This summer I had the opportunity to speak with a family friend in Washington, D.C., who happens to be an advisor to Senator Mitch McConnell. Being interested in politics, I spoke to him about a number of things, including clean energy, but eventually I got to the topic of campaign finance reform. I was impassioned and optimistic beforehand about this topic, so I didn’t know what I was expecting when I asked him about this, because everyone knows Mitch McConnell remains in office for a reason, but the answer I received was shocking. He held that he believed that every American has a fundamental right to free speech and expression, and that your right to spend money as you choose falls under that premise, an opinion also held by Senator McConnell. This baffled me, the fact that he told me that money is the same thing as speech, and that if you have more money you have a right to more speech. Whatever happened to equality? Whatever happened to one man one vote? At that moment I realized how deep the roots of corruption truly run through the US government. After more research, I saw how little our representatives in government actually care about us. Due to a constant effort to try to consolidate power, the majority of our Congress people care only for making sure they can rig the system in anyway possible in order to get a second term via bending over to large campaign contributors and rigging electoral districts. And without term limits, they can do it until they die. The only time they actually take into account our interests are when they coincide with the interests of those who give them their power. Power corrupts, and it is our responsibility as citizens of this great nation to ensure our representatives represent us, not the preservation of their power.
According to date by the Federal Election Commission, McConnell alone took in over $17 million over the last 5 years from large individual contributions and for one main reason: the Supreme Court case Federal Election Commission v. Citizens United. In this 5-4 case in favor of the latter, the conservative non-profit Citizens United attempted to show a partisan film criticizing Hillary Clinton around the time of the 2008 primary, but was halted because it was in violation of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. However, the Court took a bold stance, and in the majority opinion written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the Supreme Court ruled that campaign spending is protected under the Freedom of Speech, and while donating money directly to a political campaign would still have a cap of $2500 per donation as normal, donations to PACs and Super PACs would be unlimited. This ruling was the biggest threat to American Democracy since the turn of the 20th century when businessmen and corruption ruled politics. It opened a floodgate of special interest money into the government and determined that politics would be run by those with extreme wealth, and those without would be the victims. You may be thinking, why is this corruption? Well think about this logically: who are you going to support the ideas of more, the electorate, or the people with enough money to make sure you win every time.
This is not some partisan, Democrat versus Republican issue, this is a matter of our interests as citizens in ensuring the candidate who best represents our views is the one representing us in Congress. Instead of serving their constituents, the majority of Senators and Representatives have simply become more concerned with power, and who they can beg to in order to preserve their chances in the next election. Senator McConnell isn’t concerned with the future of Kentucky businesses and the economy, he is concerned with how he can appease organizations like the Blackstone Group, a hedge fund and investment firm that donated over $200,000 to his campaign, to finance his next senatorial coronation. He isn’t concerned with protecting coal jobs in Eastern Kentucky, he does it so that groups like the Koch brothers will continue to finance his power. This is a conflict of interests that we must seek a solution to immediately.
Democrats aren’t innocent of this either, in fact Democrats may even be worse. According to analysis by the Wall Street Journal and the National Review, they take in 62% of the donations from the 20 largest campaign donors in the US. Senator Harry Reid’s own Super PAC raised more than $32 million, of which over 2/3 were donations exceeding $500,000 from people like hedge-fund founder James Simons and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, both currently billionaires who have a lot to gain from buying politicians. But what does it matter, both sides are spending so much, how much can this really affect politics you may ask. Well, in the House of Representatives, the body of Congress that is meant to most closely mirror the views of the populous, 94% of races are decided on the basis of which candidate spent more money. The people tasked with supporting our interests based on the reason we voted them in care for us no more than they care for someone 3 states away.
Lobbying and Corporate greed has corrupted American politics, but when it comes down to it, overturning a Supreme Court case or passing a law won’t solve the ultimate issue. We must push further. In order for Democracy to succeed and for our Republic to represent its people and not the interests of a few powerful corporations and politicians, we must fundamentally change it. We must eliminate incentives for politicians to be corrupt. The 27th Amendment, which forbids Congress from raising their salary during the term they are in office, is a perfect example of this, and we need to continue on this path. Additionally, we must eliminate Gerrymandering, which allows a party in power to reshape congressional districts to better allow their party to take more seats, a process that should be determined by a nonpartisan committee, or better yet a computer. Unlike a state legislative committee deciding districts based on partisan advantage, a nonpartisan system would ensure one person gets one vote, and that one vote would be treated equally and fairly. However, in our system, Gerrymandering based on political interests makes Congressional seats safe for one party and ensures a minority can retain power, even if they lose the popular vote, further perpetuating the issue and leading to cases like the 2012 election where Democratic House candidates gained a combined 1.4 million more votes than Republicans, but ended up with 33 less Representatives. We must also place term limits on Congress, so that Congress people aren’t in a constant effort to keep getting re-elected, as in cases like former Democratic Representative John Dingell who served for 55 years and was in power from 1955 to 2015. Rather, Representatives ought to on what they can do to support our country with the time they are given in power.
When it comes down to it, power corrupts, and the designers of our government knew that. They saw how King George III of Britain was corrupted and the resulting conflict of interests, so they wanted to create a government that would protect the individual democratically with checks and balances on this corruption. But overtime it came back, only to be stomped out by Teddy Roosevelt and the Progressive era. And the time has come for us to stomp it out again in order to save Democracy.
My trip to D.C. showed me that this isn’t an issue one politician or even one party will save us from. It is an issue we must stand up to fight for. People always talk about how politicians are corrupt and nothing will change that, but this is a government by the people and for the people, and we are the people. We can make a change if we take a stand and demand that politics begin working for us and not some suit in a penthouse office in New York or some power-hungry politician in Washington. Our forefathers gave us the ability to stand up to Tyranny by amending our Constitution and voting. So I urge you to support an Amendment that will end the corruption in Washington, and vote for leaders who will put the people first, rather than whoever can best line their pockets. Reward those who would fight for your voice, and if you can’t find one, take a stand yourself. This is our government, so do whatever you have to do in order to take it back.
Sources:
Documentary: Citizen Koch (2013)
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