We saw ~$30M spent on special election in GA to replace Rep Price -
What if, Congress passed an amendment banning contributions from corporations & super-pacs & only the people who live within the territory that the candidate is wanting to represent, could donate & the total was limited.

Would that give us a better representation in state & federal congress'?

Seems to me that it would. Could it ever happen? I think not.

Supreme Court though






they won't just let us wipe the 1st Amendment away

If $30 million was spent on each of the 435 house races in a given cycle you'd end up with an expense of ~$13 billion to determine who controls ~$3.5 trillion in spending. Seems like a wise investment to anyone wealthy enough to do so.

Obviously the current state of affairs regarding the influence of large donors in American politics is reprehensible, but since it is unlikely that TRUMP will appoint any justices who would overturn or undermine Citizen's United I'm not hopeful for any meaningful change in my lifetime.

is your idea that "only the people who live within the territory that the candidate is wanting to represent" can donate based on the assumption that any laws they vote on affects "only the people who live within the territory that the candidate is wanting to represent"?

We should start by requiring the candidates to live in the districts where they are running for office.

How long to obtain official residency? This would be a trivial hurdle for anyone well-to-do enough to run for office.

nice idea. they have restrictions of campaign funding in the UK. doesn't make much difference. there is a plethora of ways to keep do-gooders from getting elected

Ok. Take WV for instance - some counties are so poor, that the kids don't even get their own school books. They have to leave them behind for the next class.

Now, take the people from the richest county, pumping in money for the candidate they want in that poor district. Now the residents of the poor district are reading/hearing primarily bad/fabricated/inflated shytt about the candidate they thought would best serve them - and probably would. But he/she doesn't have sufficient funds to fight back.

Who's 1st Amendment is destroyed now?

Your representatives in the House are based on population. Even if the majority who live within that district, got the person they wanted - everyone else has the same & now 435 of them vote.

See above.

It is now.

I believe, that a good part of the problem with our government can be found in the negative approach to my subject about equaling the playing field. I am not saying I have the answer - but only an approach with a positive "can do" attitude, will give the citizenry a chance of taking America back.

The fact that the citizenry rolled over & played dead after the Citizens United ruling evidences that fact. 9 pinheads decided that case 5-4. The 5 who voted in favor - all republicans. And now look what we've got.

"But nobody seems to notice.....nobody seems to care....It's called the 'American Dream', because you have to be asleep to believe it!" - George Carlin

Just look at our last two presidents - we are a cult of personality. Fed up with our federal government [18% approval in 2008] we elected the charismatic [unproven] Obama - because Americans want CHANGE! I know I do.

However, if we wanted change - why did over 85% of the incumbents in Congress win their bid for reelection?

When Trump was elected - I believe it was 95%+ who won. I guess the citizenry wanted to make it hard as hell for their White Gold Crowned Savior to "Drain the Swamp!"

Well if you multiple 30 million by every house seat we could easily pay for a huge chunk of healthcare.

I think the amount of money spent on political campaigns in this country is absolutely obscene and I think in a hundred years it will be reviewed as ghastly. It is not justifiable or defensible.

I think one day it'll just become a bidding war. The $50 mil between both candidates bought 260k votes. $192/vote? That money'd be better spent straight handing it to the voters.

What happened to the days when you could buy a vote for a carton of smokes & a free ride to the polls?

I'm pretty sure that would still work. Don't think it makes money for consultants and ad people though...