Pink Floyd had it right on with their 1973 song “Money”:
Money, get away
Get a good job with more pay and you’re okay
Money, it’s a gas
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash
New car, caviar, four-star daydream
Think I’ll buy me a football team
Money, get back
I’m alright, Jack, keep your hands off of my stack
Money, it’s a hit
Don’t give me that do-goody-good bullshit
I’m in the high-fidelity first class traveling set
And I think I need a Lear jet
Money, it’s a crime
Share it fairly, but don’t take a slice of my pie
Money, so they say
Is the root of all evil today
But if you ask for a rise it’s no surprise
That they’re giving none away
Away, away, away
Away, away, away
Here we have it about who represents us (or do they?): Half of the members of Congress are millionaires, when about 18% of Americans are millionaires. Meanwhile, how many of the folks reading this are in reality but a few paychecks from being in financial turmoil? Bottom line, you can forget about the famous noblesse oblige, whereupon it is the divine duty of the Super Rich to help their fellow man. And how much do they really help? Remember, it was Jesus in the New Testament who encountered the rich man. The guy asked “Rabbi how can I follow you?” Jesus knew this dude had lots of bread and said “Give all your possessions to the poor and come follow me.” The guy walked away.
The crux of things for this writer is to break from the negative influence of mega money. Let’s stop calling our country a Democracy. That is bullcrap! As long as we allow private money into political campaigns we lose that title… period! Only with complete Public Funding of all electoral politics can we dismiss the Super Rich from the discussion. I recall when I lived in Indianapolis in the mid 1990s. At the time I was writing for a local populist newspaper. Attorney Ed Garvey, once the lawyer for the NFL Players Association, was involved with the Maine Clean Election Act campaign. This was a new law in Maine to allow candidates to run with only public funding for state wide offices. Because of the 1976 Supreme Court ruling in Buckley vs. Valeo that determined “Money to be free speech in political campaigns,” the state of Maine passed this new law. It could not keep private money out of campaigns, but at least the voters would know who refused it and who didn’t. As it transpired, with the first such Clean Election Law being used, around a bit less than 1/3 of those winning seats were publicly funded. So, when Ed came to Indianapolis I interviewed him for my piece. He explained a lot to me and I became a bit hopeful.
Fast forward to a year later in the state Capitol, which happened to be right in downtown Indy. The state government put together a blue ribbon committee to discuss this idea for public funding, using the Maine Clean Elections Law as a foundation. The committee was made up of legislators, media people and union representatives. I went down to their first public meeting and was on the list to speak. When it was my turn I made it short and sweet:
“I’m originally from Brooklyn, NY, where we believe the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. You want true democracy, then NO private money in politics. With total public funding of all campaigns you wouldn’t need lobbyists. Anyone giving money to a politician for his or her campaign would be arrested for bribery. We would see regular working stiffs given the chance to seek office. Truck drivers, schoolteachers, office workers, laborers could have a shot of being elected once you take private money out OR allowing, as with Maine, the voters knowing who didn’t take the private funds and who did.” I then had a few members of that committee eager to engage me. One man, who owned a small town newspaper, was vehement against it. He said he made revenue from publishing political ads. I challenged him with the idea that every candidate should have access to the public through such free ads, and not those who get money from rich donors, especially corporations. Why not have the state subsidize some of the free ads for each candidate equally? Then I had a committee member challenge me saying shouldn’t anyone have the right to spend their money as they see fit while running for office? I kept calling him Senator while we debated.
Finally, the woman who went after me was with Common Cause and the daughter of a small town mayor. She was focused only on “transparency” and not at all wishing to get private money out of politics. I shrugged as she went on and on like a little Miss Muffin thankful that they allowed her to speak. When the meeting was over, I went over to the guy from South Bend who I had been calling Senator. We shook hands and that is when he informed me that he was not a State Senator, but a union official with the Teamsters. Oh boy! Two reporters from the Associated Press asked me for an interview, and I was happy to give it. After me, Little Miss Muffin was also being interviewed by the press. I turned to this fellow from Hoosier Environmental Council, who came in with me, and said “She’ll get in the paper tomorrow, not me.” And that’s how it went down. You confront the empire and they deny you were even there.