Clinton’s Defense of Big Money Won’t Cut It

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/04/25/clintons-defense-big-money-wont-cut-it

Few Democrats doubt that big money corrupts our politics. This economy does not work for working people because the rules have been rigged to favor the few. They are rigged by politicians and officials who too often are more responsive to their donors than to the voters who put them in office.

This argument is not controversial. Academic research confirms it. Politicians in both parties bemoan the hours they spend each day soliciting rich donors or schmoozing with lobbyists at unceasing fundraisers. Virtually all Democrats argue that we have to curb big money in politics. They’re united in calling for overturning Citizens United and the other Supreme Court decisions that have opened the floodgates to unlimited, often secret corporate money in our politics.

When Sanders questions Clinton about her funding from Wall Street, her speeches to big banks and other interests that brought her millions personally, and her array of super PACs, she charges Sanders with making “false character attacks.” But the influence of campaign contributions isn’t about character, it is about association, gratitude and access.

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Exactly. The big donors have access to express their concerns, to make their case. The server at McDonald’s doesn’t get a personal audience with the candidate to explain why a $15.00 minimum wage and a union are so vital. An inner city mother can’t get an audience to explain why closing down the local school is so devastating. Middle income parents, hit with rising copays and drug costs, can’t get a meeting to argue for moving to Medicare for All. Pay to play isn’t simply alliteration; it is central to how the rules get rigged.

The “money chase” slowly, imperceptibly influences the worldview of politicians. It influences who they think is important, what views they think are reputable. Donors become confidants who recommend the “right” people for high office.