Follow the Money

Follow the Money

(The source of my information is an article published by The Washington Post, which you can find here.)

Mitt Romney is Raising More Money Than Obama

Yes, the Republican candidate has been consistently raising more money than the Obama campaign since May.  Sure, that's only two months, but the gap in fundraising dollars only grows with time.  Just last month they raised $106 million, $35 million more than the Democrats.  People with money to spare are talking.

Blame the Supreme Court and Our "Laws"

An interesting detail is that most of June's money came from a "joint victory fund" that can accept up to $70,800 per person.  Who the hell has $70,800 to spare these days?  Certainly not the middle-class or the poor.  (The average income in the US last year was $26,364.)  Why do we even have these laws?  It's to give the appearance that the system is somehow fair.  Without simplified campaign finance laws and strict limits on giving, politics becomes too heavily influenced by money.

Who Says Money Influences Politics Unfairly?

In Singapore, an over luxurious lifestyle is enough to convict a politician of corruption.  While we could take some notes from our friend in the East about common sense, we need look no further than the people running the campaigns.  The Obama campaign staffers are scared of falling behind in the money race.  They think they will lose if they fall behind too much despite already having raised hundreds of millions of dollars.  What does this attitude tell you about the influence of money in politics?

Rich People Support Those That Will Keep Them Rich

A lot of the super-rich are so afraid of losing their wealth that they throw whatever money they can at the candidate they feel will let them continue to prosper.  This action is understandable, but it's extremely petty, greedy and paranoid.  Both parties get money from the super-rich, but Romney has been getting a lot more as we can clearly see in the fundraising numbers.

Whose interests do you think these candidates really represent?  One thing you can do to take power back is demand federal campaign finance law reforms.  Here are some specific talking points when you contact your representatives:

• Limit contributions per person to $3,000 across all channels of giving.  No more PACs, SuperPACs, or any other organization to hide behind.  (There's roughly about 237 million adults in the US according to the Census Bureau last year, so the amount that can be raised is still very high, but it takes away the disproportionate advantage the rich have to speak with their money.)
• In the meantime ask for a simplified report of campaign donations including totals giving by corporations, households with an average yearly income of over $250,000, and donations $3,000 and under.  (We already have the data.)  These should be reported on by all mainstream media news and the stations could create a short program around these numbers, including interviews with staffers from the campaigns and other relevant guests. At the very least the campaigns should be required to hold a press conference about the figures and take questions for at least 30 minutes.  The results should also be published on their websites.
• And anything else you think would be a good idea.