The most important issue in the political sphere today is the theft of American elections, which comes in the form of unrestricted donations to political parties and their leaders. Unfortunately, over the past few decades the laws restricting and regulating campaign financing have been withering away. Just in the past few years, the Supreme Court struck yet another blow to campaign finance reform in the decision of McCutcheon v. FEC. The Supreme Court ruled that the limit on the amount of money any one individual can give to candidates or party committees violated first amendment rights.
I’m no constitutional expert, nor do I pretend to be, but It’s clear that the unrestricted donations to candidates or political parties are unjust, immoral, and unfair. In a poll done following the 2010 case of Citizens United v. FEC, 80 percent of Americans opposed the Supreme Court’s decision which dissolved the ban of corporations and unions being able to use the unlimited money on elections. The Court justified this decision once again on the basis of a violation of free speech. The majority opinion written by Chief Justice Roberts says that restricting spending of money restricts people’s use of free speech.
What the Court fails to realize is that money has a more powerful influence on politics than stump speeches could ever have. An example that comes to mind is the general example of lobbying in American politics. Lobbyists actively use their money to influence politicians in order to pass legislation that helps their corporations and bottom lines. The whole supposed point of having elections in a democracy is to have a representative who actually represents their constituents’ views, and not represent some corporate lobbyist who is feeding them what essentially is bribe money. Nonetheless, whether the issue is lobbying, or campaign finance, money plays a larger role in politics than it ever should.
The founding fathers' vision for America is one where the power rested within her people. Not one single man or women, not an elite few, but the people of the United States of America. Today this idea our founding fathers preached is being bombarded from all sides, and from all different angles. So, the question remains, what should we do about this issue? What should we do to fix this tragedy that's occurring in American politics right now?
There are multiple routes we can take to provide solvency. The first and most logical solution would be to create a constitutional amendment that would require 3/4 of the states to ratify. This 28th amendment would make sure corporations/unions aren't able to spend money on campaigns or contribute to Super-Pacs regardless of party affiliation. Also, this amendment would put a concrete cap on the amount of money an individual can donate to a candidate or political party.
The candidate who wins an election should not win based off of money spent, but based off of their ideals and values. Unfortunately in this world of money over everything, the former happens much more frequently than the latter. Of course creating a 28th amendment would be no easy task, but it would be an extremely important step in helping to restore democracy in our country. I’ll always be proud to call myself an American citizen, but until we solve this issue of the attack on campaign finance regulations, our democracy will be in constant jeopardy.
In conclusion, we need to restore the dream our founding fathers had for this great nation — a nation where her citizen’s views were represented in congress. A nation where elections aren’t the outcome of money spent. And finally a nation who is for the people, and by the people.
