CORRUPTIVE INFLUENCE OF MONEY IN POLITICS
I want to make the world a better place. I believe this can be achieved through the political process. Although in today's broken system of government it doesn't matter if you want policies that benefit the poor & middle class, or policies that save the environment. we will always be gridlocked for positive change when the only way decisions are made are by our "representatives" who are beholden to large interest donors. Allowing the corruptive influence of money in politics creates a system that allows a handful of millionaires & billionaires to essentially buy out our politicians & shape policy that benefits them, but screws over the poor & middle class. This way of running our politics creates a broken system that implements policies against the average American citizen. Despite how many Americans agree on certain issues the rules & laws have been set against the average American. Money in politics started to become a significant problem with Supreme Court decisions such as (Among Others) "McCutcheon", "Buckley V Valeo", & "Citizens United".
In this current broken system what it comes down to on every issue ultimately is whichever side has more money wins. If you want to win on an issue like Climate Change then you must out raise Oil & Gas companies. If you want to get comprehensive healthcare reform than you must out raise pharmaceutical companies & private insurance companies. If you want to get proper crime reform than you must out raise private prisons. If you want to legalize marijuana you must out raise alcohol companies, private prisons, & pharmaceutical companies. It doesn't matter what issue it is, it will always come down to money in politics. So in a Democracy when you have to outspend your opposition to win on any issue, you by definition no longer live in a Democracy. In fact an exhaustive Princeton study showed that we don't actually live in a Democracy but instead an Oligarchy. The Professors who conducted the study explains it as such. "Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites & organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens & mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence."
Some will argue that it is as simple as electing a candidate who is not bought out by any special interests. Well that's easier said than done. The fact that the rules have been rigged against the average American citizen forces many into a lower socioeconomic status where they are burdened with more responsibilities. When many Americans are forced to work two or even three jobs, but still can't make ends meat because of the fact that the cost of living is continuously rising & wages have stagnated, it puts people in a difficult situation where they don't have access to the time, money, & resources that is necessary in order to do a proper amount of research on individual candidates. So to compensate for this lack of access to information a significantly large portion of Americans make their decision based on things like TV ads, Cable News, or just Headlines, which are also heavily affected by money in politics. I will use TV ads as an example to explain one of the many ways money in politics controls our political process. Whichever candidate has more money can run more TV ads & therefore has a larger microphone to the American people & can then drown out the voice of their opposition in what is supposed to be a Democracy built on the foundation of free speech.
The way a candidates receive massive contributions is through what is called a Super Pac. Thanks to the Supreme Court decision of "Citizens United" (which Says Corporations Are People & Money Is Free Speech) now millionaires, billionaires, & special interest groups can "donate" unlimited amounts of money to any candidate's Super Pac that they want. So why do you think a big money interest (Like The Wall Street Banks For Example) make massive contributions to certain candidates over & over again? For the fun of it? Or maybe it's because they are making an investment & buying your "representatives" for their own beneficial purposes. Keep in mind if the politician taking the money doesn't play ball or doesn't even take the money to begin with, the big money interest will simply fund their opponent who will play ball instead. This creates an environment where only bought out politicians are elected. Statistics show the candidates with more money win an overwhelming majority of the time. In a congressional race the candidate with more money wins 93% of the time. In a Senatorial race it's even worse because the candidate with more money wins 94% of the time. As sad of a fact as it is, it is a proven fact that we have lost our Democracy on the Federal level.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm vehemently angry! I don't think in order to ever win on an issue that the American people agree on & are overwhelmingly passionate about should require raising more money than the millionaires, billionaires, & special interest groups who are in opposition to the American people's beliefs, because when you allow for that type of corruption we will always lose. In my personal opinion I find that process counterproductive to a thriving Democracy. This system we have now where a small number of powerful people have all the control is not a Democracy, it's been undeniably reduced to nothing more than an Oligarchy, the data more than backs that up that claim.
So I say I'm done living in an Oligarchy, the time for playing the game of establishment politics is over. Recently many of you have supported me & my cause. This issue is personal to me because it is my biggest issue because it is rooted in every other issue. Before we can truly win on anything we must first win on this. Lately I have seen so many people start to take notice that our system of government is broken & drowning in money & corruption. Some of these people have never been interested in politics before, some feel that the government isn't looking out for them, yet recently they are becoming politically active & are going above & beyond to help contribute to fixing the core of the problem. This to me shows that the light at the end of the tunnel which is the message of fixing the broken system by taking money out of politics & creating publicly funded free & fair elections so that our system of government favors the American people & not just a few handful of millionaires & billionaires is resonating. The establishment should be afraid, because we are coming for them...
