Campaign Finance

“As Public Campaign states in its report called ‘The Color of Money,’ it is an indisputable fact of our political system that those candidates and laws favored by wealthy contributors usually prevail over those would-be backers who cannot afford to give such large sums of money.”
- Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), February 13, 2002

"There is a very radical measure which would, I believe, work a substantial improvement in our system of conducting a campaign, although I am well aware that it will take some time for people so to familiarize themselves with such a proposal as to be willing to consider its adoption. The need for collecting large campaign funds would vanish if Congress provided an appropriation for the proper and legitimate expenses of each of the great national parties, an appropriation ample enough to meet the necessity for thorough organization and machinery, which requires a large expenditure of money. Then the stipulation should be made that no party receiving campaign funds from the Treasury should accept more than a fixed amount from any individual subscriber or donor; and the necessary publicity for receipts and expenditures could without difficulty be provided."

- Theodore Roosevelt, 1907 State of the Union Address

"Money! It is money! Money! Money! Not ideas, nor principles, but money that reigns supreme in American politics." - Sen. Robert C. Byrd (N.Y. Times, 3/20/97, at A26


Campaign Finance Reform desperately needs to be addressed. It needs to be addressed by our elected officials, by our federal government and by we the people… Campaign Finance is a large part of an ancient and archaic section of politics that has never been truly addressed.

“If money is the root of all evil, I’d like to be a bad bad man” – Huey Lewis and the News.

It is unfortunate how the system we have silences most Americans today. Voices do not speak with passion and patriotism. Today they speak with dollars and cents. Today our politicians cannot afford to listen to those with reason and common sense. In the business of politics a politician can only hear the voices of those who can afford to donate the maximum amount to their campaign. But is their donation, truly a donation? Or is it the purchase of political favor?

Can you blame the politicians thought? Politics has become less about public service and more about business. A politician must raise tens of millions of dollars in order to run for election or re-election in even a congressional race, much more if a Senate or Presidential race. In 2008 politicians spent more than 5.3 billion dollars on federal elections. Where do you think that money came from? You? Me? I donated a grand total of $50 in 2008. So the rest came from you, right? No the average personal donation was less than $100 in 2008. The majority of money came from special interest groups and lobbyists.

It is here that the voices of a few are able to speak louder than the voices of the many. A politician who needs as much money as possible to get or keep their office, you have to pander to those who will give you the most money. And as such, this is a severely broken system.

In 240 years we have come from the best and brightest our country had to offer leading our country, to the best fund-raisers that the free market can find. The best and brightest are in business for themselves today, just trying to survive in a system that would only exploit them if given half a chance.

I am not amongst the best and brightest. I am not a special interest group. I am not a wealthy corporation. I am a citizen, with certain unalienable rights. I have a voice, and that voice is not for sale. I have one voice with one vote. And I will not be ignored.

For to long we the people have allowed our politicians to be controlled by the money of a few. So I state again, Campaign Financing cannot just be reformed. It must be blown up and built anew. The system in which we elect our representatives must have its foundations in the will of the people. Our politicians must speak to the people and the people must be able to speak in their own voice.

There are many ideas to fix campaign finance. Same good, some great. Together we the people need to lay out our expectations and ideas. How do you want the system to work? We need to discuss, debate and find the way for our government to work best for all of us.