraq. Although political corruption is not easy to spot, Singer, like many, believes it exists.

"There's not always a lot of direct proof, but there's certainly a lot of circumstantial evidence," he said.

That's why Forward Montana, a progressive political group focused on engaging young voters in social justice issues, is holding the second "Naked Truth" forum to discuss the "indecent exposure of big money in politics" and how it affects the average American, and to provide some ways to deal with the problem.

May 31, 2007 - Missoula Independent

Corruption was the theme of the contentious 2006 midterm elections that saw Democrats take back both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. Montana’s own former Sen. Conrad Burns was caught up in that tide thanks to his connections to disgraced Washington, D.C., lobbyist Jack Abramoff, which made Burns a national political target and the poster boy for Republican influence peddling.

Now a local nonprofit group is hoping to capitalize on that momentum to energize activists to start pushing for clean election reforms. Even though it’s a full year before voters get to cast a ballot in the next federal election, they say there’s no better time to address the topic than the present.

May 8, 2007 - Matt Singer and Jefferson Smith, Missoulian

One hundred years ago, Western states transformed American democracy with the ballot initiative process strengthening citizens’ voices at a time when they often went unheeded.

Today, electronic voting irregularities, hanging chads, and reports of uncounted ballots fuel doubt in our elections.

Fortunately, Western states are responding with ingenuity again. Two reforms – universal vote-by-mail and Election Day Registration (EDR) – are taking root in our Western landscape that promise to strengthen participation for all citizens.  This fall, Missoula will break new ground by combining these reforms.

“Don’t Gamble with Kids’ Health Care”

April 23, 2007 - Release - MISSOULA, Mont. – Missoulians holding large poker chips and signs today told the Montana legislature, “Don’t gamble with kids’ health care.” The rally on the Higgins Street bridge was organized by Forward Montana and Montana People’s Action. It comes just as the Montana legislative session winds down – and the fate of legislation that would expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) hangs in the balance.

March 23, 2007 - Matt Singer, New West

The good news for America is that by all measures the generation currently coming of voting age is among the most publicly minded in years. The decisions that this generation will make will no doubt be different than some of the decisions made by our parents and grandparents (who, thankfully, often disagreed with their own parents and grandparents). But these disagreements are no grounds for exclusion.