That money – and a lot of it – is entwined in U.S. presidential elections is not a new idea. In the Internet age, campaign contributions can be made in a myriad of ways that some say brings a new urgency to campaign finance reform.
Name the Bundlers
The Editorial Board – The Washington Post
A lengthening shadow of secrecy is falling across campaign finance in U.S. politics, and the mystery is not only about the organizations that accept hidden gifts. It is also about the middlemen, including the campaign “bundlers,” who play a vital role in aggregating donations …
Bundlers add value to a campaign by pulling together groups of direct donors, and many of them show up later to collect the rewards.
Democrat Hillary Clinton is assembling bundlers known as “Hillstarters,” who will try to raise $27,000 each for the primary campaign. Although she has not announced her intentions, we hope and expect that she will volunteer to identify them with her filings to the Federal Election Commission as in the past. Republicans should do the same.
We put the question to Jeb Bush, the Republican who has been on a fundraising blitz, and got no reply.
Caron Morse watches at left, watches as Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton carries her granddaughter during a campaign stop at Kristin’s Bakery on April 20, 2015, in Keene, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)
I Flew a Gyrocopter Onto the Capitol Lawn to Save Our Democracy
John Hughes – The Washington Post
A poll by the Global Strategy Group indicates that 91 percent of Americans see the corrosive influence of money in our political system as a problem that demands attention. And in a Gallup tracking poll, voters identified frustration with government as their No. 1 concern in recent months, ahead of the economy and jobs.
Evidence of what those polls mean is quietly emerging around the country five years after the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. Tens of thousands of Americans have protested, marched, written their elected representatives and local media, and quietly built a movement. Sixteen states and 650 cities have called on Congress to propose a constitutional amendment overturning Citizens United …
Big money is a threat to our democracy just as security threats are …
Following my flight for democracy onto the Capitol lawn, Rep. Walter Jones(R-N.C.) said on the House floor, “Mr. Hughes does have a point about the pervasive influence of money in politics. I’ve seen it get worse and worse in my 20 years in Congress.”
In this image taken from AP video, letter carrier Doug Hughes speaks during an AP interview Sunday, April 19, 2015, in Ruskin, Fla. Hughes caused a full-scale security review in Washington when he violated national airspace by landing his gyrocopter on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.
Why Run for President if You Don’t Have a Real Chance?
Ralph Nader – The Los Angeles Times
The 2016 presidential election is attracting an unusually large number of hopefuls … The barriers to entry are low, and all a candidate needs to keep going, at least in this preliminary stage, is money …
Taken as a whole, it is all so rancid. All this dreariness comes down to who is more likable with the most TV ads and superior campaign staff. The voters see themselves as mere spectators, grumbling along the way. They can’t seem to make the candidates react to their needs. They’re bored, and boredom often turns into cynicism and withdrawal (voters become non-voters). When people have low expectations of politicians, the politicians will oblige them.