How to Buy an American President

Years from now history books will speak of this time in American politics. The sentence addressing this particular moment may begin as such: 'The downfall of democracy in the United States can be traced to the levels of corruption in the financing of elections.'

The McCain-Feingold bill addressing campaign finance reform in 2002 was a start, but it seems to be too little too late. As our country dives into the 2008 presidential election, we are already being inundated with glowing reports from the corporate media about how much money the frontrunners in each party are raising for their presidential bid.

To date, with only three months of fundraising, the top three Democrat and Republican candidates have raised a combined total of over $129 million. Here is the breakdown:

• Mitt Romney - $23,434,634
• Rudy Giuliani - $16,623,410
• John McCain - $13,087,559
• Hillary Clinton - $36,054,568
• Barack Obama - $25,797,721
  
• John Edwards - $14,031,662

The bulk of the money given to all the above candidates was done through individual contributions, which are supposed to be limited. However, there are ways to get around these limits such as having a husband give the maximum, then having a wife give an equal sum. The second biggest contributors to these campaigns are political action committees. PACs used to serve as a means for a group of citizens to get the attention of lawmakers. The American Association of Retired People, for example, was instrumental in bringing attention to issues of concern to our society's elderly. Unfortunately, what was once a method for concerned citizens to get the attention of elected leadership has now become a vehicle for corporate payola.

Individual Contributions

The 2008 presidential candidates have yet to release the names of individual contributors to their campaigns, but judging from previous years, telecommunications, banking, securities, and investment corporations will be front and center to purchase our next president. Principles from Time Warner, Vivendi, Microsoft, Walt Disney Corporation, BellSouth, and MCI, Inc. have dominated the list of individual donors giving over $50,000+ in a year. While principles from other industries such as banking, insurance, tobacco, alcohol, investments, pharmaceuticals, energy, transportation, and firearms are not too far behind.

PAC Facts

Real estate has been the backbone of the economy for the past six years. While interest rates were low and sub prime lenders ruled the roost, people were able to make money by flipping houses making even the tiniest of dwellings go for astronomical prices. This was exactly what real estate special interests paid candidates to do. Out of the Top 20 PACs who funded campaigns in 2005-2006, four were from the banking and real estate industries. The National Association of Realtors topped the list with a total of over $3.7 million to candidates. Four more of the Top 20 PACs were trade workers associations that specialize in building and construction.

Three of the Top 20 PACs were auto industry related, which makes a lot of sense when looking at our government's reluctance to introduce emissions standards legislation, and their casual lip service to blatant denial of global warming. The automotive industry, alone, contributed over $5.6 million to federal candidates in 2005/2006.

What Can One Do?

Much like a child sneaking a snack before dinner when they think mom isn't looking, politicians will try to get away with as much as possible. They think the citizens of the U.S. are too caught up in Anna Nicole's baby daddy or obsessed with which skinny starlet is appearing in public sans panties to care that the same major media corporations that have downsized our freedom of information by consolidating our media outlets are the ones slipping the big checks to the candidates.

Awareness is key, as is the need for grassroots political pressure. The little one won't be as blatant going for the cookie jar if they think mama is looking out of the corner of her eye. Become your lawmaker's biggest pest by writing emails and demanding change. Keep your awareness fresh by regularly checking up with the sites listed on this blogroll. Talk about this issue with your friends, and be open to the idea that neither the Democrats nor Republicans are looking out for you. Both parties have become entrenched in the Washington D.C. powertrip culture, and are completely out of touch with the average American. These parties are no longer willing to put the needs of their citizens above their own lust for money and control, and therefore they both no longer represent the will of the people.

Last November, citizens of this country untied to send a clear message that this war of imperialist aggression in Iraq was not something the citizenry wanted to finance. We no longer wanted to stand by and watch over 10,000 of our young people coming home with missing limbs and extensive psychological damage. We didn't want any more of our brave soldiers flown home in body bags, and we didn't want to bankrupt our children's future by pouring billions into a war machine dedicated to privatizing the Iraqi oil fields. We wanted the opposition party to come in and tell the current regime that the people were no longer going to stand by while they pursued an agenda of blatant self interest, and instead of adhering to our will, the Democrats have given Bush war funding above and beyond what he requested, and have taken impeachment off the table. Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans represent the will of the people; therefore it is time to organize and pursue a true democracy with controls on the renegade capitalist ideals that have destroyed the very foundations this country was built on.

Every major change in our society has come through grassroots citizen's movements, and they work. We got out of Vietnam, secured voting rights for women, fought for civil rights, and are currently pressing the Bush Regime to leave Iraq. We love our country, but we hate our government, so now is the time to stand up, speak out, and do something about it. No more presidents for sale, no more capitalist regime, no more funding imperialist wars, and nor more Democrats or Republicans!