Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Campaign Finance Reform

NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams brought this up last Tuesday during the election night coverage about the insane amount spent on advertising.

The Forward has a nice editorial on how that money could have been spent on other things.
Six billion dollars. Six billion dollars.

That’s the amount spent on the 2012 election campaign, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission data by the Center for Responsive Politics. It is by far the most money spent on an election in American history — probably in human history — and that is thanks in large part to the nearly $1 billion raised and spent by the newly-sanctioned, supposedly independent organizations known as super-PAC’s this year.[...]

Just think of what $6 billion will buy. Not just 30 million iPhone 5s or 15,503 Lamborghini Aventadors, as one website cheekily noted. Serious stuff. Life-saving stuff.

A sea barrier of the type that protects major cities in Europe could have prevented superstorm Sandy from destroying lives and property in New York. Its cost? Engineers have estimated $6 billion.

An accelerated availability of antiretroviral drugs could prevent 7.4 million people from dying of AIDS, and another 12.2 million from contracting HIV, by 2020. The cost? Scientists have estimated $6 billion.

A millennium vaccine fund could commit to purchasing an effective malaria vaccine for each of Africa’s 25 million newborn children, thereby preventing untold deaths and suffering. Its cost? Harvard economist Jeffrey Sachs puts it at $3 billion.

There’d be another $3 billion to spare. With that, we could buy nearly 500 new public elementary schools, or build 225 small hospitals.
America can do better.

1 comment:

Curtis Morrison said...

$6 billion dollars spent to increase the awareness of our citizenry is not money ill-spent.

We had excellent turn-out, more informed voters than any of us expected, and if all races are considered, the progressive movement faired better with less money.

Why? Money isn't speech, it's volume. And if we're yelling the wrong ideas, then it doesn't help how loud we yell. I don't think we should focus anymore energy to repealing Citizen's United. That's a waste of energy and focus, which is worse than a waste of money.