Too Much Money in Politics, and What We Can Do About It

By Craig Dunkerley

The excessive influence of private money in politics is at the root of the vast majority of the problems our country faces. It doesn't have to be this way.

The list goes on and on and they all have one thing in common: the interest groups blocking meanigful progress all exert their influence and control over our political process with the huge sums of money they have at their disposal, either by funding the lobbyists who assault our legislators every day, or by funding the campaigns and independent expenditures for and against the candidates who are then beholden to them instead of "we the people."

There are 3 essential things we must do to correct this:

1. Overturn the infamous Citizens United decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. This will require us to either pass a Constitutional Amendment making it clear that corporations are not people and that money is not speech...or...elect a president who will appoint, and a Senate that will confirm more progressive justices who can change the composition of the Court and overturn the decision.

2. Enact full public financing of campaigns at all levels of government so candidates can run for office without taking any special interest money from any private source.

3. And in the meantime, pass the Federal DISCLOSE Act (and state versions of the same thing, such as the California DISCLOSE Act), so that while all this private money is still being spent, the sources of the money are at least required to disclose their identities in the ads themselves, so that voters at least know who's trying to influence their vote.

Until we neutralize and/or eliminate the influence of all the private special interest money swamping our political system, our democracy will remain dysfunctional, and very little if any progress will be possible on any of the crucial problems we face.