This for that
As many know, it was an election year for the United States, and it sure was an expensive one. The 2024 Presidential election saw a total of $11 Billion spent on advertising.
Not only did each candidate spend an exorbitant amount of money, they each raised quite a big chunk of change. Kamala Harris raised just shy of $2 billion while Donald Trump pulled in almost $1.5 billion.
You may wonder where all this money comes from in such a short amount of time. The answer is simple: donations. Webster’s defines donations as a gift or something given without charge. However, political donations are not of the same ilk as a donation to the Sierra Club, or the Arbor Day Foundation, or the American Cancer Society, or the Red Cross. There is a hidden charge to the recipient for every political donation. A presidential donor is not just supporting their chosen candidate, they are expecting something given to them in return. Almost like buying.
Take this for example, a CEO of a large corporation offers a candidate a donation of 200 million dollars. In return, the recipient candidate promises to push for tax cuts that benefit the CEO’s company. Another kick back could also be a government contract awarded to the CEO’s company for goods or services. It can even be for a government position to head a newly created department.
My exploratory solution to solve this quid pro quo would be to move to a fixed budget for presidential campaigns. We set a fair dollar amount for each candidate that is funded by taxpayer dollars. Using tax payer dollars to fund each campaign, would ideally incentivize every taxpayer to vote since they now have skin in the game.
With a fixed budget for each campaign, you get to see how creative a candidate can be. You get to see how they stretch their budget to get the maximum usage. If anything, it’s a preliminary test before the presidency.
If you take away the ability for these types of donations, candidates will be less likely to have a bias. And when you remove a bias, you take away the stranglehold large donations can have. I say cut the strings from the puppet and see what it can do.
Sources:
- The Nation, volume 319, issue 6
- Open Secrets & Open Secrets