This afternoon, President Obama engaged in a question and answer setting with Reddit users. Suzanne Merkelson, a staffer with the campaign finance reform organization United Republic, asked Obama, “What are you going to do to end the corrupting influence of money in politics during your second term?” In his his response he endorsed a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United:
Certainly, a Constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United decision should be zealously demanded and pursued. But other initiatives must also be pursued. First of all, I support the Fair Elections campaign financing scheme. No individual and no organization should be permitted to donate more than $100 to ANY candidate for any office at any level. Whatever funds are raised should then be matched by federal allotments. This would make politicians less controlled by contributors of huge amounts of money. They would be able to be more independent and able to perhaps represent their constituencies. Along with this, I would recommend that media be mandated to provide equal free time to ALL candidates for campaigning. In other words, the candidates should not have to pay for their appearances on television or radio; they would not have to BUY time or space in newspapers and magazines. The amount should be sufficient for candidates to clearly present their platforms or ideas but should be EQUAL among ALL candidates for any office — not just Democrats and Republicans, but independents and other parties be afforded just as much time and space in the media. I would also suggest that debates on specific issues be arranged and MANDATED among ALL candidates for every office, local through federal, in the media. As added insurance against corruption, I would BAN all lobbying firms from making ANY donations. If an organization wished to contribute $100, it would have to do so itself, not through a lobbying firm, and that would be its donation. Of course, disclosure of ALL contributions and their sources on a daily basis during the campaigns would be necessary. I would also make it illegal to finance one’s campaign in any other way; discovery of any wrongdoing during campaigning would disqualify that candidate. The benefit to our government would be that no only would elected officials be more independent from corporate and other influences but also it would encourage people with fresh ideas and not as much wealth to run for offices with a chance of winning. And think how much trust politicians would gain back from such transparency?
This is the best and most rationale suggestion I have read or heard. I say Amen!
However, I do have a question. Doesn’t Obama have his own super pac…and didn’t he have it when he ran for president. If so, why is he just now coming up with this amendment. Just asking.
I started a grassroots project last in response to Obama’s Reddit comments aimed at reducing money in politics by encouraging a wave of $3 donations to campaigns of candidates who mention their support for campaign finance reform and a constitutional amendment to over turn the Citizens United ruling. Our project is called the $3 Change for Change Challenge, you can follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/3ToGetMoneyOutOfPolitics and on Twitter at @3Change4Change. We were up late last night working on launching our project and this afternoon we caught a huge break – HuffPost Live, the live streaming news arm of HuffingtonPost.com, asked us to join via webcam for a discussion this afternoon on money in politics!!
Follow this link: http://live.huffingtonpost.com/ for the “Shadow Convention Take 2” and scroll back to 2 hours into the program to view our segment. We are super pumped and are working hard to get this project off the ground! We would love support from like minded voters!