Thank you for this well thought out analysis that adds a way to balance political spending by wealthy donors vs the majority of the population. The spending craze by the wealthy caused by Citizens United is ruining our country. If we can not currently rid ourselves of CU then I would definitely be a big supporter of this model.
The point of the "...When Purists Prevail" book (I urge you to download a free PDF copy) is that donation money is slippery and will simply work its way around barriers in an endless game of whack-a-mole.
The CU approach does not go at the heart of the problem: The unwillingness and inability of the less successful to pay for what they want - good representation in Congress. Freedom is not free.
The new book "The Power to Destroy" by a very left-leaning economist (you might want to close your eyes at some of his side essays) lays out systematically how the Republicans became entranced by a set of events in California and the early 90s to the mantra that the road to power came through tax cuts. Hinged on the belief that this would force "small government" via "starve the beast". Did not work. The authors of this anti-responsibility policy have seen their side destroyed by the results - economic inequality, the Great Recession, severe disunity by location, blaming this on race and ethnicity ... and Trump.
Our constitutional system, with its many flaws, depends on power being vested in voters. Including the power to support favored candidates with resources.
We do not need CU. We are only talking about a few billions of dollars to start turning this around. That truly is a pittance compared to what our government currently spends on lots of things.
Thank you for this well thought out analysis that adds a way to balance political spending by wealthy donors vs the majority of the population. The spending craze by the wealthy caused by Citizens United is ruining our country. If we can not currently rid ourselves of CU then I would definitely be a big supporter of this model.
The point of the "...When Purists Prevail" book (I urge you to download a free PDF copy) is that donation money is slippery and will simply work its way around barriers in an endless game of whack-a-mole.
The CU approach does not go at the heart of the problem: The unwillingness and inability of the less successful to pay for what they want - good representation in Congress. Freedom is not free.
The new book "The Power to Destroy" by a very left-leaning economist (you might want to close your eyes at some of his side essays) lays out systematically how the Republicans became entranced by a set of events in California and the early 90s to the mantra that the road to power came through tax cuts. Hinged on the belief that this would force "small government" via "starve the beast". Did not work. The authors of this anti-responsibility policy have seen their side destroyed by the results - economic inequality, the Great Recession, severe disunity by location, blaming this on race and ethnicity ... and Trump.
Our constitutional system, with its many flaws, depends on power being vested in voters. Including the power to support favored candidates with resources.
We do not need CU. We are only talking about a few billions of dollars to start turning this around. That truly is a pittance compared to what our government currently spends on lots of things.