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Remember when your mom use to say “yes, even you can be president one day.” Well, she forgot to add “if you got half a billion dollars.”
Above is a radio piece produced by the Center for Public Integrity about money in politics. They are predicting the 2008 presidential election to cost a billion dollars. The story overviews the progression of money in politics from Nixon all the way to President G. W. Bush.
I recently lent a hand to West Virgina Public Radio searching campaign finance records for the state’s top donors. We saw evidence of wealthy citizens trying to buy their way into Congress, children “writing” checks to their parents favored political candidates, and business owners using their employees to further their personal political prerogatives.
For sure political contributions are a form of free speech. But only a fool would think all donors are merely expressing their right to petition the government. This year newsrooms should spend some days looking at campaign finance in their local areas. PRX is busy coming up with ways to help so stay tuned!
In the meantime: license this piece and air it, find out what kind of campaign disclosure records your state keeps, and get in touch to let us know what you’re working on and how we can help.