October 5, 2007- The Cost of Campaigning for President
Mr. Speaker, whatmust our children think when they hear news reports about the upcomingPresidential race of 2008, and when they hear over and over and overagain how much money all the candidates are raising, $27 million, $20million, $18 million, and the ante is being raised every week.
In just 6 months of campaigning, the 2008 Presidential candidateshave already amassed more than $265 million. According to the Centerfor Responsive Politics, some analysts predict that the eventualnominees will need to raise a half a billion dollars apiece in order tocompete, a half a billion dollars apiece.
In the last 2004 Presidential election, the candidates, together,raised $880,500,000. The 2008 Presidential election will see the firstbillion-dollar race in American history. That's more than the grossdomestic product of 25 nations.
What must our children think about this out-of-control arms race?Don't they conclude only the rich have a chance, that the rich control,that to get ahead, you have to court the rich? What must our childrenthink of our Nation, once founded with the high ideals of patriotism,sacrifice and rebellion against the entrenched view that has now fallenso sick, so sick. A majority of its candidates in both parties run toWall Street and hedge funds and mega-buck donors and bundlers whosereal motives often come to light as scandals.
Former Member Shirley Chisholm described herself as unbought andunbossed. Those of us who knew her knew she wasn't kidding when shesaid that.
It's hard to imagine a Presidential candidate staying unbought undersuch immense pressure to raise money. Inevitably, those candidates haveto turn to the superrich or to bundlers, to special interests andunsavory characters who care only about themselves and their specialinterests and very little about our country.
When we start looking under the rocks, it's hard to say what we willfind: foreign influence in unregulated hedge funds, foreigncontributions laundered through third parties, cronyism taken to thenth degree.
Almost 100 years ago, a native son of Ohio, Warren Harding, won theWhite House. He ushered in a level of corruption that was unrivaled atthat time. The dollar amounts being tossed around in the 2000Presidential race make it only a matter of time before another giantscandal rocks our government and further undermines the confidence ofour body politic and our very system of government. We all know what'sgoing on is wrong, wrong, wrong.
When I am asked who I am supporting for President, I say the one who has raised the least money.
We should be asking ourselves what must our children think, beforeit's too late. We can act now to curb this out-of-control arms race. Ihave introduced a bill, H. Con. Res. 6, that reaffirms that thepresence of unlimited amounts of money corrupts the political processin a fundamental manner.
If money equals free speech, then lack of money equals lack of freespeech. The bill expresses the need to preserve, through ourConstitution, the integrity of a republican form of government, restorepublic confidence in election campaigns, and ensure all citizens anequal opportunity to participate in our political process.
I encourage my colleagues to join me in cosponsoring thislegislation and for Americans to pay attention and call this importantissue to the attention of their Representatives.
America needs a new revolution to take our politics back from themoney handlers and telemarketers. Let's return our Republic to theAmerican people and, importantly, a free Republic to our children.