Chris Christie calls for unlimited campaign donations with 48-hour reporting period (via NJ.com)
FRANKLIN — Gov. Chris Christie today said there should be no limits on how much money people can donate to political campaigns. The Republican governor and potential 2016 presidential candidate called such rules "ridiculous." Instead, he suggested…
11 comments:
Not a fan of Chris Christie, but I have to agree with him here. My version of campaign finance reform in 7 words: No caps, full disclosure & US citizens only.
Ed,
why do you think there should be no caps?
I think there should be caps, and less spent. Without caps the sums spent on campaigns will just continue to spiral upwards, as well as distorting outcomes even further in favour of those with the most cash.
There are tweaks and there is overhaul. In the final analysis, I think that the US Constitution is a product of its time and therefore obsolescent. It's the obsolescence that is resulting in many contemporary problems that ongoing interpretation has not been able to overcome.
Moreover, the judicial process has now been thoroughly politicized so that the system of checks and balances is breaking down. I think that SCOTUS acted suicidally in Bush v. Gore. It's lost credibility as impartial justice. This is a raging topic in philosophy of law and constitutional law now.
The US Constitution has more or less been the paradigm for liberal democracy for several hundred years and conservatives think that it just remain the paradigm for globalization since it guarantees the class structure and power structure that ensure their continuing control of the political process nationally and globally.
A great deal of this debate is yet to be conducted but it will be as the East and West merge into a global culture that reflects the values of both.
But we need to begin having it now rather than thinking that we just need a few tweaks here and there to make the process work when the process is broken beyond repair.
"why do you think there should be no caps?"
Why not? If you're running for public office and Im convinced that you are the next Thomas Jefferson, why should I not be allowed to contribute $1 million or more to your campaign if I have the financial wherewithal?
"Without caps the sums spent on campaigns will just continue to spiral upwards, as well as distorting outcomes even further in favour of those with the most cash."
Yes and no. Sen. Eugene McCarthy (D-MN) launched his anti-war challenge to LBJ in 1968 with the help of largely 5 wealthy donors who collectively contributed about $10 million to his campaign. LBJ dropped out of the race and Humphrey lost to Nixon.
Meanwhile, in 1996 Fortune magazine CEO Steve Forbes spent $25 million of his own money to capture the Republican nomination and spent a similar amount in 2000 all to no avail.
The last sentence of the Declaration of Independence reads... "We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor."
What if the signers of the Declaration of Independence had placed limits on how much they would each spend to finance the Revolution?
That's not the same thing, Ed.
I say copy the rules on campaign finance that exist in countries where democracy seems to work reasonably well, as opposed to the US.
Ed, it would be true if all were equally able to give. As it is, that is patently not the case and at least gives the impression that the political process is bought, which undermines democracy. And the fact is that donation size does determine the amount of access one gets to politicians, hence, the ability to shape the political process. It's the privilege of wealth that creates another oligarchy.
Zuck apparently as the president's phone #. Presumably he is not alone. I would assume that all the CEO's and chairmen of the TBTF banks do too.
Any one here have it? Know anyone personally that does?
y, Tom - Money is not the problem in politics. Ignorance and political apathy of US citizens is the problem. We need more money from both sides of the political divide in the battle for ideas. Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean's anti-war White House bid in 2004 got a lot of traction from small grassroots donations before he stumbled after the Iowa caucus. President Obama had an ocean of support from small donors who contributed $100 or less.
Ed, political apathy grows when people at the bottom realize that they have no say in the process and therefore conclude that spending time becoming educated in politics is a waste. Moreover, most people at the bottom don't have the time to educated themselves politically in the first place and depend on corporate media, which shapes the message to conceal rather than reveal.
Fortunately, the Internet is making a dent in that but it is small dent so far.
Election Spending 2012: Post-Election Analysis Of Federal Election Commission Data
"We need more money from both sides of the political divide in the battle for ideas."
No, the very last thing the US needs is even more expensive election campaigns.
Thom Hartmann, American Democracy no longer works
Bryce Covert, The Government Listens To Lobbyists And The Wealthy, Not You And Me
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