Money

Poodlehead · 10-22-2008, 01:36 PM

Why are people running for office allowed to use so much money? What makes it ok for Obama to spend so much cash just to be elected POTUS? Or McCain? Or to have people all over the country send money to Minnesota so Norm Coleman can beat Al Franken to become Senator? And vice versa?

And why is lobbyist a job? What would happen if we just did away with all of the special interest lobbies?

CottonCandyCurls · 10-22-2008, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poodlehead

Why are people running for office allowed to use so much money? What makes it ok for Obama to spend so much cash just to be elected POTUS? Or McCain? Or to have people all over the country send money to Minnesota so Norm Coleman can beat Al Franken to become Senator? And vice versa?

And why is lobbyist a job? What would happen if we just did away with all of the special interest lobbies?

Not sure how to answer your question on why they are allowed to. Every cycle campaigns get more expensive. I guess the question would be why is it so expensive to run.

It would be extremely difficult to get rid of lobbyists since corporations already have some of the basic rights of individuals which include lobbying government.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpora...sonhood_debate
It's wikipedia but it's a decent jumping off point.

Boomygrrl · 10-22-2008, 01:55 PM

Some lobbyists are essential. They might bring up important issues such as breast cancer research, for instance. How do we police which lobbyists are okay and which aren't? I think it gives the illusion that "we the people" are being heard with the lobbyists "talking" to the politicians. Unfortunately,a lot of lobbyists are for their own selfish interests which might not be good for "we the people." But again, how do we police that?

We are a capitalist society that says spending more is better. By spending more, more advertisements are being seen by the voters, etc.
I give McCain credit for trying to minimize this with the McCain-Feingold Bill (I think it's Feingold???)

We can try to regulate it some, but really...if you were a candidate and you were able to raise more money, which would greatly help you "spread the word" about your campaign, wouldn't you want to do so?

Many companies will contribute to both candidates...maybe more to one than the other...they want their interests to be protected or at least to be considered and they feel they can "buy" their way...and many do.

Poodlehead · 10-22-2008, 02:01 PM

I suppose... *sigh*

It just seems like vast sums of money get spent for-- what? And if the companies didn't spend all that money on lobbyists or candidates, maybe expenses would stay down?

What if there was some rule like, for every dollar you contribute to a candidate, you need to contribute the same amount to pay down the national debt?

Or if there was a specific amount the government allocates for each election, and that is all a candidate can spend.

CurlyGina2 · 10-22-2008, 02:18 PM

My and hubby both donated the max to Obama. If he doesn't need/want it, he can say so. If they want to give some back/to other causes, fine with me. If they want to give it to the DNC, fine with me.

CottonCandyCurls · 10-22-2008, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poodlehead

I suppose... *sigh*

It just seems like vast sums of money get spent for-- what? And if the companies didn't spend all that money on lobbyists or candidates, maybe expenses would stay down?

What if there was some rule like, for every dollar you contribute to a candidate, you need to contribute the same amount to pay down the national debt?

Or if there was a specific amount the government allocates for each election, and that is all a candidate can spend.

Vast sums of money are spent by certain corporations because it is a cheap investment. For less than 200K you can get billions of dollars in tax breaks and incentives. I don't think there are many people in real positions of power who care about the national debt. And why should they no one will hold them accountable and regular citizens spend their resources almost as poorly as the federal goverment. It was nice McCain "tried" to limit election spending but he actually made things much worse. You might like this organization. http://www.campaignmoney.org/blog/2008/10/22/5-billion

StephS · 10-22-2008, 05:51 PM

Quote:

It would be extremely difficult to get rid of lobbyists since corporations already have some of the basic rights of individuals which include lobbying government.

And therein lies pretty much the ENTIRE problem. Corporations ARE NOT individuals. A single corporation is NOT THE SAME as a single individual, no matter how you spin it. Corporate lobbyists have perverted our system into the greedy machine that feeds Congress, who in turn rubber stamp all of the nefarious "legislation" (many lobbyists actually WRITE the legislation for members of Congress to present) that gives corporations more welfare than if we gave it to every poor person on the face of this planet.

I am not talking about groups or individuals lobbying for helpful legislation, like equal rights. I am only speaking against sorporations seeking special favors from Congress. It is a conflict of interest in almost every way, and WRONG.