There are people spending tens of millions of dollars to attack the Democrats seeking to unseat the incumbent Republican Senators in Georgia in the January 5 runoff election. But we have no idea who they are because the campaign finance disclosure system is broken.
Citizens United made campaign finance reform difficult. The Senate filibuster rule makes it impossible.
At some point in the future, right around the time the Electoral College is removed (an amendment that will make voting a constitutional right), another constitutional amendment will need to override Citizens United.
Whenever I think of all that money spent on personal attack ads and what that amount could do to something positive instead -- like helping those who are suffering -- it makes me very sad. Not just this year, either. The idea that to win you need hundreds of millions of dollars for your political campaign is obscene.
There is something vile, wrong – evil, even – in a completely nonpartisan way – about spending what is likely to be more than a billion dollars this year, on elections, during a GLOBAL pandemic, when almost 4 million Americans are “long-term unemployed” (jobless for 27 weeks or more).
We have lost our collective minds.
Apparently it will come down to another SCOTUS decision and whether or not “free speech” (isn’t that an interesting conflict in terms?) is limited to human beings v corporations and organizations. And the monetary issue these days is not so much the candidates and their campaign spending, as it is the outside groups seeking to benefit from them.
Perhaps the real issue is what constitutes “free speech”? (Hint: If there’s money involved, it’s not free.)
Have been saying this for years. Reforming campaign finance laws should be in the first 100 days.
You can bet you will recognize names when you get the list in Feb.
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Citizens United made campaign finance reform difficult. The Senate filibuster rule makes it impossible.
At some point in the future, right around the time the Electoral College is removed (an amendment that will make voting a constitutional right), another constitutional amendment will need to override Citizens United.
Whenever I think of all that money spent on personal attack ads and what that amount could do to something positive instead -- like helping those who are suffering -- it makes me very sad. Not just this year, either. The idea that to win you need hundreds of millions of dollars for your political campaign is obscene.
There is something vile, wrong – evil, even – in a completely nonpartisan way – about spending what is likely to be more than a billion dollars this year, on elections, during a GLOBAL pandemic, when almost 4 million Americans are “long-term unemployed” (jobless for 27 weeks or more).
We have lost our collective minds.
Apparently it will come down to another SCOTUS decision and whether or not “free speech” (isn’t that an interesting conflict in terms?) is limited to human beings v corporations and organizations. And the monetary issue these days is not so much the candidates and their campaign spending, as it is the outside groups seeking to benefit from them.
Perhaps the real issue is what constitutes “free speech”? (Hint: If there’s money involved, it’s not free.)