We’ve established that Citizens United was a disastrous decision for American democracy. But did you know that it also allowed foreign interests to dodge federal laws to influence our elections? According to federal election law, foreign governments and individuals are not allowed to participate in U.S. elections. But after the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens… Read more
Tag: big money in politics
Big Money: The Power Behind the War Machine in Afghanistan
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The War in Afghanistan killed more than 241,000 people and cost the United States $2 trillion. What was the point? Why did we spend so much time and so many resources on a war that was doomed to fail? As you might expect, big money played a major role. How Private Contractors Fueled 20 Years… Read more
Campaign Finance’s Dirty Dozen: Mega-Donors in U.S. Politics
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The concentration of spending by wealthy mega-donors in our elections is even greater than previously thought. A report by Issue One, a nonpartisan campaign finance reform group, released last month showed that for every $13 spent in U.S. elections, $1 was contributed by one of twelve mega-donors and their spouses. That’s over $3.4 billion spent… Read more
The Beginning of the End for Corporate Campaign Spending?
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The events of January 6th shook our country to its core. Hundreds of rioters stormed the Capitol, endangering the lives of Members of Congress, their staffers, and Capitol Police in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Despite the violence, some Republicans still chose to contest the results when Congress reconvened that… Read more
We Need Diverse Leaders. Public Campaign Financing is Part of the Solution.
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The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless other people of color have led to a watershed moment in American history. For the first time in more than 50 years, Americans are taking a hard look at the lengths to which racism still poisons the land of the free. The… Read more
Buying Candidates is a Symptom of Oligarchy
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It was a Freudian slip of epic proportions. Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, describing the House’s partisan flip in 2018, bragged that he “bought” the new Democratic majority for $100 million. He quickly corrected himself, but the damage was done. Bloomberg is one of two self-funding billionaires in the Democratic primary. After his… Read more
We The People Amendment Gains Major Senate Sponsor
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Here at the Stamp Stampede, we’re thrilled whenever progress is made on democracy reform measures like the We The People Amendment. Our friends at Move To Amend have worked tirelessly to pass this legislation, stating once and for all that money is not speech and corporations are not people. Now the amendment is one step… Read more
Democracy For All Amendment Proposed in the Senate
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The 28th Amendment is taking another step toward approval! Senators Tom Udall (D-NM) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) announced outside the Supreme Court yesterday that they are reintroducing the amendment to the Senate. The 28th Amendment, aka the Democracy for All Amendment, takes direct aim at the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, declaring once and for… Read more
Join the 6th Annual Granny D Walk!
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The annual Granny D Walk is back! On August 3rd, honor the radical lady herself in a walk from Dublin to Petersborough, NH to protest big money in politics! Who was Granny D? Doris “Granny D” Haddock (1910-2010) was a legendary reformer in New Hampshire and the founder of Open Democracy. Beginning January 1, 1999,… Read more
Virginia’s Election, Who Really Won?
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Democrats are celebrating a gubernatorial win in Virginia’s election, but the losers are the American people. Big money in politics once again broke records and distorted the political process, reducing another election to a game of high-tech, expensive name calling. It is another example of our distorted electoral process and portends worse to come in… Read more