JESSICA DESVARIEUX: Welcome to the Real News Network. I'm Jessica Desvarieux coming to
you from Capitol Hill.
The race for the White House is well underway, but here at the Real News we don't want to
just follow the horse race, we want to dig into the policies that these candidates are
running on. And we'll ask one simple but important question: will these policies actually improve
the lives of the majority of Americans? One of those policies is campaign finance reform.
According to a recent New York Times CBS News poll, 84 percent of Americans think that money
has too much influence in political campaigns. And just recently Democratic candidate Hillary
Clinton put forth her plan to curb that influence.
So we put the plan to the test, and asked experts about the plan's feasibility--and
more importantly, will this actually limit the influence of money in political campaigns?
HILLARY CLINTON: We need justices on the Supreme Court who will protect every citizen's right
to vote, not every corporation's right to buy elections.
DESVARIEUX: The buying of elections has become more and more of an issue after the Supreme
Court Citizens United decision. That ruling allowed unions and corporations to raise unlimited
funds in the name of free speech. As a part of Clinton's campaign finance reform plan
she said she would only nominated justices who would overturn Citizens United, a decision
that many might not know she was at the center of years ago when she was running to become
a senator.
The 90-minute documentary titled Hillary was produced by a nonprofit group called Citizens
United. The Federal Election Commission or FEC banned it from airing during the New York
Senate primaries because it was against the bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, which criminalized
ads produced by corporations 30 days before primary election. But in a 5-4 decision the
Supreme Court reversed that ban and stated that corporations deserve First Amendment
protections. Now Clinton says she will nominated justices who will overturn Citizens United.
But with none of the five justices who supported the decision planning on retiring, there is
no guarantee that Clinton's plan will become a reality. Also, Clinton would have to get
her nominee confirmed by the Senate, which is currently controlled by a Republican majority.
DAVID DONNELLY: That's where she comes in. She needs to not just put a plan for this,
which is again, it's a very strong proposal and a bold vision for the kind of democracy
we need to create. She now needs to campaign around the country and rally Americans to
this cause. And then we can put pressure on Congress with the next president to make this
the law of the land.
DESVARIEUX: David Donnelly is the president and CEO of Every Voice, a campaign finance
reform advocacy group. He commends Clinton on taking action on proposing a constitutional
amendment to protect the undue influence of billionaires and special interests. But changes
to the Constitution will require a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress. Then
it must be ratified by three-quarters of the states.
This is a major endeavor, says University of Massachusetts, Boston political science
professor Thomas Ferguson. He says Clinton's focus on overturning Citizen's United is actually
misguided reform.
THOMAS FERGUSON: Ms. Clinton should not just be actually just saying, I'm going to pressure
the FEC to actually enforce the laws that, probably they are on the books in some fundamental
sense. The Supreme Court justices are widely thought to just assume that the money would
be disclosed. It's the FEC that refused to do it. And you don't need a constitutional
amendment for that. You just need a determined president.
DESVARIEUX: Another point of Clinton's proposal is that she would establish a small donors
matching program. After having to pass through both houses of Congress, candidates who opt
to participate in the program must agree to a substantially lower limit on how much money
they receive from an individual donor.
In a previous interview with Campaign Legal Center's Policy Director Meredith McGehee,
she described the benefits as an incentive to get politicians to focus on everyday Americans'
issues.
MEREDITH MCGEHEE: The real key here, I think, is to try and use some of the public resources
to give new incentives that say if you give $500, a lot of money for most Americans, to
a candidate that can be matched at a four, five to one. Therefore, it actually becomes
real money and it's something that then the candidate wants to pursue. Tax credits. How
do you--you know, you give a candidate a campaign contribution, you get a tax credit. Small
donor PACs. If you have a PAC that puts together small donor money and they have maybe higher
contribution limits or other matches.
DESVARIEUX: But Ferguson says to get a clean election there's only one way to do it: public
campaign funds.
FERGUSON: Of course, elections are very expensive. They cost a lot of money. Now , there are
basically only two choices folks have for this. Either we all pay a little or somebody
else pays a lot. And those folks who pay control the process.
DESVARIEUX: With all these campaign finance reforms for the future, how is Clinton handling
her current campaign? Clinton's campaign revealed that it's raised $47 million, according to
reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. This is the most of any campaign in its first
quarter ever. Also, the primary super PAC backing Clinton's presidential run, Priorities
USA Action, has raised $25 million since July according to Politico. Under the current super
PAC structure, donors behind these millions do not have to reveal themselves.
The only Democratic candidate rejecting big donor-funded super PACs is Vermont Senator
Bernie Sanders. In an effort to be more transparent, the Clinton campaign has revealed her top
bundlers, or people who help raise funds, known as Hillblazers. The list includes prominent
politicians and businesspeople, like Rep. Joaquin Castro from Texas, Facebook founder
and New Republic owner Chris Hughes, billionaire venture capitalist JB Pritzker, and Univision
owner Haim Saban.
When Clinton's campaign funds were first reported, Clinton's campaign stated that 94 percent
of its contributions were from donations less than $250. But in reality, just $8 million
came from donations of $200 or less. Part three of Clinton's reform plan includes increased
disclosure of political spending. Clinton proposes a new Securities and Exchange Commission
rule requiring publicly traded companies disclose political spending to shareholders. She also
says that she will sign an executive order requiring federal contractors to disclose
all political spending, something President Obama could sign into law today.
FERGUSON: I regard that as a tacit White House collusion in this business. I mean, if these
folks wanted to stop the so-called dark money, then they could do it. And they don't need--I
mean, they could make the sun come up on the dark money. They could just--the FEC could
just tell them they got to do it. And it has just refused over and over to touch that.
DESVARIEUX: Much of what candidate Clinton proposes, Ferguson says it sounds a lot like
what candidate Barack Obama promised when he ran for president. Every Voice CEO David
Donnelly says they have been disappointed in President Obama's stance since being elected.
DONNELLY: You know, we are a little disappointed in President Obama's performance on this issue.
He did campaign on this back in 2008, he referenced the issue in 2012 as well, but has not followed
that up with action. That's why it's very important in this election cycle we see candidates
not just put forth a platform, strong platforms, but we also see them weigh in and say exactly
how they're going to advocate and organize to fix the system once they're in office.
DESVARIEUX: But in office or running for office, Ferguson says the interests of the elite are
at the center of today's politics.
FERGUSON: Right now American elections are sort of like the Superbowl. I mean, the rest
of us can cheer for our team or something, but that's it. You know, otherwise you have
two teams controlled by millionaires killing each other in front of us.
DESVARIEUX: This is Jessica Desvarieux reporting for the Real News in Washington.