3 ms·
Matter of amount and the interest of the party donating. If I'm cutting a $50 check to a candidate, I can't really expect anything back. If I'm cutting a $500
by jbooth 16y ago
Matter of amount and the interest of the party donating. If I'm cutting a $50 check to a candidate, I can't really expect anything back. If I'm cutting a $500,000 check, you're damn right I do (this also counts for bundling 100 couples for 460k under the current regime, it's just harder).
Unions and political parties are collections of individuals who've organized for an expressly political purpose. Corporations aren't, and for everything they've accomplished, they have terrible incentives as regards the political sphere. The ROI is huge if, for a measly few million, you can swing a vote of congress.
RE: Republicans and Democrats, my information was that Democrats had done better in the small-donor game since 2006, but I could be wrong. Regardless, my opinion is out of small-d democratic principles, I'd feel the same way about it if it hurt the democrats -- that would just mean we had to do a better job of appealing to ordinary people and spend less time appealing to the big money people.
- protomyth 16y ago"Unions and political parties are collections of individuals who've organized for an expressly political purpose." No, unions are bargaining groups for workers. They have as much / little right to politics as corporations. Corporations are groups of shareholders and the days of normal people not owning stock are long over. Look at the hold of certain unions in California and their pension system woes for an example of undue influence that is going to bite someone. "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." -- Margaret Mead People need to be able to start revolutions without the use of arms, and for US politics that means spending money. I find the preference for parties and unions to be a poor substitute for individual rights.