2008 Woodie Awards
All about the Benjamins
Money, not know how drives political campaigns
Andrew Madsen
Issue date: 3/29/07 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
There was once a time when people had the chance of running for the highest office in the land, the presidency of the United States. Or at least the illusion that anyone from an army general to a lower class senator from Illinois could, provided they possessed skills and vision that demonstrated their leadership capabilities.
That mythological aspect of American culture has been dead for some time now, as the 20th century ushered in a new era of big money in politics. Since 1976, the number of total contributions to politicians has gone up from $171 million to a whopping $880.5 million in 2004 (OpenSecrets.org). That's a 514 percent increase over the span of 28 years and eight presidential election years.
Money is such a big part of politics that Iowa's former governor, Tom Vilsack, was forced to drop out of the race due to a lack of funds necessary to run for office. Even though he was an unknown and didn't stand a chance of winning, not even our own governor had a chance of competing with the better-known candidates, all because of the amount of green needed to compete just in the primaries alone.
There are solutions to the problem, yet it is doubtful any of them will be implemented. Still it's better to try and fix the problem than simply letting it grow bigger, as the government has since the 1970s.
For starters, public financing should be enlarged beyond its normal means. This could be accomplished by creating a special tax for public election financing that pays into a fund. According to citizen.org, public financing of elections has no chance of passing Congress.
Our government shouldn't be captive of big money interests, nor should it bow to the will of corporations or the wealthy that contribute to campaigns expecting something in return. Through swift and quick reform this problem can be properly addressed in our lifetime.
That mythological aspect of American culture has been dead for some time now, as the 20th century ushered in a new era of big money in politics. Since 1976, the number of total contributions to politicians has gone up from $171 million to a whopping $880.5 million in 2004 (OpenSecrets.org). That's a 514 percent increase over the span of 28 years and eight presidential election years.
Money is such a big part of politics that Iowa's former governor, Tom Vilsack, was forced to drop out of the race due to a lack of funds necessary to run for office. Even though he was an unknown and didn't stand a chance of winning, not even our own governor had a chance of competing with the better-known candidates, all because of the amount of green needed to compete just in the primaries alone.
There are solutions to the problem, yet it is doubtful any of them will be implemented. Still it's better to try and fix the problem than simply letting it grow bigger, as the government has since the 1970s.
For starters, public financing should be enlarged beyond its normal means. This could be accomplished by creating a special tax for public election financing that pays into a fund. According to citizen.org, public financing of elections has no chance of passing Congress.
Our government shouldn't be captive of big money interests, nor should it bow to the will of corporations or the wealthy that contribute to campaigns expecting something in return. Through swift and quick reform this problem can be properly addressed in our lifetime.
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