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Elections of, by and for the people
Ellen Wedum
In politics, the Golden Rule is not found in Matthew Chapter 7, verse 12, “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them…”
Instead it is starkly expressed as, “The Golden Rule is ‘Follow the Gold.’” Candidates’ chances of getting elected are predicted based only on how much money their campaign has to spend. When corporations and PACs can contribute megabucks, the two mites donated by the widow – more like $20 now – is not enough to convince a politician to protect the widow’s health and her Social Security pension.
Although Republicans say they support business, the small businesses have little say in Republican politics. The big contributions come from the big corporations, and they get their payback in the form of laws that hurt small businesses.
The Wall Street meltdown and the bailout that followed demonstrate this. My example is the small bank in Montana that my grandfather helped to found, whose assets are measured in millions, not billions. They never got involved in buying and selling subprime mortgages. As the bank officer I talked to said, if it seemed to be too good to be true, it probably was. And, he added, if I can’t understand it, I’m not going to invest in it.
This little bank is paying the penalty for not failing. In 2007, before the crash, their FDIC insurance was about $25,000 a year. By 2009 it had increased to $25,000 each month, and in December 2009 the bank was required to pay insurance for three years in advance — a sum of around $1 million. Now on paper they can spread that cost over the three-year period, but in reality this means they have less money to lend to their customers. Meanwhile the officers at the bailed-out ‘too big to fail’ financial institutions get millions in bonuses, and the U.S. Senate passes a bill to regulate only the little banks.
It’s been tough for me personally, because the dividends from that bank stock I inherited from my father are now 30 percent of what they were in 2007. Thank goodness for my constant (if not increasing) Social Security check. Yes, that scary “socialist” program that conservative Republicans opposed in the 1930s and President Bush and the Republicans wanted to replace with a Wall Street gambling system has been the salvation of this widow’s “mite!”
As Robert Creamer wrote, “Frankly, I’m getting pretty sick of hearing guys who make ten million dollar bonuses on Wall Street tell Social Security recipients who make $13,000 a year that they have to ‘tighten their belts’ because we ‘can’t afford them.’”
What’s a voter to do?
So what’s a voter to do? Since the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United (a PAC) vs. FEC, things are only going to get worse, and our democratic process is in serious danger of being smothered by special interest money. Brace yourselves for a non-stop torrent of negative robo-calls, ads, etc., featuring endless messages from “the lady with the scary voice, with ominous music in the background.” (Dave Berry).
That money will buy the politicians, and the politicians will vote for whatever benefits the special interests want. We, the people, will be left with no influence.
And another thing. How are we ever going to limit the size of government unless we first limit the spending on political campaigns?
So here’s a thought for you: Next time you’re solicited for a campaign contribution or your volunteer work or your vote, ask the candidate to first pledge to support a constitutional amendment that states that donations to campaigns and PACs can only come from U.S. citizens who are registered to vote. It could be worded something like this:
“Political Action Committee and political campaign donors shall be United States citizens who are registered to vote. Congress shall have the authority to place limits on the amount of the donations and the time periods during which donations can be solicited and collected.”
(I put the time period limitation in because I am sick of these non-stop campaigns – and the non-stop requests for donations.)
We need more elected officials who are ordinary Americans, and I think this is the only way we are going to get them. CBS News reports that there are 237 millionaires in Congress. That’s 44 percent of our Federal lawmakers. Millionaires represent only 1 percent of the general population.
We need more candidates who can campaign effectively on a limited budget. We can hope that candidates who have practiced thrift on the campaign trail will also support a financially responsible federal budget.
Wedum is a retired physical chemist and lives outside of Cloudcroft. She is a Democratic candidate for the District 59 seat in the New Mexico House of Representatives.
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wedum59, yes, union membership was declining, until 2007 when the public sector unions grew rapidly and now nearly 50% of government workers are unionized while private continues to decline. It is therefore not surprising the AFL-CIO Prez makes “only” $300,000 a year, but does that include all the free lunches and dinners he gets at the White House and trips on Air Force 1? As you know SEIU, AFSCME, and AFL-CIO have their own keys and bedrooms in the White House. A recent Gallup survey showed only 21 percent of employees who aren’t union members would like to be in a union. And a Zogby Poll conducted recently found that only 16 percent of employees said they would definitely vote for union representation compared to 38 percent who said they would definitely vote against. These are worker preferences data, not “corporate propaganda”. And the COC represents vastly more people and economic value to America than the AFL-CIO.
And I too used to think the LWV were the nice ladies who ran debates and put out non-partisan voters guides around election time. But, if you have looked at their partisan activism lately, you see the real LWV. Just take a look at their home page:
http://www.lwv.org//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home
They are pushing everything from ObamaCare, to stopping all offshore drilling, to Algore’s view of the bogus science behind anthropogenic global warming. This organization is nothing but a progressive Democrat pressure and lobbyist group. They are like MoveOn, the Daily Kos, or groups like that.
But don’t get me wrong, I would fully support a Constitutional Amendment to dastically limit what partisan political lobbyists and pressure groups could spend on electing their henchmen and women, but it would have to include ALL these groups, not just he ones the progressives don’t like.
DJ, for your information: The president of the AFL-CIO gets a salary of less than $300,000 a year. The Executive Director of the National Chamber of Commerce gets THREE MILLION dollars a year. Surely you know that unions represent only about 12% of American workers now? You have just swallowed the corporate propaganda hook, line and sinker. And to call the LWV (League of Women Voters a “special interest lobbyist?” Really! The LWV used to manage the presidential debates until the candidates decided they didn’t want to have to answer questions that they hadn’t known and been prepped for ahead of time. The SEIU spends $3 million? That is only TWO days’ worth of what the for-profit health insurance and health care providers spent to defeat single payer and the public option.
I agree with Thinker about the dismal chances of getting Congress to support a Constitutional amendment that will limit their campaign funds. We may have better luck going through the state legislators (36 are needed).
The Citizens case is troubling, but I am more concerned about the flood of money and efforts from unions (particularly public employee unions) and special interest lobbyists like the LWV and the huge, rich enviro-lobby. Corporations are for profit enterprises where directors and executives have to make profits and please shareholders, thus pouring money into politics is self-limiting, not so the unions and special interest lobbies and pressure groups. Their stock-in-trade is political influence buying and peddling of votes and organizers and activists. The public employee unions have already bankrupted many states, counties, and cities with years of political vote buying to get fat wages, insurance, and pensions. And now in the recent Pa. special election, the AFL-CIO mailed out 80,000 flyers and placed 100,000 robocalls for their candidate. The SEIU spent $3 million in the Ark. senate primary with attack ads and robocalls against Sen. Lincoln. And a few days ago the SEIU sent several buses loaded with 500 union thugs to trespass and intimidate a bank executive in his home in DC. They trampled his lawn and shrubs, terrorized his teen-age son (who hid in the bathroom and called 911) by banging on all the windows and doors and yelling and screaming obscenities, and yet the police refused to respond saying it would have “incited” more violence. This is what Citizens has also unleashed, and more to come, hide and watch, if you think the tea party and corporations are bad, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Great post, Ellen, especially the story about your family’s small bank.
It’s obvious we need a Constitutional amendment to stop the already damaging effects of the Citizen United ruling. But I simply cannot see how, with Senators and Congressional Reps. now deciding they are entitled to lifetime employment as elected officials, we will ever get them to vote on legislation that will effectively put a stop to the lifeblood flow of money they get from non-individuals. Especially now that we have essentially removed all limits on that money.
Nicely put, Ellen. Another faint hope might be retirees who could enter the political arena to serve the public and and manage to stay beyond special influences.