The sudden, unexpected “fame” generated by my friend Ben’s co-written piece on how democracy has degenerated into plutocracy continues to stretch beyond the usual 15 minutes. This time, not just in praise, but in creative response, by a Harvard Professor, using crowd-sourced internet tools. YES!
A Brilliant Plan To Give Billionaires Who Try To Buy U.S. Elections A Taste Of Their Own Medicine
May 12, 2014
by Mansur Gidfar
upworthy.com
How bad has the money-in-politics situation gotten? A new study by researchers at Princeton and Northwestern universities found that, and I’m quoting directly here: “When the preferences of economic elites and the stands of organized interest groups are controlled for, the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.”
In other words, if you can’t afford to hire a lobbyist or raise money for politicians, your opinion literally does not matter.
But don’t go into a hopeless despair spiral just yet. On May 1, Harvard Law professor Lawrence Lessig launched Mayday PAC: a crowdfunded Super PAC with the sole mission of forcing Congress to get money out of politics. The response so far has been overwhelming: They’ve raised over a half-million dollars in the first week alone.
0 thoughts on “MAYDAY CALL to Take Back Our Democracy “generates overwhelming response in first week alone””
Would it be unreasonable to ask (a) who are the persons that will actually administer and decide where the funds get spent and (b) their short list for their choice of “bad ass” campaign consultants ?
What amount of SuperPac money will it take to get the US Presidential “Debates” returned back to the seemingly fairer, more informative debate administration of the League of Women Voters?