Is Pay-to-play politics killing democracy?
Opinion: The Hill | Writer: BY JEFF CLEMENTS
As we head into a record-breaking $16 billion election cycle, a wave of members of Congress have tried to address the growing demand from voters to set reasonable limits on campaign spending. From Sen. Josh Hawley’s (R-Mo.) Ending Corporate Influence on Elections Act, which would prohibit publicly traded corporations from using super PACs and so-called “independent spending” to influence elections, to multiple House bills and Senate legislation aimed at reducing foreign spending in our elections, these members are heeding the call from their constituents to curb the corrupting influence of billionaires, global corporations and foreign actors.
Election spending has exploded since 2010, when the Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. FEC decision opened the door for corporations, unions and dark money special interest groups to spend unlimited money on elections. Billions of dollars now pour into races up and down the ballot, and spending rules and anti-corruption guardrails continue to be dismantled.
