• Home
  • Opinion
  • Quizzes
  • Redistricting
  • Sections
  • About Us
  • Voting
  • Independent Voter News
  • Campaign Finance
  • Civic Ed
  • Directory
  • Election Dissection
  • Events
  • Fact Check
  • Glossary
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up
  1. Home>
  2. Campaign Finance>
  3. campaign finance>

The American corruption crisis and one plan to solve it

Mike Monetta
December 18, 2019
The American corruption crisis and one plan to solve it

"Our broken campaign finance system is a crisis because it's the pipeline for corruption into our government," argues Mike Monetta.

Philip Rozenksi/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Monetta is the national director of Wolf-PAC, a group fighting for a 28th Amendment to the Constitution.

Congress has sold us out, and most Americans understand this. We can see that our elected officials in Washington, D.C., have turned their backs on us.

It's no surprise — especially when massive amounts of money, often with little to no transparency, are allowed to pour into our elections, altering who our politicians are responsive to. Instead of passing legislation that benefits the average citizen, Senators and House members now represent the special interests and the tiny percentage of us who can afford to buy influence in our government.

Our broken campaign finance system is a crisis because it's the pipeline for corruption into our government. And it's the reason we don't make progress on any of the most critical issues of our time. It's the driving force behind the opioid crisis, climate change inaction, a ballooning national debt, Americans going broke from getting sick — and the list goes on and on. If we don't take responsibility for fixing it now, the 243-year-old American democratic experiment could fail.

In response, we the people are fighting back with every available tool. Corruption isn't an issue to take lightly, and there are various organizations deploying many different strategies to tackle it. This is a good thing. All of these strategies are necessary, and, collectively, one day they will break the stranglehold that special interests have on our government and restore the promise of America — a country of, by and for the people.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter


I was drawn to one plan to solve the corruption crisis because it is so strong and logical. My organization, Wolf-PAC, is fighting for a 28th Amendment to the Constitution that would fix our broken campaign finance system. Only an amendment goes above Congress and the Supreme Court, and only an amendment can protect state and federal legislation. It is a strong and lasting solution.

There are two ways to propose amendments to the Constitution as described in Article V. Two-thirds of Congress may propose amendments, or two-thirds of the states may apply for a convention to propose amendments.

Any proposal, from Congress or a convention, needs to be ratified by three-quarters of the states. The ratification process ensures that only an amendment with overwhelming support and widespread appeal across the political spectrum will become part of the Constitution.

The majority of all constitutional amendments have included a convention campaign from the states. Historically, when the people have worked with their state legislators to demand action from an unresponsive Congress, it has forced Congress to act.

Our plan utilizes this proven strategy by encouraging state governments to call for a convention on the topic of campaign finance reform. So far, five states — Vermont, California, Illinois, New Jersey, and Rhode Island — have taken this bold and necessary action. Many more — red, blue and purple — must now follow their lead and demand an amendment that will end the corruption and restore our democracy to the people once and for all.

The future of our country and our world is at stake. Whether an amendment to solve the corruption crisis is proposed by Congress or a convention, we must do everything in our power to make sure it happens and correct the course of our nation, before it's too late.

Join us and be part of this historic movement.

From Your Site Articles
  • Five reasons unlimited spending undermines American democracy ... ›
  • Weld signs on to 28th amendment pledge - The Fulcrum ›
  • Three reasons Republicans should support the 28th Amendment ... ›
  • Constitutional amendement needed to ensure freedom, equality - The Fulcrum ›
  • No one asked for a pro-corruption Congress - The Fulcrum ›
Related Articles Around the Web
  • The 'surprisingly sensible' 28th Constitutional Amendment ›
  • The 28th Amendment - American Promise ›
campaign finance

Want to write
for The Fulcrum?

If you have something to say about ways to protect or repair our American democracy, we want to hear from you.

Submit
Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
Confirm that you are not a bot.
×
Follow

Support Democracy Journalism; Join The Fulcrum

The Fulcrum daily platform is where insiders and outsiders to politics are informed, meet, talk, and act to repair our democracy and make it live and work in our everyday lives. Now more than ever our democracy needs a trustworthy outlet

Contribute
Contributors

To advance racial equity, policy makers must move away from the "Black and Brown" discourse

Julio A. Alicea

Policymakers must address worsening civil unrest post Roe

Sarah K. Burke

Video: How to salvage U.S. democracy from the "tyranny of the minority"

Our Staff

What "Progress" should look like, and what we get wrong

Damien De Pyle

The long kiss goodnight: Nancy Pelosi and the protracted decay of public office

Kevin Frazier

Demanding corporate responsibility for food system challenges

C.Anne Long
latest News

Pin the blame on the other party

Rachel Bonar
15h

Dark magic: Drug companies and the art of deception

Robert Pearl
15h

Sit down with Deepa Iyer of Building Movement Project

Debilyn Molineaux
15h

Societal disruption: Artificial intelligence

Kevin Frazier
25 September

The “United” States aren’t any more

James C. Nelson
25 September

Video: The dire roles Congress, White House play in addressing migrants

Our Staff
25 September
Videos
Video: Expert baffled by Trump contradicting legal team

Video: Expert baffled by Trump contradicting legal team

Our Staff
Video: Do white leaders hinder black aspirations?

Video: Do white leaders hinder black aspirations?

Our Staff
Video: How to prepare for student loan repayments returning

Video: How to prepare for student loan repayments returning

Our Staff
Video: The history of Labor Day

Video: The history of Labor Day

Our Staff
Video: Trump allies begin to flip as prosecutions move forward

Video: Trump allies begin to flip as prosecutions move forward

Our Staff
Video Rewind: Trans-partisan practices and the "superpower of respect"

Video Rewind: Trans-partisan practices and the "superpower of respect"

Our Staff
Podcasts

Podcast: All politics is local

Our Staff
22 September

Podcast: How states hold fair elections

Our Staff
14 September

Podcast: The MAGA Bubble, Bidenonmics and Playing the Victim

Debilyn Molineaux
David Riordan
12 September

Podcast: Defending the founding principles of our government

Our Staff
07 September
Recommended
Pin the blame on the other party

Pin the blame on the other party

Government
Dark magic: Drug companies and the art of deception

Dark magic: Drug companies and the art of deception

Big Picture
Sit down with Deepa Iyer of Building Movement Project

Sit down with Deepa Iyer of Building Movement Project

Big Picture
Societal disruption: Artificial intelligence

Societal disruption: Artificial intelligence

Contributors
The “United” States aren’t any more

The “United” States aren’t any more

Big Picture
Video: The dire roles Congress, White House play in addressing migrants

Video: The dire roles Congress, White House play in addressing migrants

Big Picture