Money has always been a major cause of most of the world's troubles. The fact that money rules most legislation passed by our Republican Congress is a serious problem in America today. The current government thinks more about the needs and concerns of the wealthy and big business than about the needs and interests of the majority. Examples, Republican's are proposing legislation revoking a totally harmless tax. They want to totally do away with the inheritance tax when our country is not going broke, but well past being broke. What does a dead person care about a tax on his/her estate? It is only the lazy inheritor who does not want to work or, restart a business that cares about that tax. That present tax only begins on those estates valued in the millions of dollars.
America's Supreme Court even says that money is free speech. How is free speech equivalent to money? They are not synonyms! The logic of the Supreme Court is that a person can't be heard without having money. If that thinking is accepted, then money gives a person louder speech. A person with more money has the ability to be visible and heard in more places, such as in more advertisements on different television stations at varying times. Following that logic, a millionaire has louder speech than the average American. A billionaire has even louder speech. A major corporation or a major trade association could potentially trump and blanket even a billionaire's speech. How fair is that? The Supreme Court's ruling is one equal vote per person. The ability to infiltrate the media because of monetary resources invalidates the one vote per person rule. Wealthy individuals or business can use the media to brainwash the public.
Money must be taken out of politics in order to have a true democracy. It is a simple process when it is realized that all radio, television and cable systems are in effect inter-state commerce. When airwaves were first being developed years ago, they were given away free. Major media companies continue to use the public airwaves free, with no ongoing charges. The newly developed parts of the spectrum have been auctioned off at large prices, many times for millions of dollars. The users of the new airwaves are at a disadvantage over those who previously obtained use of the airwaves free. All companies using the spectrum, other than those using it for wireless services should be required to offer all candidates, incumbents and challengers free time within their programming schedules. The cable systems are also interstate commerce; so as a public service it is a mandate to free time is not far off.
If money is removed as an influencing factor in politics, the country would eliminate the need for any politician to go around begging for money. In addition, the incumbent would no longer have the distinct advantage of being a well known individual with wide recognition by the voters.
