Money In Politics

The influence of money in politics is ruining the very fabric of American democracy, creating a generation of politicians who care about special interests donations more than the whims of the voter.

Money in Politics

You know, there's a lot of crazy shit involved in politics, but this issue has by far transgressed more than nearly every issue and for a long time. You may not think about it often, but it seriously affects you and your daily life and the lives of future Americans. If you think this is still a land of "we the people", I feel pity and a pang of envy for your delusion. Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but what's been going on in our government for the past hundred years is still heinous. The second we defined a corporation as a human being, we forfeited the majority of our say in our government that is supposed to be "of the people, by the people, for the people". The good news is that many politicians are starting to take a stand. The bad news? Out of our current candidates, the only choosing to do so are a demagogue and a Socialist.

Honestly, I like Bernie Sanders. He's an honest, hardworking man of the people. That being said, he's very idealistic and maybe not the most electable candidate right now, under the taboo label of a "socialist". This kind of label would only take a simple smear campaign by Republican candidates to completely destroy any chance of him getting elected. However, I do feel what he is doing to disabuse us of the corrupting nature of money in politics warrants him in my opinion a modern day American hero……I wish the same could be said about Mr. Trump. I wish he doesn't hold this one good view, because it distracts so many people from the other vomit that he spews from his mouth. Normally, casting bigoted aspersion hurts you in the public's eye, but not with this megalomaniac. But, I shouldn't rant about them…let's get back on topic.

So have you ever found it weird how nearly every Republican candidate running for president has refused to accept the reality of climate change? Let's look at the facts. Over 97% of scientists have the earth is warming and that human's have a substantial impact on that change, yet, the only Republican candidate out of the entire batch who has come out in favor of curbing carbon emissions was Lindsey Graham, may his campaign rest in peace. Let's look at some donations from the fossil fuels industry. Jeb bush was donated 1 million dollars by Jasper Reserves. Carly Fiorina, John Kasich, Marco Rubio, ted Cruz, and many other Republican candidates have received donations from Koch Industries. Exxon Mobil gave $112,250 to the National Republican Congressional Committee, and another $53,100 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee. I could list statistics all day, but I think you get the point. If you don't think that has any effect on these politician's views on climate change, you're the minority on that one. 85% of Americans think money has too much influence on the outcome of elections, an effect on politicians' views sometimes or most of the time, and think that we need either fundamental changes or a complete rebuild of the campaign system.

Republicans aren't the only perpetrators of being fettered to their donators. Democrats are just as warped by their big money donators. Hillary Clinton's top campaign contributors include Citigroup, at $782,327, Goldman Sachs, at $711,490, JPMorgan Chase & Co at $620,919, and Morgan Stanley at $543,065. "Coincidentally", Clinton's policies with Wall Street and Bankers are very lax, saying she wouldn't advocate for re-instituting of a modern form of Glass-Steagall, or breaking up the too big to fail banks. She did say she would not bailout the banks if they were to collapse again, but that is not only political pandering, but impossible without a global economic collapse. The new movie "The Big Short" really highlights why Clinton's policies with the banks are dangerous and the banks will continue to contrive methods of fraud and risky banking. These criticisms are not to say Clinton or any of the other candidates would not be effective leaders, but that the money they take in from campaign donations warps their views and goes against what the American people want.

What can we do about it though? Many people think that, because of this we are silenced in our government. But that is not true. We need to work together to regain our democracy and restore a fair system of elections. First and foremost, we have to keep an immutable level of energy and ferocity towards the cause, not conceding with ennui. We have to remember that this is our democracy too, not just a democracy for corporations and big business interests. Start small. Talk to congressmen, legislators, local leaders. If we band together we can use our strength in numbers to outweigh the corrupting influence of big business. The news isn't all bad. Many groups have started to fight back as insurgents against Super PACS, winning locally, and expanding. We need to take the momentum this movement is gaining and expand it to all people of all different backgrounds, and get money out of politics.