Make Politicians Accountable!

Why doesn't Congress do something???!!!!

The bottom line is that Congress is paid to do nothing...by lobbyists and donors!

Let's fix that problem NOW. Introducing the Get Money Out of Politics Amendment (GMOOPA, or "gee-moopa", as in, "Gee, Moopa, where ya been all my life?)

And, without further ado, here's the proposed Amendment:

  1. Only those persons eligible to vote in an election for a specific office may contribute to a campaign supporting or opposing a candidate for that office.
  2. No person may contribute to any campaign for elective office, in one year, more than four times the federal minimum wage for one hour of labor.
  3. A campaign contribution is defined as the contribution of money, property, or services in exchange for the publication of speech that expressly advocates for or against specific candidates for elective office. The limitations on contributions does not include payments for good faith efforts to present an impartial analysis of either political issues or qualifications for office.

Explanation (as if one was needed):

Section 1: No outside influences! Only citizens ***who are eligible to vote in a particular race*** may contribute to that race. For example, some billionaire in Texas would be prohibited from donating to a race for Senator in Illinois.

Section 2: No large contributions-- period! The current minimum wage is $7.25/hour, 4 times that wage is $29. Thus the Amendment limits contributions to $29 per year per candidate (although you can give to as many candidates as you wish). The Amendment even limits how much rich candidates can give to their own campaigns. The goal of the Amendment is to eliminate the class of large donors who, today, get special treatment from elected officials. Is four times the minimum wage too low? Maybe Congress should raise the minimum wage!

Section 3: The press, which is paid to report, may report on candidates but only so long as their reporting qualifies as "impartial analysis" rather than merely paid advocacy. The press may also publish opinions of people not connected with the publication, i.e., op-ed pieces, but only so long as the press is not paid to publish opinions that advocate for or against specific candidates.