Money on My Mind

It’s true in day to day life, it’s true in business and it is especially true in politics. That’s a world where promises are made daily, deals are struck, and if you’re in the right place at the right time, who knows what you may luck up on.

But if there ain’t no money, there usually ain’t no game.

Sorry.

Take your ball back home, somebody ripped down the goal.

Consider this: by the end of the third quarter last year,

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton led the pack in campaign contributions, raising more than $90 million for her push to win the White House.

Her closest competitor, Sen. Barack Obama, pulled in $80 million. That’s just the top two. There were six other Democratic candidates and eight Republicans. The total amount brought in is a number too big for even me to pronounce.

Where is all that money coming from?

Private donors, every day people like you and me, yes, but mostly large companies and other special interest types. And you better believe they’re not forking over millions out of a sense of civic duty.

So here is the dilemma, how much is too much for lawmakers to take?

Everyone has an opinion because no-one wants their representative, congressman, or president to be a complete slave to any one party. And yes, I said slave.

In politics, if I scratch your back, you scratch mine. I give you lots of cash, you make sure the bills I like pass. Money talks.

There have been fights over campaign spending reform for years. But if you, like many, can’t figure out why candidates are still allowed to collect and spend ungodly amounts of cash, you’re not alone.

I couldn’t figure it out either until I did a little research. It turns out this little document called the Constitution is in the way. Campaign spending is a First Amendment issue, and limiting the dissemination of political views is unconstitutional.

In 1976 the Supreme Court ruled "The First Amendment denies government the power to determine that spending to promote one’s political views is wasteful, excessive, or unwise. In the free society ordained by our Constitution, it is not the government but the people -- individually as citizens and candidates and collectively as associations and political committees -- who must retain control over the quantity and range of debate on public issues in a political campaign."

Now even if I don’t believe campaign spending is an act of free speech, I’m still stuck between the constitution and reality. I believe, as do many others that spending limits are justified and necessary to alleviate perceived or actual corruption, but what can I do?

So the government can’t tell Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama stop wasting all that money, but the people can. Interesting, let’s even take it a step further. If we together can tell them to stop collecting all that money then they could theoretically decide to stop doing it on their own?

Wow!

What a noble idea.

Now it’s time for me to clear something up here. As much as I am concerned about the possibility of corruption, and back alley deals between legislators and companies and special interest groups, there is something else that worries me, that tugs at my heart strings and bothers me .

Hillary Clinton is more than tripling her proposed campaign spending in South Carolina in preparation for the primary there. When it’s all said and done she and Barack Obama will have dropped close to a million dollars.

And all this is happening in a state that ranks 47^th when it comes to disposable individual income. About 10% of families live BELOW the poverty line. Almost 7,000 people are homeless, and that’s just the number counted. The average family there is only bringing home $26,000 a year. But here we are, spending almost one-million big ones to get votes. I bet the miscellaneous fund for both candidates for the state is more than the people in entire neighborhoods make in one year.

Something is wrong.

I’m not saying elections aren’t important and voices shouldn’t be heard, but we as a country need to take a step back and closely examine where our greed has taken us. Hillary: $90-million. Barack: $80-million. It feels criminal.

Think about the number of homeless children who could be taken care of with that kind of money. The number of uninsured Americans who could get the health care they need. The number of hungry Americans that could feed. Been to a Chicago public school lately? Books, materials, staff, programs all missing… cut because there is no money.

Wouldn’t it be grand if we as a country decided these things are just as important as a political voice being heard?

These things deserve some real attention, not just empty promises while you’re spending your millions on the campaign trail and steady begging for more.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have one election where candidate won’t have a bazillion dollars to throw around buying votes? Where they will be held accountable and will have to really be what they say they are, not just talk about it and use their money to finish the sell?

Meanwhile, half the country if not more struggles just to make ends meet. Should I buy my medicine or eat today? Should I pay the daycare bill or the electricity bill? Why can’t I afford to put gas in the car to get to work?

I’ve been sick for a week, but I have no healthcare and no money to see a doctor, what am I going to do?