Come campaign season, you’re likely to hear politicians running against the Big Money
corruption in Washington, saying they're going to drain the swamp.
"We have begun to drain the swamp of government corruption."
And then nothing changes.
But here are three things that you may not know:
Big Money, largely speaking, is white.
Nearly 95% of campaign donors who give $5,000 or more to federal elections are white,
whereas smaller donors are more representative of who Americans really are.
This directly affects who gets elected.
Ninety percent of elected officials in America are white, even though people of color make up nearly
40% of the population.
Fewer candidates of color run, due to this fundraising barrier.
And it’s not just that donors and elected officials don’t reflect America’s diversity.
Just think back to December, when Congress passed the Republican tax scam, which
according to every analysis takes from the poor and middle class, and gives to the rich
and corporations that are already seeing historically high profits.
What was Congress thinking?
Well, they were amazingly frank about it.
Rep. Chris Collins of New York explained that, “My donors are basically saying, ‘Get
it done or don’t ever call me again.’”
His donors.
Not his constituents.
Who allowed this torrent of money to swamp our political system and drown out the voices
of citizens?
It was the Supreme Court.
Over the past four decades, the Court has knocked down commonsense protections against the
power of money in our politics.
At Demos, we found that in the 2016 election, Supreme Court decisions were responsible for
nearly half of all of the big money spent—more than $3 billion.
And who determines what kind of judges sit on the Supreme Court?
Why, the very senators who are financed by and often beholden to wealthy donors.
Even with the Supreme Court we have, there's a real solution, right now, that could help
fix this problem.
We don’t have to imagine what it would look like if candidates turned to their constituents
for contributions, rather than to big donors and corporations.
In the laboratories of democracy across the country, people are showing that a different
way is possible.
In Connecticut, their state-level candidates first seek out small donations from the public.
To do this, they have to actually meet and talk to the people they hope to represent.
Once candidates get a certain number of small donations, a public fund provides the rest.
No more fundraising.
On the other side of the country, the city of Seattle has a new system where every eligible
voter gets $100 worth of “Democracy Vouchers,” public money to donate to candidates in city
elections.
Candidates who accept these vouchers, in turn, agree not to accept any donations over $250.
It sounds simple, but the results have been profound.
In both Connecticut and Seattle, legislators spent more time interacting with their constituents.
And a more diverse set of people donated, ran for office, and won.
Perhaps most important, with public financing of elections, Connecticut adopted policies
that reflected the needs of the public, not wealthy donors.
After public financing, the state passed mandatory paid sick days for workers,
raised the minimum wage, and adopted in-state tuition for undocumented students.
Connecticut and Seattle are not alone.
Citizens publicly finance political campaigns in more than two dozen states, counties, and
municipalities.
There’s no reason why this can’t happen in Washington, and there’s already a bill to
do just that.
So the next time you hear politicians campaigning about corruption and saying they want to drain the
swamp, tell them "Enough talk!"
Get them on the record in support of public financing of elections.