The McCutcheon case now before the Supreme Court illustrates the corruption of democracy in our nation. The principle of one person, one vote is giving way to one dollar, one vote.
Our elected officials understood this threat to democracy, and a bipartisan Congress enacted the Federal Election Campaign Act, which limits individual campaign contributions to candidates' parties and PACs. The combined limit is currently $123,200 per election. But millionaire Shaun McCutcheon isn't satisfied with contributing more than twice as much as the total income of the median U.S. household; he wants to make unlimited contributions to his favorite candidates. He wants to bury the political voice of the vast majority of citizens under an avalanche of money to sway elections and federal policy in favor of the rich. He is arguing that anything less violates his rights of free speech. But money is not speech.
Our elected officials are on the right track on this one. If the current Supreme Court doesn't support democracy, we will have to amend the Constitution to make it more clear.
— Sharman Haley
Anchorage