Section 1 -- No Money In Politics

Do I really mean no money in politics?  Ideally, yes.  Is that practical?  Maybe not.  But that is the end of the spectrum we need to be on.  It would be great if there were no political advertisements, no donations, no fundraising, and no paid staff in political campaigns.  Just you, your ideas, your accomplishments, and the assistance of those you have persuaded to volunteer for you.  No opportunity for money to sway your opinions.  No opportunity to be bribed.  No time wasted fundraising.  Just your resume, your voice, and a debate stage.  But if we can't eliminate all money, then at the very least there should be spending and donation limits in campaigns -- nominal amounts only.

If donations are allowed, then only registered voters/constituents should be allowed to donate.  No outside donations or advertising allowed.  Californians don't want Texans influencing their elections and vice versa?  We don't allow foreign entities/individuals to spend money on our campaigns so why would we allow voters from outside states or districts to donate to candidates or issues they can't vote for?

Individual campaigns have a limited life.  At the end of a campaign, unspent donations should be proportionally returned to those who donated.  Donations should not be allowed to carryover from campaign to campaign.

Organizations should not be allowed to donate to or advertise for political candidates or causes.  The Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling was wrong.  Organizations cannot vote in the voting booth, but we have allowed them to vote with their wallets.  Only registered voters can vote, therefore only registered voters should be able to directly influence government officials.  One vote, one voice.  Organizations have oversized pockets and share of voice, relative to voters, thus skewing reality and drowning out the only legitimate voting voices.  That must stop.  Organizations must not be allowed to spend money on political candidates or causes.

Political parties should be marginalized.  Candidates should be able to stand alone on their own ideas and accomplishments and not be propped up or swayed by money or political party leadership.  Political parties should not be allowed to pool or spread money across the country from campaign to campaign.  Donations should only go to individual campaigns, not parties.  One of the reasons politics is so polarized right now is because the moderates have left both parties, so the parties are only nominating more extreme candidates.  To help end that, we need to end the two-party system.  To do that we need to eliminate or minimize money in politics and marginalize political parties.

If we eliminate or minimize money in politics, then more of our best and brightest could throw their hats in the ring even if they didn't have money or connections.  Money is not needed to communicate broadly with constituents in our technological age.  Everyone can have a voice now.  Eliminating or minimizing the amount of money involved in campaigns would move our system to a more level playing field and allow more qualified candidates to rise to the top.