Lost in all the noise of the campaign finance scandals in Washington are the efforts of hundreds of grassroots organizations nationwide that are fighting to expose and reduce the influence of private money on political campaigns.

Over the past several days, we’ve gone to different parts of the country to hear what grassroots groups are doing to challenge the role of money in politics.

Today we’re joined by Scott Douglas, the Executive Director of the Greater Birmingham Ministries. The Alabama-based group provides direct services to low-income people and, in recent years, it has begun to take an active role in campaign finance issues.