The majority of problems in the US could be fixed with one simple solution: eliminate lobbying completely. I know some small causes would suffer, but it would overwhelmingly be a good thing. The vast majority of people in congress right now are there because money is involved. They are not there to help or represent their district or state or country. They are there to get rich and it works. If there was no money in politics, more of the people trying to get elected would actually represent the people. It wouldn’t solve everything, but it would be a heck of a start.
“One simple solution.” What you’re suggesting will never, ever happen except through a proletarian revolution.
I agree it won’t happen. But it is a simple solution.
Campaign Finance Reform is the single issue from which ALL other issues flow. We will never get this country on track until we take all money out of politics, and Federally fund, regulate, and limit all elections.
federally fund
Fuck it, at that point just get rid of funding / political advertising and just make it about volunteers canvasing. Can’t get enough real people to put their time into spreading your message?, well maybe you need to work on that message and organizing and figure out how to connect with real people instead of spending the taxpayers money to flood people’s mailboxes with shit.
Then you’ll just have wealthy candidates who can afford to lavishly pay for their own campaigns.
For instance, Rick Scott famously claimed he was using his own money when he ran for governor of Florida, but once he was in, he started manipulating legislation to enrich himself.
For instance he immediately cancelled plans for a high speed tail system that had bi-partisan support, and was paid for by the private sector. It wouldn’t cost the state a thing for 10 years. Scott never mentioned it during his campaign, or he would have lost a lot of votes, and perhaps the election (no he wouldn’t, Florida elections are fully rigged these days).
So he cancelled the popular, privately financed HIGH SPEED rail plans, and replaced them with a standard localized commuter rail system, in which he holds a 3% ownership stake. His personal net worth doubled as governor, so funding his own campaign was good investment. He got it all back, and more.
That’s how Convicted Criminal Fraudster Rick Scott operates. He recently made the TikTok rounds, with a fiery speech about how Democrats want to keep people from making money. The speech was defending his ability to do Insider Trading as a member of the Senate, something that would send any other American citizen to jail for YEARS. But he’s indignant because the Dems want to keep “people” (him) from making (illegal for anyone else) money.
That’s the problem with trying to keep ALL money out. Even volunteers cost money, for t-shirts, lanyards, printed campaign materials, coffee, donuts, bottled water for long summer campaign days, transportation, etc.
The government can give campaigns a token amount to cover basic costs for QUALIFIED candidates. What qualifies? That’s where we can reconfigure our system so that only real candidates go through, and it filters out clowns like Trump. Political campaign speech should be tightly regulated for truth, and out and out lies (they’re eating the pets) as well as violent speech against others (Lock Her Up!) should get a candidate kicked off the campaign, forever.
God mail fliers are such a waste. Litereally directly into the recycling bin.
“I am alarmed and scandalized that I am not getting enough of this money.”
Can only worry about elections if they are fair and people understand exactly why they are honest.
Even then, can only worry about social progress when there are not elections. Elections cannot produce change
