Every claim of “campaign finance reformers” is false. Every single claim.
For-profit corporations actually contribute almost nothing to political campaigns. Common law rules of corporate governance (i.e., the rule that corporations must seek profits as their primary interest) prohibit for-profit corporations from wasting money on politics. (And shareholders could sue them if they did waste a lot of money on politics!)
Most of the “corporations” that are active in politics are NONPROFIT political charities (and voters know who they are and who their funders are).
Most voters DO NOT change their political votes or ideologies in response to political advertising. Thus the claim that private-sector donors are “buying” election results is entirely false.
There has been no “deregulation,” no “austerity,” and no shifting of tax burdens from “the rich” onto the poor. IRS data plainly show THE BURDEN OF TOTAL TAXATION borne by the rich has grown, not declined over the past 50 years.
The corporate form is the business model for the little guy; it allows the poor to pool resources and compete with the rich. If corporations are deprived of free speech, the rich will HAVE FAR MORE POWER over elections (to the extent that private political spending influences elections at all).
GOVERNMENT AGENCIES ACTUALLY DO influence elections by spending massively–and such spending goes entirely unregulated by campaign cops. For example, the U.S. military has spent BILLIONS OF DOLLARS on advertising, and even funds fake ‘honor the troops’ events at NFL games to promote government viewpoints.
In Montana, there is a powerful “campaign finance reform” movement–led by the state’s pro-government newspapers. Now the State’s “political practices commission” and its witch hunts are gaining national attention. See here.
