The media, particularly the left, keep telling us the Koch brothers are what is destroying America with money in politics. Yet here we have a Democrat, Tom Steyer, that is singlehandedly closing the gap with a $50 million war-chest to attack Republicans. Add in the unions and the Koch brothers are small-time.
Depending on how you measure, the Koch brothers spent $39 million in the 2012 elections. Add in their extended network of businesses, friends, associates, et cetera and that number balloons to $490 million according to PolitiFact.
The unions, according to PolitiFact and The Huffington Post, spent up to $1.7 billion in the 2012 elections and lobbying.
Basic math says that 1.7 billion (union spending) is more than 490 million (entire Koch network).
According to OpenSecrets.org this is the breakdown of money in 2014, and you can clearly see that money apparently corrupts Democrats more than Republicans:
| Total Raised | Total Spent | Cash on Hand | Debts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | $409,979,764 | $299,203,635 | $84,192,958 | $15,847,651 |
| Republican Party | $315,899,997 | $264,969,148 | $76,147,210 | $1,987,309 |
| Democratic National Cmte | $91,909,513 | $86,534,041 | $10,334,717 | $14,125,405 |
| Republican National Cmte | $105,991,576 | $99,180,379 | $13,031,082 | $0 |
| Democratic Congressional Campaign Cmte | $99,420,682 | $60,669,018 | $40,239,885 | $0 |
| National Republican Congressional Cmte | $81,706,152 | $52,093,966 | $31,146,797 | $0 |
| Democratic Senatorial Campaign Cmte | $74,074,362 | $53,662,738 | $22,221,584 | $0 |
| National Republican Senatorial Cmte | $53,146,828 | $40,659,255 | $15,868,362 | $0 |
NOTE: All the numbers in this table are for the 2014 election cycle and based on
Federal Election Commission data released on May 21, 2014.
Money is NOT speech. Corporations, unions, and non-persons should NOT be able to participate in political campaigns, only individuals.
How about we change the laws that campaign limits apply to Social Security Numbers and nobody else can donate? That is the way to protect our country from the corruption of money in politics.
Revolutionary idea, I know. Just a thought as we all deal with the frustrations of watching our country convulse under the weight of special interest money and election campaigns.
Not that I’m an expert – but are you comparing all unions to 1 network? Are there other conservative networks other than Koch? Seems apples and oranges to me. In regards to Steyer, it seems he supports environmental and philanthropic activities, and candidates with similiar views, while the Koch’s seem only to promote total free market policies (except when it benefits them).
You are totally on he mark that the supreme court was nuts to declare corporate contributions free speech. Not quite sure about unions. Doesn’t someone who makes 50,000 a year need a way to band together to protect themselves from people who make 500,000,000?
Jim,
Your point is taken, which is why I compared the parties in various forms. Look deeper into the FEC reports (http://www.fec.gov/press/press2013/20130419_2012-24m-Summary.shtml) and understand why the left is so upset about Citizens United, it rebalanced spending by non-party affiliated groups. While I make my point in whole, the left only cares about the corporations and Koch Brothers. I want the corrupting money out, period.
The problem with your argument regarding unions is that the card carrying member almost never has the right to exclude dues from political lobbying. So if the member disagrees with the union leadership, there isn’t recourse. Furthermore, unions actually hand out a sheet at election time telling the membership for whom they should vote. How is that benefitting our country? It isn’t. Particularly California where the public unions have become a fourth branch of government, self-interested, to the detriment of the state’s budget and the average tax-paying citizen. How again is that different than a corporation spending money? And a guy making $50k and absolutely send $25 to his favorite candidate. And many did in 2012. There is simply no reason for a union to take dues, without input from the members, and spend it on political advertisements, etc.
Here’s the difference: Unions represent millions of working people. The Koch brothers represent two billionaires. Per capita, the Kochs win.
If you want to end money = speech you have to go back to corporations are people and amend the US Constitution.
https://movetoamend.org/