Elections and Money

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Stephen Unger <unger () cs columbia edu>
Date: April 10, 2007 1:04:20 PM EDT
To: Interesting People <dave () farber net>
Subject: Elections and Money

Elections now seem to be more and more about money. Candidates are
taken seriously only to the extent that they can pile up lots of
cash. Positions on issues are hardly considered when the media
evaluates the various "races".

Some candidates are rich enough to fund their own races. The others
need to do what is necessary to get the backing of wealthy people, or
big corporations, or unions. After being elected, members of congress
spend huge amount of their time raising money for the next
election. They also pay a lot more attention to the wishes of those
doling out the money than they do to the people who elected them.

What can be done about this? In several states, public funding of
elections is being tried with some success. It is also being proposed
for congressional elections.

I've just posted an article about this problem at:
http://www1.cs.columbia.edu/~unger/myBlog/endsandmeansblog.html

Steve. Unger
............


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