$5 Billion Waste

        It is estimated that the 2106 presidential race will cost five billion dollars.  Think about this for a moment.  What a waste.  The only people who benefit are the media and people providing advertising.  Think of all the good that could be done with that money. 

        I would not be upset about this if it was used to educate people about a candidate’s actual qualifications, but many political ads are misleading or outright lies.  A good campaign slogan is essential to recruit the uninformed voter.  Just think about “Hope & Change”.  This was a great slogan.  Everyone could interpret it to mean whatever he or she wanted.  The fact that the candidate had never held a full-time job except as a community organizer in Chicago was irrelevant.   I have lived in the Chicago area twice, and what community organizers do would be illegal in most parts of the country. 

        This waste is not just in Presidential elections.  It costs $10 million to as much as $50 million to run for the US Senate.  It costs $1 million to as much as $3 million to run for the US House of Representatives. 

        I find it interesting that approximately 90% of all Congressional incumbents win reelection.  This is certainly not because they are doing such a good job.  Approval ratings for Congress are in the toilet.

        If Congress is doing such a poor job, why do they win reelection?  The answer is money.  Incumbents in the House outspend their challengers three times.  Incumbents in the Senate spend over twice what their challengers spend. 

        Incumbents have other advantages.  The government pays for many things such as staff, postage, and travel.   The incumbent also has the advantage of having a paying job while campaigning.  Part of that job is talking to voters in their district, i.e. campaigning.  Incumbents have run at least one previous campaign which means they are known in their district.

        The incumbent also has the advantage in fund raising.  He or she has more contacts, including lobbyists and people looking for favorable legislation, political appointments, or favors.  I have heard estimates that members of Congress spend around 40% of their time on campaigning and fund raising and only 60% of their time performing the job of running the country.  Why aren’t we angry with that?

        We must have campaign spending reform if we are going to take this country back from the political elite and restore it to greatness.  We have to control and limit campaign spending.  We need to put Presidential and Congressional candidates on a level playing field financially, and we must stop big money from buying elections.