Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Could Help Save the Democratic Process

Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Could Help Save the Democratic Process

A dollar sign balloon.

Getty Images, Andriy Onufriyenko

After contributing more than a quarter of a billion dollars to elect Donald Trump, Elon Musk has now turned his attention to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, giving millions of dollars to support Judge Brad Schimel, the Republican candidate.

According to The Brennan Center, this race is the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history. If Musk is successful, it will tip the High Court’s balance to his political favor.


How is it that corporate billionaires are able to use their massive wealth to sway the political process?

In 2010, the Supreme Court overturned the Bi-Partisan Campaign Reform Act, signed by President George W. Bush, that prohibited corporations from engaging in political campaigns, ruling instead that corporations were entitled to the same unrestrained right to free political speech as ordinary citizens—a mysterious equivocation.

Corporations cannot vote or run for public office—they “are not members of ‘we’ the people by and for whom our constitution was written,” according to Justice John Paul Stevens’ dissent, clearly foreshadowing how granting massive organizations unlimited political speech would “undermine the integrity of elected institutions across the nation.”

In ending the protections that prohibit corporations from engaging in political campaigns, the majority of justices did acknowledge the “compelling” argument that corporate wealth could undermine the electoral process, but they rejected the claim that such contributions would amount to a quid pro quo. While these kinds of contributions may “ingratiate a corporation with and lead to greater access to a political candidate, ingratiation and access are not corruption.”

Elon Musk is a glaring example of just how wrong they were.

Musk, who contributed over a quarter of a billion dollars to President Trump’s campaign, now holds the breathtaking power of restructuring the agencies, programs, and workforce of the United States Federal Government through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the agency he directs.

Some are concerned that Musk, unable to oversee the safe design of an electric vehicle or rocket launch, has been tasked with redesigning the U.S. government, but former ligation judge Thomas Moukawsher identifies the greater concern—Musk can now erase or eliminate the agencies overseeing his own corporate interests and any investigations into his corporate practices or consumer complaints against him.

With at least twenty federal investigations into his companies, $288 million seems a small price to pay to direct the fate of these investigations and oversight for billions of dollars of his government contracts. He is entrusted with recusing himself should a conflict of interest arise. But who will hold him accountable?

In the span of a few months—at his directive —thousands of federal employees have been fired, agencies dismantled, federal monies frozen and at least eleven Inspectors General dismissed. Now, he’s toying with how to alter some of the nation’s largest safety nets like Medicare and Social Security, which is even more alarming given his claim that citizens who receive federal money are “parasites.”

Since assuming his new role, Musk created a “ wall of receipts,” to document government inefficiency and corruption. It’s actually a glaring example of his own incompetence—riddled with incorrect information and sloppy errors —even mis-entering an eight-million-dollar expenditure as an eight-billion-dollar expense. And though Musk claimed his staff would receive no salary, they’re actually receiving six-figure paychecks.

Musk is just one billionaire shaping the democratic process, a task conveniently expedited when billionaires like himself, Jeff Bezos, and Rupert Murdoch, also control the flow of information through their massive media empires. Billionaires become their own gatekeepers able to regulate the news and information we consume.

Musk’s role in the Trump Administration should become the symbol of our desperate need for State and Federal BipartisanCampaign Finance Reform. There is growing concern among voters about the role of corporate wealth in our elections. Billionaires on both sides of the aisle try to shape a political landscape compatible with their bottom line and larger corporate agenda. Campaign Finance Reform is a concrete step that would go far to re-balancing the electoral process and restoring political equity to “ordinary” citizens.

Trudy Bayer, Ph.D. is a specialist in the rhetoric of social movements. She was the founding director of the Oral Communication Lab at the University of Pittsburgh.

Read More

What if We Fired the Parties?

"They want us divided sign" that represents partisanship among democrats and republicans.

Getty Images, Jena Ardell

What if We Fired the Parties?

Like many Americans, I have been increasingly disappointed by the candidates promoted by political parties because they tend to back candidates who are ultimately focused on personal gain and/or only advancing issues predetermined by party priorities while moving further away from responding to the needs of their constituents. According to The Guardian, in the 2024 election, the number of eligible voters who did not cast their ballot is more than the total of those who voted for either of the party candidates. So, maybe the real issue is that our political party system just isn’t working for most Americans anymore. Assuming this is even partially true, what if, instead of just complaining about the parties or holding our noses and voting for the "lesser evil" every November, we actually fired the parties—took away their grip on our democracy and built something better.

For decades, we've been told we only have two choices. But more and more Americans don't feel truly represented by either major party. We're exhausted by the noise, the blame games, the endless culture wars that solve nothing and only serve to increasingly marginalize portions of our citizenry. Americans want real solutions on housing, healthcare, education, wages, and the future we're leaving for the next generation. And we're not getting them. So, maybe it's time to ask a radical but necessary question: What if the problem isn't just the candidates but the political party system that keeps producing them?

Keep ReadingShow less
A Stunning Verdict: A Shared Vision of Justice Unites Americans

A gavel and handcuffs.

Getty Images, -Oxford-

A Stunning Verdict: A Shared Vision of Justice Unites Americans

America’s political landscape is deeply divided. The shouting matches, the name-calling, the constant finger-pointing—it's easy to feel like unity is a pipe dream. But every so often, something remarkable happens. Something that cuts through the noise and reminds us that, despite our differences, we might still agree on some of the most important things.

That’s exactly what occurred when a group of unlikely allies—staunch conservatives and progressive advocates—came together to craft a new declaration of principles for criminal justice policy.

Keep ReadingShow less
How Veterans, Plane Travel, and Sausages Lead to Less Partisanship

The United States Capitol building.

Getty Images, bloodua

How Veterans, Plane Travel, and Sausages Lead to Less Partisanship

It’s no secret that partisanship is more intense than at any other time in recent history. And these intense political feelings don’t just play themselves out through gridlock in Congress. The threats of political violence have increased dramatically. Politics seeps into the workplace, resulting in coarse relations with colleagues (and, according to research, reduced productivity). And polls show that we’re just not “hanging out” with friends like we used to.

This makes it even more important to celebrate the discovery of examples of collaboration and strategies for improving our collective national character. One recent event revealed such examples. The nonprofit group Business for America recently held an event in Washington D.C., “ Across the Aisle: How Leaders Find Common Ground in a Divided Era.” The event featured elected officials and staff discussing the recurring factors in finding common ground in partisan times.

Keep ReadingShow less
Together, We Must Repair a “House Divided”

A wooden cut-out of a home.

Getty Images, Andrii Yalanskyi

Together, We Must Repair a “House Divided”

“My Father’s house has many rooms…” John 14:2-3

Lately, I’ve been seeing everything through a political lens whether I want to or not. So, it didn’t surprise me that a Biblical verse at a recent memorial service got me thinking about then-Senator Abraham Lincoln’s 1858 speech about a “House Divided.”

Keep ReadingShow less