Election Economics for Dummies

There was a time when I might have thought this cartoon was funny. That time has long passed. 

Thanks to Citizens United and other court decisions that have allowed corporations and the wealthy to pour unlimited amounts of money into political campaigns, the old joke about the United States having the best government money can buy is no longer funny, if it ever was. The voices of ordinary citizens are lost, buried under the mountains of money that buy privileged access to lawmakers and make a mockery of the one man, one vote ideal. Do you think that the “$5, $10, or whatever you can afford” you sent in in response to your candidate’s heartfelt plea will buy you the sort of access that an Elon Musk gets? If so, I have a bridge over prime Florida swampland to sell you.

The 2020 election was the most expensive in history, costing an estimated 14.4 billion dollars, with the presidential race costing just under 7 billion and the congressional races making up the remainder. The 2024 election is on track to exceed that obscene amount.

I leave it to your imagination to wonder what that 14.4 billion dollars might have bought for the nation instead of blizzards of simplistic, insulting attack ads and second homes or yachts for political consultants. Education? Health care? Affordable housing? Child care for working families? Dealing with the effects of climate change?* Giving every American their own personal assault rifle** and high-capacity magazine?

My personal opinion is that political campaigns*** at the state and national levels should be funded by the appropriate level of government, through a modest (say, $1 to $5) levy on each taxpayer ... including (at an appropriately higher amount to be determined) the corporations and business entities that our system recognizes as "people" with rights (and responsibilities, but nobody talks about those). Come election time, the available money would be divided up among those candidates who meet basic eligibility criteria (minimum number of signatures on a running petition, for example), to be spent as each candidate wishes. I realize that this is a controversial and complicated issue that will be fought tooth and nail by political parties and those who seek to buy them, but I think it ought to be - at the very least - considered.

American political campaigns are a disgraceful waste of time and of money that could be far better spent improving the lives of our citizens.

But regardless of whether or not you agree with me, make sure you vote - not just in November, but in every election at every level. If you've not done it yet, make sure your voting registration is accurate and up to date so that political lackies can't challenge your rights or arbitrarily remove you from the rolls.

November 3rd is coming. Be ready. And be really, really angry about how much it's costing the nation ... not just in dollars, but in mental anguish.

Have a good day. Vote. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* If you refuse to believe that climate change is real, you can imagine spending the money on something that hidebound conservatives would approve … I suspect, for example, it would buy a lot of Ten Commandments posters and bibles for schoolrooms.

** Yes, yes, I know ... there's no such thing as an "assault rifle" - untwist your knickers. But as a shorthand name for a class of military-grade weapons designed to kill a lot of people quickly and efficiently, it'll do.

*** Not the cost of the administering elections, which would continue to be paid by state and local governments in accordance with the Constitution (Article 1, Section 4, Clause 1). 

† Thanks, Mr Romney.