Democracy for Sale

“Government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from this earth,” Abraham Lincoln famously declared in the Gettysburg Address. Our former President’s noble vision was shattered on January 21, 2010, when the Supreme Court released its decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Committee. This landmark case pitted  free speech against equal speech. The Court controversially ruled in favor of Citizens United, declaring that corporations and unions could donate unlimited amounts to political action committees not affiliated with a political campaign. While the Supreme Court struck down donation limits to “Super PACs” to ensure the freedom of corporations to spend as they please, unrestricted campaign finance has disastrous consequences that will crush more freedom than it will protect.

The case implies that democratic government can be bought, sold and traded like any other product in a capitalistic society. This disturbing reality inevitably favors the richest Americans. We are already seeing the results. The 2012 United States presidential election is the first to be affected by this decision, and the wealthy have powerfully exerted their new power. Financial analysts from the New York Times and Forbes have concluded that the two parties will collectively spend nearly $6 billion on Congressional and Presidential campaigns, making the 2012 election the most expensive in the country’s history.

Both liberal and conservative candidates have enjoyed gargantuan financial support from the country’s richest donors. Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson is among the most prominent Republican supporters. He has pledged $100 million to “Restore Our Future”, a conservative Super PAC committed to defeating President Obama. It would be naïve to think that Adelson expects nothing in return. A study from the Center for American Progress Action Fund explains Adelson’s return if were Obama defeated: a $2 billion tax cut from Romney’s economic plan. While the President boasts that most of his donors give small amounts, he also has a group of generous backers. Morgan Freeman and Jeffrey Katzenberg alone have donated several million to Obama’s re-election campaign. This legalized bribery is antithetical to democracy. Government is not a private good. Anyone who contributes to the economy pays taxes that fuel the government. Its purpose is to serve everyone, not just the largest contributors. All voters are equal citizens who deserve an equal say in electing their officials. The Supreme Court’s decision to allow rich donors to have disproportionate leverage dilutes the voices, votes, and interests of the already marginalized middle class. No longer is the government of the people, but rather of the people of means.

Citizens United concentrates the vast majority of campaign power in the hands of the wealthiest Americans. This privileged group now has the power to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on advertisements supporting candidates who have backed their own interests. Not only does this power dilute the donations of the middle and lower class, it encourages government corruption. Wall Street bankers would not give millions of dollars to presidential, congressional and senatorial races unless the candidates agreed to represent their interests in Congress. These interests involve repaying campaign donations with special tax loopholes, deductions and subsidies that exclusively benefit wealthy donors at the expense of middle class taxpayers. Unfortunately, even noble candidates cannot hope to be successful if they say no to millions of dollars when their opponents are accepting the money. Politicians already complain about special interests in Washington, and Citizens United makes the problem far worse. No longer is the government by the people, but by the people who sell out.

The capital gains tax loophole is a clear example of the power of the rich and influential at the expense of the vast majority of Americans. The top federal tax rate for individuals making over $388,350 per year is 35%. However, any sum of money earned from the sale of an investment or property is taxed at 15%. This loophole allows people who make millions or billions per year to be taxed at the same rate as people who have less than $9,000 of taxable annual income. Perhaps the worst part of this law is that it was adopted before the Citizens United case. With their new power, the wealthy can now devise a highly regressive tax code that benefits their interests at an incalculable cost to the poor. Stripping away more campaign finance regulation will only exacerbate legalized cronyism.

Another unintended consequence is that it allows unlimited foreign money to be pumped into elections. This allows politicians to accept bribes in exchange for policies that are not in the interest of the United States. Quelling our dependence on foreign energy is in America’s national interest and has thus become a major campaign issue. A parable relating energy to the Citizens United case clearly illustrates how politicians are now more likely to serve wealthy foreigners than American middle class workers. It is in Saudi Arabia’s economic interest for us to buy their oil. With this new law, the Saudi King could legally give $100 million to a politician’s election campaign on the condition that the U.S. would maintain its offshore drilling ban. There are economic benefits and environmental drawbacks to repealing this ban. Nevertheless, the President would make this decision not for the American people, but for a select set of foreign donors who won a bidding war. With minimal campaign finance regulation and both parties acting in their own rational, individual interests, this is one example of many that could come from a political cesspool of legalized corruption.  No longer is the government for the people, but rather for the people who pay more.

In its overzealous efforts to protect the First Amendment, the Supreme Court has put our democracy up for sale. Allowing the wealthy to give unlimited funds to political campaigns increases the likelihood of corrupting politicians to favor the interests of the rich at the expense of the poor. Such candidates would have little chance of getting elected without a few disproportionately large donations. If Americans want to restore Lincoln’s vision, the Citizens United decision must be repealed as soon as possible. Overturning it requires a constitutional amendment. The balance of powers makes amending the constitution difficult but possible. An amendment can only be ratified with a two-thirds majority in Congress, the President’s signature and approval by at least three fourths of the States. Constituents should lobby to their Congressmen and Senators for an amendment setting reasonable limits on campaign donations that are raised proportionally to inflation. This will allow the voices of middle class voters to be influential again. This critical reform would bring the country one step closer to a democracy where elections are decided not by the size of donors’ wallets, but by the strength of the candidates’ ideas.