Latest poll: 87% of Americans agree that our campaign finance system needs to be reformed. Voter anger about the influence of big money donors – the feeling that our government is owned by corporations and the 1%, not ordinary Americans – is fueling the unexpectedly strong candidacies of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump.
As my friends at the NH Rebellion pointed out yesterday, Donald Trump has been talking about the problem since Day One of his campaign – but he hasn’t promised any solutions yet.
Whoa.
Mr. Trump says he has solutions to everything. That’s part of his attraction to some voters. Immigration? Build a wall and make the Mexicans pay for it. ISIS? “Bomb the s--- out of 'em” and take away their oil. China? Make them end export subsidies and currency manipulation; and while he’s at it, he’s going to make Apple start manufacturing their iPhones here.
Mr. Trump seems to have a Twitter-ready plan to fix every problem on earth. Except for campaign finance reform. What’s up with that?
The only solution Mr. Trump has offered is to end SuperPACs and have candidates (such as himself) self-fund their own campaigns. But that would limit eligibility for becoming President of the United States to only rich guys.
But I don’t expect him to come out with any other plan to reform campaign finance anytime soon.
Reportedly, Mr. Trump is a personal friend of David Bossie, the president of Citizens United. Yes, that same Citizens United that has its name on the infamous Supreme Court decision. Reportedly, he has even helped fund the organization. Reportedly, the largest charitable donation Mr. Trump disclosed on his most recent tax form was made to Citizens United.
So no matter how much of the campaign he spends talking about the problem, I don’t expect him to start talking about solutions.
Why do I care about the influence of money in politics? Because everything changed after Citizens United. In terms of donations to candidates’ campaigns, labor unions are being outspent by corporations by a ratio of about 15-to-one. And that doesn’t include outside groups, “dark money,” issue-based “non-profits,” or any of the other ways that big money donors have, in Mr. Trump’s words, “corrupted our politics and politicians for far too long.”
It’s not a level playing field. The system is horribly tilted in favor of those who have money; and all the people who are working for a living are suffering.
It’s time for solutions.
But I don’t hear Mr. Trump talking about any.
Originally posted on the NH Labor News