FIRST AMENDMENT LECTURE: Every Claim of Campaign Finance Reformers is Untrue
Roger Roots, J.D., Ph.D.
It is perhaps the biggest myth in American politics: that the private sector is “buying” elections through campaign spending. A version of this myth goes further and contends that capitalist billionaires are using political ads to move American government toward more free-market policies.
One can find dozens of books (and hundreds of politicians) making these claims. A powerful movement to repeal parts of the First Amendment has arisen around this mythology.
In this one-hour lecture, Dr. Roots shatters these myths with raw data and Powerpoint slides.
* Have American industries become deregulated? What do the data show?
* Have the super-rich shifted the tax burden away from themselves onto the middle class and the poor? What do IRS records show?
* Did the Citizens United decision in 2010 lead to an explosion of campaign spending by business corporations? What are the facts?
* Do people really change their votes in response to campaign ads? What do studies find?
Questions will be taken afterward. Everyone is welcome.
FREE TO THE PUBLIC
Missoula Public Library
Monday, Sept. 12, 2016, 6:30 PM
A 25 question exam will be offered
