The Wisconsin recall election gave us insight into what the post-Citizens United world will look like, and it is a bit scary. But what I find more scary is that the Democratic politicians are taking the attitude that "There's nothing we can do about it." Nancy Pelosi recently told Rachel Maddow that we need to pass the Disclose Act and a Constitutional Amendment.
First things first folks, a Constitutional Amendment isn't going anywhere in the next five years or probably ever. Our best hope on that score is that Justice Kennedy retires next term and President Obama's replacement tips the court to overturn the ruling, which is very possible. Secondly, passing the Disclose Act is a very weak remedy for the sad state of our democracy. So I came up with a few simple, passable, and constitutional reforms that really would fix what ails our democracy.
The first, and most basic, is to move election day to the first Saturday after the first Friday of November and to make it a national holiday. Secondly, Congress can mandate same day registration, and no fault absentee and in-person early voting in every state. They can also mandate that if states require photo ID, they must make photo ID free and available at the polling site.
This is the most we can do to make voting possible for the large portion of the population that does not vote. 55% of citizens make less than $50,000 per year but they comprise only 38% of the electorate. Is it any surprise that the needs and concerns of those making lower incomes are not addressed? This change in the composition of the electorate should be what Republicans fear the most. If the bottom 55% of the citizens comprise even just 45% of the electorate, the country would tip far to the left.
This would also increase political clout of labor and other forms of "people power". They did a yeoman's job in Wisconsin, but let's be honest, how much better would their turnout operation have been if all Wisconsinites had the day off and no school? It would also help to strengthen specific interests. I know as a teacher that teachers care deeply about what is happening in our politics. Though we would like to take a more active role, we are stuck working every election day. Giving the 4 million teachers the day off with an available electorate would go a long way towards ensuring that public education is preserved. The same is true with the postal service, nurses, and many others.
Lastly, while the Disclose Act should be passed, it is so extremely weak that I can't help but question whether the Democrats in Congress are using it to hide behind in order to make no meaningful reforms. Let's be clear, the $1.8 billion that the Republican fat cats will spend is a lot of money, but we have a federal budget of $3.6 trillion. There is no reason why we couldn't empower the American individual. Lawrence Lessig has an idea that could and should be passed. Every taxpayer in the country would get a tax cut refund in the form of a Democracy Voucher. They would only be able to use this voucher as a political contribution to a candidate or candidates of a major party running for an elected federal position.
A voucher of $50 for Presidential elections and $30 for midterm elections would be sufficient. During Presidential years, the roughly 150 million tax payers would have a combined $7.5 billion of political power. Those individuals making less than the median income of around $26,000 would have a staggering $3.75 billion of political power. Starting to make the $1.8 billion being spent by millionaires and billionaires a whole lot less significant, isn't it. What would the cost of this be? Roughly $3 billion dollars per year, which is less than a hundredth of the Bush Tax Cuts. There is no reason this couldn't or shouldn't be done.
When I hear Nancy Pelosi and others say, "Well we need to pass the Disclose Act" I want to jump into the TV and give her a piece of my mind. We need to do a heck of a lot more than that. And we can. We have one golden opportunity to change our democracy. We have a powerful candidate for President, a former President and great communicator helping him, adequate funds and, hopefully, an improving economy as the election nears. And we are right on all the issues. We can win a slim majority in the house, and we can retain at least 50 seats in the senate. If and when we do, we should demand these changes be made to salvage our democracy that is spiraling towards a plutocracy. It may be the last chance we have, and "Pass the Disclose Act" doesn't cut it. At all.