BIG MONEY IN POLITICS

SCOTUS Says Spend, Spend, Spend

Campaign spending out of control but there’s no corruption here

People want money out of politics. Get rid of Citizens United! And it's a bipartisan agreement.

Both Republicans, 66% support an amendment to limit big money in politics. And Democrats, 85% support an amendment. They want it gone. Shocking! A majority of us agree with each other.

The U.S. Supreme Court removed the shackles for campaign spending. | Image Courtesy of ChatGPT

But the Supreme Court went deaf, dumb, and blind. They decided the complete opposite. Money is speech so it shouldn't be restricted. MO money! MO money!

**Federal Election Commission vs National Republican Senatorial Committee [NRSC]* struck down a federal law that restricted how much political parties could spend in direct coordination with candidates. Political parties can now directly coordinate unlimited spending and messaging with campaigns now. Spend! Spend! Spend! In full public view. They can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to help candidates. No more caps. Rich people will love it!*

“It empowers wealthy people” says Roy Cooper, U.S. Senate candidate in North Carolina. Forget those small donors. Hey, Elon Musk! How much can you give me?

Undue influence who cares! You can now buy a presidency. Not like you couldn’t before, but you can do it for everyone to see. What will happen to super PACS? They’re competition now.

Don’t worry super PACs are still in business

When the Supreme Court unlocked the shackles did they consider forcing anonymous donors into the spotlight? But that might reveal some of the Justices' financial activities. Maybe they’ll look into it after their summer vacation. Or not.

Super PACs are legally required to disclose donors to the Federal Election Commission. Although, donors can shield their identities by using dark money groups. There’s always a loophole for rich people.

It takes 3 steps to create **dark money**, the boogeyman of politics.

1. Wealthy individuals, corporations, or unions make large donations to a nonprofit.
2. Certain 501c nonprofits have no legal obligation to publicly disclose their donors. Something Congress should look into. Super PACs do.
3. The nonprofit then transfers those funds directly into a super PAC. Which lists the nonprofit as its donor in FEC disclosures. Hey Congress, can you do something?

And Voila! The campaign has dark money!

What does all this mean for Trump’s Make America Great Again Inc. super PAC? No worries. They’ll evolve and grift in more ways.

Interestingly, the super PAC’s only employee seems to be its registered treasurer Charles Gantt. It’s the only name we can find still linked to the super PAC. Everyone else has moved on to the White House. And fun fact!

[embed]*Trump Should Reschedule Marijuana, Says Ad From New Political Committee That Shares Same Treasurer As President's MAGA Super PAC - Marijuana Moment *A new political committee that shares the same treasurer as President Donald Trump's own super PAC is pushing the president to follow through on rescheduling marijuana, releasing an ad that highlights his previous endorsement of the reform on the campaign trail. The 30-second spot comes from the America First Agriculture Action Inc., a PAC that [...] www.marijuanamoment.net

More fudgin’ corruption!

Major donors, corporations, and labor unions will still give infinite gobs of money. We know, how could there possibly be more? But they don’t have to hide it anymore. “I’m gonna make you an offer you can’t refuse.”

Some may argue. There’s already billions spent in election campaigns, so what’s a few more billions? What a waste of fudgin’ money. All those stupid yard signs and mailers. They end up in a landfill. All those bars of gold. They just end up in Donny’s Mar-a-Lago bathroom.

According to Open Secrets in 2024, $9.5 billion was spent on Congressional races. $5.3 billion on the presidential race. It’s disgusting. Can you imagine how many people wouldn’t be starving or homeless with that amount of money. How many people would have adequate healthcare?

ANNUAL COST of about $6,000 to $19,739 per person govt. subsidized/universal healthcare coverage

$14.8 BILLION = 1.37 million to 2.46 million people for 1 year

TOTAL U.S. Healthcare Spending

$14.4 Billion/Day =

1 Day of U.S. Healthcare Funding

Fun fact! Political campaigns spent more in 2020 than 2024 [$10.6 billion on Congressional races and $7.7 billion on the presidential race]. All that money for the likes of Biden, Trump, and Senators Mark Kelly, Jon Ossoff, David Perdue, and Thom Tillis. To name a few.

We can't wait for 2028. Who are we fudgin’ kidding? Those big spenders are taking a deep dive in the 2026 election. That's really hot right now. The fate of Congress's majority is in the hands of rich corporations and billionaires.

Will we ever remove large amounts of money from of politics? Both parties want it. So they say. But rich people behind the parties don’t. Thanks, Supreme Court.

“This America” — an op-ed publication