3 ms·

It really scares me that $37k is the cost of something like that.

• panacea 13y ago
  $37k is just an expression of interest, and does not constitute anticipated future payments.
  • pessimizer 13y ago
    aka speaking gigs, consultant's fees, a board seat, or a job as a lobbyist.
• pjc50 13y ago
  Politicians in the West are astonishingly cheap compared to the budgets that they control. It's a sign that it's fairly hard to directly steal money and they have to be subtle about steering contracts. We're almost at the point of someone Kickstartering a politician, but not quite yet. Howard Dean came close to this.
  • WickyNilliams 13y ago
    I thought about this idea a few years back when kickstarter was really starting to get going. I even made a note of it in evernote somewhere, for future reference/consideration. Campaign donations poison the political pool by acting as a filter to remove candidate of strong conviction, in favour of those whose policy is easily bought for donations. With campaign budget being a factor in probability of election success [1], there needs to be a way for politicians to get funding without donors expecting an influence on policy so as to even the playing fields. Could the masses fund politicians via something like kickstarter? I don't know enough about the laws, whether it would be viable, or even if it was, whether it would be enough to break the status quo. Regardless, it's definitely an interesting thought. [1] http://www.press.umich.edu/pdf/0472099213-ch8.pdf http://www.press.umich.edu/pdf/0472099213-ch8.pdf