Category: Uncategorized

Washington – More descriptions of the heated exchanges between President Trump and congressional Democratic leaders during their two-hour …

Americans woke on Saturday to the 15th day of a partial government shutdown that Donald Trump said could go on for months or years, if he is not …

(CNN) President Donald Trump told congressional leaders during a meeting Friday to try to negotiate terms to re-open the government and that he …

President Donald Trump and Democratic lawmakers aren’t just far apart on how to end the partial government shutdown, they aren’t even in …

Most federal workers, even those with rent owed and bills due, would gladly forgo their paycheck as a measure of support for his $5.6 billion border …

Two weeks into the showdown over a border wall, Mr. Trump is now crafting his own narrative of the confrontation that has come to consume his …

WASHINGTON — President Trump raised the possibility on Friday of declaring a national emergency to allow him to build a wall along the southwest …

President Trump on Friday offered his most robust public case for the border wall since the partial government shutdown began two weeks ago, …

Why We Must Get Big Money Out of Politics

The most important thing we must do to save our democracy is get big money out of politics. It’s a prerequisite to accomplishing everything else.

Today, big money continues to corrupt American politics – creating a vicious cycle that funnels more wealth and power to those at the top and eroding our democracy.

In the 2018 midterm elections, wealthy donors and Super-PACs poured millions into the campaigns of the same lawmakers who voted to pass the 2017 tax cuts, which gave them huge windfalls. 

Consider conservative donors Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, whose casino business received an estimated $700 million windfall, thanks to Trump and Republicans’ tax cuts. The couple then used some of this extra cash to plow more than $113 million dollars into the 2018 election, breaking the record for political contributions by a single household.

That’s not a bad return on investment – for them.

All told, almost 40 percent of total contributions in the 2018 midterms came from people who donated $10,000 or more. Yet these mega-donors comprise a tiny 0.01 percent of the U.S. population.  

It’s a worsening vicious cycle: Lawmakers cut taxes and slash regulations for their wealthy campaign donors. Mega-donors and corporations funnel some of that money back into our political system to keep their lackeys in power. Politicians then propose another round of tax cuts, subsidies or bailouts to secure even more donations.

If this isn’t corruption, I don’t know what is. It also breeds cynicism in our democracy. The game seems rigged because it is.  A 2015 poll found that the majority of Americans say lawmakers are corrupt, out of touch with their constituents, and beholden to special interests.

In the 2018 midterms, Americans demanded an end to the corruption. And there are signs lawmakers are finally getting message. House Democrats’ first piece of legislation aims to end the big-money takeover. 

We must end this vicious cycle in order to reclaim our democracy. We must get big money out of politics. Now.