THE GUARDIAN is out with a fascinating story about the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton. The Clinton campaign is employing large numbers of unpaid interns–who generally come to work for the campaign for purposes of resume’-building and view such internships as stepping stones to future career rewards.
The use of unpaid interns, of course, should not be a mark of corruption or callousness. Except that the Hillary campaign (and the government-trusting “left” generally) tend to constantly complain and lecture about income inequality, the plight of the working poor and the evils of (private sector) money in politics. (Trusters of the state don’t tend to see the government’s constant spending on advertising and propaganda, such as the hundreds of millions spent annually on military-worship promotion, as money in politics.)
Many in the government-trusting left (including many political police officers stationed in the F.E.C. and state-level “political practices” offices) consider volunteer work for political campaigns to be “in-kind” monetary contributions and seek to prosecute, charge, fine or otherwise punish political campaigns which use volunteer and unpaid-intern assistance. In Montana and other states, political czars will sometimes (when it suits the government) monetize the hours of volunteer efforts and then assess campaigns with fines and other penalties for failing to report such volunteer efforts to the government.
