How to get big money out of politics

Here is another in my series of public policy discussions that I submit to you to stimulate discussion and get people thinking about stuff, maybe in unconventional ways.

Many of us agree that the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision was a blow to American Democracy.  It may have somehow stuffed itself into a nook afforded by a group of Founding Fathers for whom $1,000 was a princely sum, and the printing press was the only form of long distance communication available at the time, but the effect in today’s world is obvious:  A small group of oligarchs have assumed their rightful places in control of the world’s economy, and in turn, its political processes.  It so easily explains why pipeline profits are more important than clean water for indigenous tribes, and why the global arms market is approaching the $100 bn mark, with the U.S. leading the way.

Bernie Sanders has been the most effective communicator of this reality, and his approach to fundraising, with extensive online fulfillment of all those $27 donations, made history, and almost pulled off the upset against a Democratic Party leadership whose minds were made up in advance.

More important than the money, though, is the way Bernie could rouse the citizenry in support of his ideas, and use the public airwaves on Facebook, Twitter and the like to raise and continue that support.  This process, the Bernie revolution you could call it, continues today, and is making a huge difference in politics in America.  Everyone realizes now that it is our duty as citizens to get involved in local politics, show our faces and take stands for ideas in which we believe.

But I am here to point out that we have, with the fundraising success of all the online efforts, become our own worst enemy, and perpetuated the problem in so doing.  The proof of this is in your inbox.

Look there, and what do you see?  Email after email, always ending with an opportunity for you to donate a small amount of money.  Check your facebook page, and the process is the same.  Always another chance to put your money where your mouth is, be it Planned Parenthood, Women’s Rights, Immigrants, or, above all, this wonderful person who is running for office somewhere other than where you live.

I filled out a few surveys in the past offered by the Republican Party, and they must not have liked my answers, not to mention the nonexistent donations I included, so I don’t hear from them much these days, but I assume for those who are still on their list the feel is the same, and that is the basis of my concern.

With the exception of the occasional George Soros, there’s no way the Democrats could match the Republicans dollar for big dollar, so Bernie showed them how to go small, and overwhelm them with numbers.

The basic Idea is this:  We should limit our donations, just like we limit our activism, to jurisdictions in which we have a stake in the game.  That is, in our local City government, County administration, State politics, and national races or contests.

We should deny donations to any other than those, no matter how worthy they may be.  Much as I like Elizabeth Warren, she’s not getting any money from me until she runs for President or I move to Massachusetts, whichever comes first.

This idea allows me to donate to the anti-DAPL folks, for example, and any other national issue group like the NRA or Voting rights, but it keeps my money out of places where it doesn’t belong, like other state races.  There’s a basic politeness we extend to our neighbors, an unspoken promise to keep our nose out of their business, as long as they don’t cause problems for us, with an understanding we will be there for them if they need us.  That concept applies across state lines, and helps explain the defensiveness you might experience when you complain to someone in North Carolina about their governor.

What does big money in politics buy?  Well, ad time for one, TV commercials aimed at a particular audience.  But, is anyone listening?  A Facebook post or a tweet is free, and reaches all your friends and followers, so who needs the expensive TV ad? The big money also pays for thousands of political flacks spewing negative garbage that does nothing beyond raising blood pressure on all sides.

My contention is that if you remove anyone who is making a living from politics, on any side of any issue, the content generators, the book writers, the talking heads and bloviators, if you could take down all their stuff, you would quickly realize we don’t need any of it!  Not only that, but you could maybe even clear the board so we could, as a people, have reasoned, rational discourse about decisions that need to be made, ideas that should be shared, and policies that need to be implemented.

So my message to the Democrats is this:  I am going to do what you should also be doing, if you are serious about getting big money out of politics.  You need to keep any money raised on any decision, race or campaign limited to donations only from those who are directly affected by that campaign, and have a legitimate voice in that campaign.  That means you should refuse any donation received from out-of-state on any statewide race.  In fact, you should not be soliciting donations from anyone who does not live in that state, county or city.  No national Democratic Party donations should be used to push any statewide issues, or target any statewide races with out-of-state money. Think of the effect of just one part of this idea.  Suppose no more commercials on TV or radio leading up to the election?  You were just paying the ad agencies, production teams and network staff to do all that work, anyway, only for the audience to change the channel or go take a piss or get another beer.  Save the money.

The Republicans, of course, should also do the same, but that’s a joke, and we all know it.  My point is, Bernie has shown us how to use the Internet to spread the word most effectively without spending all that money, and that people power trumps big bucks every time, so you can beat the big money if you just work with the grass roots of the country, county by county, state by state.

So if anyone tells you the Democrats are forced to raise big money because the Republicans are going to do it anyway, you ask, “So the answer to big ol’ Hogs rooting around in the public trough is to get some Hogs of our own?  I don’t think so.  Why don’t we make bacon out of those Hogs and stop throwing money down that particular rathole?”  Maybe we’d all be better off, and have something to eat as well.  :-{)}