Money in Politics

The United States Supreme Court recently ruled that corporations are entitled to spend unlimited amounts of corporate money to influence elections.

                                      

This decision paves the way for billions of dollars of new political advertising.  And American corporations controlled by foreign interests or foreign governments can now spend freely to alter the outcome of American elections and have a chilling effect for speaking truth to power.

 

This ruling overturned decades of precedent and gives corporations free speech rights equal to individuals – that’s plain wrong. To maintain representative democracy as it was envisioned by the founders, we must put limits on private money in political campaigns. 

 

If corporations can spend millions to defeat their most vocal opponents, then other candidates may be afraid to speak out. We can’t allow our government to be sold to the highest bidder.

 

As your Congressman, Jim will:

 

  • Propose a Constitutional Amendment that says a corporation is not equal to a person. Corporations are not individuals and should not have the same rights as the individual.
  • Provide partial public financing though a refundable tax credit for small personal donations.  Minnesota had a similar program that increased civic participation and ensured that all the people of Minnesota had a voice in elections.
  • Prohibit foreign-owned or controlled corporations from influencing American elections.
  • Establish strict disclosure requirements for corporate spending on elections including a provision for shareholder approval prior to expenditure of corporate resources.