#Democracy #Congress #Elections #Policy #donors Democracy Dollars and Attacking Dark Money
Money has overrun our politics, and that needs to change. Corporations and the wealthy have enough advantages without being able to influence every election by putting up millions of dollars and bending the ear of every candidate and officeholder. We will return to the essence of democracy - where each person’s vote is heard and treated equally. I will gladly overturn Citizens United and return the American government to its people. This would also improve policymaking as leaders can turn toward solutions instead of constantly trying to raise money for their next campaign. Let’s get big money out of politics once and for all—we’ll all be much better off for it. I don’t love calling rich people either, nor does any sane person. The big problem right now with running for office is that you have to get the money on your side and the people on your side, and these are two different things. Imagine if every American had $100 Dollars to give to their favorite candidate—then if you get 10,000 people behind you, you’d get $1 million.
The trend over the past half century has been to allow unfettered spending in elections. This culminated in the decision made in Citizens United, allowing unlimited money to be spent by corporations in elections.
It’s no surprise that this has resulted in mega-donors flooding the pipes of our democracy.
ATTACK DARK MONEY in POLITICS
Corporations and the wealthy have enough advantages without being able to influence every election by putting up millions of dollars and bending the ear of every candidate and officeholder.
In the wake of the Citizens United ruling (and the lesser-known Buckley v. Valeo decision), money has flooded our political system like never before. A handful of wealthy individuals can now raise a voice louder than millions of ordinary Americans put together. The flood of money in politics has led to increased mistrust and disenchantment in our government, and rightly so. Big money in politics is far more likely to support candidates who will protect the interest of the wealthy that elected these candidates in the first place.
Super PACs can accept unlimited contributions, and disclosure requirements allow donations to be funneled through nonprofits until they can’t be traced to their original source – this is Dark Money.
We must return to the essence of democracy – where each person’s vote is heard and treated equally. I will gladly push for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and return the American government to its people. We need to end Super PACs, drown out their influence, and stop pretending that corporations have equal rights to people.
Imagine running for office when every American has $100 Democracy Dollars to give to their favorite candidate. Just 10,000 supporters could mean $1 million for your campaign. Once elected, you could act primarily in the interest of the people you represent instead of appeasing wealthy donors and corporations. Calling rich people for money is soul-crushing. We’d all be better off if politicians only needed to worry about representing the people that elected them.
Problems to be solved:
• Under current Supreme Court jurisprudence, individuals can contribute huge amounts to influence elections and politicians.
• Amending the Constitution to prevent this, or nominating judges to overturn it, can take decades, and this is corrupting our democracy now.
• Money has become the dominant force in our elections as wealthy individuals and corporations increasingly demand the attention of candidates and policymakers.
• People don’t believe that their voices matter, often because they don’t have meaningful access.
• Candidates and officeholders spend the majority of their time fundraising rather than governing or finding solutions.
Goals:
•Limit the influence of mega-donors in our election
•Allow the will of the people to show through
•Improve candidate responsiveness to the concerns of ordinary Americans
•Reduce corporate influence and outsize influence of the wealthy
•Make it so that more people can run for office without having ready access to vast financial resources
As President, I will...
•Provide every American voter with $100 Democracy Dollars for each election cycle, a voucher that they can use to support candidates of their choosing.
•This amounts to $23+ billion nationwide per election, allowing the will of the people to out-fund the $6.5 billion spent on federal races in 2016, $1.6 billion of which was Dark Money.
•Support a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and Valeo, which were terrible decisions that have made our politics even more polarized.
•Eliminate super PACs and vessels for corporate intervention in campaigns.
•Appoint judges who don’t believe corporations have the same rights as people.
0 Comments