Money — more than ideas, more than vision, more than community priorities — drives politics and politicians.
Always has. Always will.
Those who have money have a voice, and often the vote.
It may not seem fair. In fact, it isn’t fair. And it’s hard to imagine genuine reform on any key issue of the day, from health care to energy policy, when there are currently more checks than balances in the system.
How do we offset the influence of money in politics? Can we, especially when those with the money elect the politicians who make the rules and appoint the judges who approve them? Does campaign spending equal free speech? If so, then shouldn’t individuals, organized as corporations, labor unions or any other kind of group or association, have the same rights?
The issue surfaced again Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Montana law limiting corporate campaign spending. The court expanded its 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling by applying the same logic to state races, thus guaranteeing corporate and labor unions the right to spend freely to advocate for or against candidates for state and local offices.
A 1912 Montana law blocked direct corporate contributions to political parties and candidates. Missouri’s own Mark Twain wrote of one of those corporate donors more than a century ago: “He is said to have bought legislatures and judges as other men buy food and raiment.”
In the last 100 years, thousands of laws have passed at the local, state and federal level aimed at limiting the influence of money in politics. They have, for the most part, been ineffective, or, as the Supreme Court ruled Monday, unconstitutional.
The antidote, however, is not legislative.
As long as residents remain indifferent to the fate of their communities, or their nation, money will rule the day.
Turnouts in the single digits are common at the local level. In the April election, when area residents were picking city council and school board members and deciding the fate of a plan to rebuild Joplin schools, turnout was less than 13 percent, meaning nearly nine out of 10 voting-age Joplinites thought these matters were unimportant.
According to polls, about a third of Americans can’t name their governor, the vice president or their Congressman. Barely half the nation’s eligible voters turn out to pick a president.
The problem isn’t Citizens United, it’s Citizens uninterested.
Opinion
Related Photos
-
inourview.jpg
Discussion
Our View: Citizens uninterested
- Opinion
-
-
Other Views: Still inspiring
Cutbacks in the military budget and the still-recovering economy mean this Memorial Day weekend will go down as a relatively subdued affair — relative, that is, to our usual end-of-school, official-start-of-summer blowout.
-
Our View: Setting standard
The sight of hundreds of young student volunteers walking across Moore’s Fourth Street interstate overpass had to be uplifting to the city’s tornado victims.
-
Our View: Safer schools
Being able to see for ourselves what would have happened to our children had they been standing in the main hall of their schools during the May 22, 2011, tornado had a profound effect on our understanding of safe schools.
-
Marilyn Beasley, guest columnist: Claiming responsibility for abuse of power
Over the past few months we’ve witnessed the abuse of power by President Barack Obama and his administration.
-
Our View: ‘Why?’ has no answer
Just hours before, there was breakfast and laughter. There were pictures on the walls and memories in every room.
-
Our View: Absent from House
We can’t figure out why two Missouri legislators think they should be elected to the U.S. House when it appears they can’t seem to show up to take care of business in the Missouri House.
-
Your View: Terrible injustice
I see this Jasper County nuisance law as a terrible injustice on the rights of the residents of Jasper County.
-
Your View: Should we be outraged?
Were there effusive apologies following the lockdown of Boston as most of the continent indulged vicariously in the ongoing manhunt?
-
Your View: Terrorism is terrorism
In the May 13 issue of The Joplin Globe there was an Associated Press article concerning the New Orleans shooting.
-
Phill Brooks, columnist: Missouri Senate did what Founding Fathers had in mind
George Washington once described the Senate as being like a saucer in which you pour coffee or tea.
- More Opinion Headlines
-
Other Views: Still inspiring
Raw: Trucker Bumps I-5 Bridge Before Collapse
Raw: Texas Deputy Shot by Colo. Suspect Honored
Major Detours Following Wash. Bridge Collapse
American Held in Grisly Czech Murders
Raw: Jersey Shore Reopens for Summer
UK-bound Pakistan Plane Diverted, 2 Men Arrested
Officials: Tsarnaev Friend Linked to Slaying
Obama:Sexual Assault Threatens Trust in Military
Bridge Collapse Survivor: 'Rough Day'
Jersey Shore Open for Business
Raw: Memorial Day Flags Placed at Arlington
New Wheelchair Lift Promises More Access
First Person: Mom Discusses Famous Tornado Photo
Raw Video: Washington State Bridge Collapse
Boy Scouts Approve Plan to Accept Gay Boys
