An Idea for Public Funded Campaigns
supporter
Posted by Richard Bonine, Jr. (+15536) 11 years ago
Much of the problem in our political system is a function of how campaigns are funded. Many times the funding is in legislation that gets passed and benefits one corporate interest or another.

The Funders are not the People, what the funders want is not what the people want, policy makers always side with the funders. The system of funding has corrupted congress.

Our democracy was already broke by Jan. 20th 2010, the day before the citizen united decision.
Using Article 5 to counter the citizen's united ruling, declaring corporations are not people, will not fix the funding corruption of congress and campaigns.

To go forward we must end the corrupting dependency of congress on the funders, by restoring congresses dependency back onto the people. A small contingent of elites have control over the whole system and the people have little or none.

I concur with Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig and his "The first fifty dollar project". Take the first $50 of revenue that every citizen produces and translate it into a democracy voucher, to be given to any candidate of the voters choosing, also limit all other campaign donation to $100 per donor. Ban all corporate donations and PAC's. If the first fifty dollars was not allocated it would go to the voter's party coffers. This would make the people the funders and congress dependent upon the people as designed by the founders of the constitution.

Public funded elections with individual control and direction by each citizen/voter on which candidate receives the funding. No longer would congress be dependent on corporate/private/foreign funders for campaigns. Candidates would become completely dependent on the voters as in a proper representative republic system.
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supporter
Posted by howdy (+4953) 11 years ago
very much like my thoughts on the subject only better said than I...I think this move alone would clean up congress and DC entirely including banning any lobbiest...
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Posted by Cheryl Pieters (+484) 11 years ago
That sounds like it would be great-a true democracy in which everyone would have an equal vote and big money wouldn't be used to sway people's opinions.
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supporter
Posted by howdy (+4953) 11 years ago
if you did this idea plus passed the law like in Canada where media aren't allowed to put anything not true on the air, that would be a huge gain toward fixing our troubles IMO...
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