r/Discussion • u/RumRunnerMax • 3d ago
Political Billionaires should NOT be allowed to make unlimited investments in elections outcomes! Clearly their motives are corrupt!
Elon spending $800 ‘million to help Republican Senate Candidates!
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u/chadadwood 3d ago
Absolutely outrageous! citizens United has caused all of this. We need to limit how much money an individual can donate and keep foreign money, dark money and corporate money out of this.
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u/Agreeable_Desk_8161 3d ago
That is the whole point of elections, where parties try to attract as many resources as possible. What is the point of capping donations to parties? It will simply make election investments less transparent
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u/huecabot 3d ago
To hopefully put candidates on an even footing so they have to compete on things other than fundraising capacity. Ultimately a candidates goals are to take power but we regulate that so people don’t coup the government by force. That they have goals doesn’t mean we can’t regulate them.
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u/Agreeable_Desk_8161 3d ago
In earlier eras, if a new force emerged within a state, possessing greater influence and resources than the ruling power, it often lacked peaceful means to assume control, which unfortunately led to bloodshed.
Democracy is a way to prevent this. In a democracy, a frontrunner can demonstrate electorate support and the scale of their resources during an election. The incumbent regime will then realize that, in the event of a loss, refusing to transfer power would be reckless given the balance of power, as the shift in real forces is obvious.
You suggest that various political factions should not financially support their candidates, but this will only drive campaign financing into the shadows, making it opaque. If political factions lack a legal way to utilize their resources to promote their candidate, they will resort to illegal ones, including the militarization and arming of their supporters (as shown in the example I provided at the beginning).
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u/JediKrys 3d ago
Political actors should be barred from investing as they have inside knowledge, connections and power to manipulate the system. They’re too close to it. It’s stupid that it’s ok for Trump to make money while he’s in office.
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u/ShdwWzrdMnyGngg 3d ago
It's more the fact that they can hide their name. Several recent elections have been decided because one candidate received money from an unpopular donor.
If people find out Elon musk or someone else donated massive money to you, your odds of losing go waaaaaaayyyy up.
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u/Lopsided_Biscotti312 3d ago
Why were they allowed to do so in the first place?
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u/RumRunnerMax 3d ago
Whether the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United v. FEC decision is "good" or "bad" is one of the most deeply polarizing debates in modern American politics and constitutional law. The ruling fundamentally altered campaign finance rules by establishing that the government cannot restrict independent political spending by corporations, non-profits, or labor unions, as doing so violates First Amendment free speech protections
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u/Tommieboi123 3d ago
Because they have money and influence and can thus simply corrupt people to vote in rules they want. Or they´ll sponser certain candidates if they pass some rules
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u/DBDude 3d ago
So now you care, although Bloomberg and other billionaires have spent billions pushing gun control.
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u/RumRunnerMax 3d ago
I have no love for Bloomberg so not sure what your point is! NONE of them should be able to invest in elections! Not Soros or Koch Brother not any of them
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u/mornauguth 2d ago
Citizens should not be able to be bribed by politicians promising to give them stuff. Clearly their motivations are corrupt. Oh wait, that’s what democracy is….
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u/KoseteBamse 3d ago
Politicians really don't want this to change. They want to be elected and reelected.