Campaign Finance Reform

I recently listened to an interview with a guest on Fox News that talked about the art of “applying capital” in an attempt to win elections. When I heard the term “applying capital”, I must confess, I burst out in laughter! What has our country come to when we try to dignify politicians’ attempts to buy the votes of constituents and elected officials with sweet smelling words? Apply capital, really?  Seems to me like they are trying to perfume a pig! Another term that politicians use interchangeably on the campaign trail is the phrase “capital distribution.”

“Capital distribution” and “applying capital” are nothing more than a legalized form of patronage, graft, and morally bankrupt campaign finance practices to win and hold power. Our system is fatally flawed and in serious need of restoration!  

We are in desperate need of recalibrating our campaign finance laws in the United States of America. The current system has devolved into the lowest common denominator of graft, corruption, and greed. We have allowed the excesses of the almighty dollar (mammon) to drive our system of government in ways that our Founding Fathers would never have imagined. While they certainly understood that individuals with means, affluence, and experience would play a big role in the nation building process, I do not believe for a second that they ever imagined a system fraught with politicians spreading the money around like candy and “buying” their way to the top.

So, the question must be asked, “Have we become so enamored with mammon (money) and the love of money that we are not able to see the political forest through the mammon trees?” Are we so desensitized to patronage, graft, and corruption (election corruption) that it becomes customary to the political landscape here in American that there is no turning back? Are the calluses so thick and battle worn that we are naïve to their numbing effects? Are we erring from the faith and piercing ourselves through with sorrows?    

Those elected officials who are “serial dispensers” of campaign contributions into the coffers of other elected officials, PACS, Super PACs, Leadership PACs, and other shell organizations that simply mask the entirety of the corruption, doesn’t go unnoticed.

In today’s world of surefire political success, money is seen as the primary vehicle and arbiter toward victory. Ask many (not all) in the South Carolina GOP leadership. They will unequivocally tell you that “it’s all about the money.” A pathetic and shameful way to have to traverse the long and narrow road of public service. In their political worldviews money and political viability go hand in hand.

But then it dawned on me, isn’t that the difference between being a professional political operative and entrenched establishment Republican and those who believe in true public service? Shouldn’t the purity of the process lead us to want to minimize the impact of money and lead us toward selecting candidates based on their knowledge, moral integrity, and positions on the issues? Doesn’t this lead us to a campaign finance system that at least has a chance at morality and ethical standing?   

If we truly want to have a system of elections filled with integrity and honesty, why not limit campaign contributions to individuals only. Let’s stop the pressure from special interest groups and big business and allow the citizens of the United States to determine political outcomes. Let’s also stop the “serial dispensing” of money to other candidates and their associated organizations. This idea wouldn’t be so popular with long-term incumbent political operatives, I am sure.

In conclusion, I am growing weary of those in the public domain (MARXISTS and Republicans) using fancy words to whitewash the “nastiness” and “filth” of spreading the money around to buy votes. That’s all “applying capital’ is about! It is code word for I am either buying your vote or buying your conformance to party discipline, which buys