(via Lawrence Lessig: How Money Corrupts Congress and a Plan to Stop It - The Long Now)
1) Because of the costs of running a campaign for office and our current campaign finance rules, corporate interests effectively run the government, in many cases creating outcomes that are completely at odds with what is good for the people regardless of political view. Our democracy is corrupt.
2) Campaign Finance Reform is needed, and Lessig details what a citizen driven model could look like… but it’s not enough with the role and power of the SuperPACs. Lessig proposes a constitutional amendment that, if I understand it correctly, limits their speech in the 90 days leading up to an election so they can’t use the power of money to directly influence a vote. They have freedom of speech otherwise and can work to establish their view culturally, but they can’t, for example, run attack ads on a candidate right before an election. This would require bi-partisan effort to step back and look at reforming the rules and incentives our democracy is beholden to — a constitutional amendment needs approval by 75% of states to pass.
This is the most compelling, common sense picture of the role of money in our government and prescription for reform I’ve heard.
Highly recommended.
