108
votes
Accepted
Why is Bernie Sanders maximum accepted donation on actblue $5600?
The FEC raised contribution limits for the 2020 election cycle to $2,800 for each election period. The primary and general election each counts separately, so for both of those elections the maximum ...
- 15.5k
83
votes
Accepted
Is Fox News correct that Mueller shouldn't be going after a campaign finance violation?
The "raid", which is the execution of a search warrant, is under the jurisdiction of the US Attorney's Office of the Southern District of New York, not that of the Mueller investigation. Mueller ...
- 5,407
67
votes
Why don't the Democrats make a deal to give Trump his border wall in exchange for campaign finance reform?
The question is complex and poses potentially a multitude of possible subquestions because there are an infinite number of possible deals that Democrats could try to make.
But, in the case of ...
- 66.5k
65
votes
Why don't the Democrats make a deal to give Trump his border wall in exchange for campaign finance reform?
The current POTUS is not exactly known for being a man of his word. That means Democrats cannot give Trump the Wall in exchange for a promise. They need a finalized bill, which takes a lot of time, ...
- 13k
55
votes
Why is it ethical for Ambassador Sondland to have been given an ambassadorship for campaign contributions?
This has a long tradition in the US. Before World War II, most ambassadors were actually political appointees rather than career diplomats. Trump might be marginally worse than Obama and reverted back ...
- 30.2k
52
votes
Accepted
Ban on all campaign finance?
While one can imagine an ideal world in which the political landscape is dominated by a "pull" paradigm (voters actively go out to find the information on the candidates), in the real world it's ...
- 7,720
49
votes
Accepted
How can the influence of wealthy individuals on democratic processes be reduced?
Many countries adopt some variant of solution (3):
Putting restrictions to the usage of wealth in political situations. This solution is used in many western states, but is of course a violation of ...
- 11.4k
45
votes
Why don't the Democrats make a deal to give Trump his border wall in exchange for campaign finance reform?
As someone who lives in a border state, I'd like to add that the idea of a complete border wall costing only 5 billion is, frankly, ludicrous. The wall would have to pass over very rugged terrain, ...
- 559
44
votes
How can the influence of wealthy individuals on democratic processes be reduced?
I reject your basic hypothesis.
You're conflating influence with votes. It is not common to buy votes. We have secret ballots specifically to make this hard and laws to make it illegal. That's not to ...
- 5,662
42
votes
Accepted
Contributing to a candidate as a Foreign National US Resident?
Under US law, only US citizens or permanent residents may contribute to political campaigns. Since you are neither, you may not contribute to a US political campaign and no campaign may accept your ...
- 13.6k
40
votes
Accepted
How do very small countries prevent foreign interests from buying out their political elite?
In a small electorate, personal relationships are more important than media spending; and voters are likely to resent attempts at outside interference.
An extreme example occurred in the 2008 general ...
- 11.4k
40
votes
Why would a former US president's announcement of a reelection bid cut off legal defense funds?
From the July 28, 2022 Yahoo article, by Cheryl Teh, The RNC has been helping Trump pay his legal bills but will pull the plug once he kicks off his 2024 campaign:
The Republican National Committee ...
- 1,944
35
votes
Why don't the Democrats make a deal to give Trump his border wall in exchange for campaign finance reform?
What are the major political barriers to a deal like this happening?
All of the other answers have considered the question from The Democratic Party’s perspective. There is of course another major ...
- 510
35
votes
Accepted
Would the hypothetical Exxon call be illegal?
Yes, this would be illegal.
If you're a public official, you can't offer an official act (like permits) in exchange for anything of value (like campaign donations). See 18 U.S. Code § 201. Bribery of ...
- 516
32
votes
Why is it ethical for Ambassador Sondland to have been given an ambassadorship for campaign contributions?
The practice of giving ambassadorships purely in exchange for (large) campaign contributions was seen as somewhat problematic even in the US, which passed a law in 1980 attempting to mitigate this. ...
- 130k
29
votes
Would the hypothetical Exxon call be illegal?
Trump is, as he often is, speaking in a manner that conveys no clear meaning. Taking his phrasing literally, he is discussing Exxon sending $25m to him personally, for the purpose of him spending it ...
- 7,720
28
votes
Is Fox News correct that Mueller shouldn't be going after a campaign finance violation?
"Rosenstein gave him broad authority not only to investigate "any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated" with Trump's campaign, but also to examine "any ...
- 1,112
24
votes
How do very small countries prevent foreign interests from buying out their political elite?
What prevents rich foreign interests from funneling tens of millions of Euros to Icelandic elections in order to elect people who are conducive to their interests?
Because money doesn't win elections....
- 88.8k
23
votes
Is Fox News correct that Mueller shouldn't be going after a campaign finance violation?
That's really irrelevant, since Mueller did not order the raids or get the warrants.
What happens, and often happens is that, while investigating crimes, investigators sometimes find evidence of ...
- 20.7k
23
votes
Why is Bernie Sanders maximum accepted donation on actblue $5600?
Because that's the legal limit. You can give $2,800 per election, so $5,600 would be a combined primary/general limit.
https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/candidate-taking-receipts/...
- 4,820
17
votes
How can I figure out how much money a political lobbying group has given to my congressman?
If you looking in the USA, the source of data would ultimately come from legally required campaign finance and financial disclosures filed with the FEC (Federal Elections Commission).
FEC: Campaign ...
- 20.7k
17
votes
Ban on all campaign finance?
By strict interpretations of this rule, you end up as an effective one-party state very quickly.
What counts as "campaigning" is the big question. Firstly, a lot of places have ballot signature ...
- 21.7k
17
votes
As an electoral candidate, isn't Yang precluded from conducting his "UBI experiment"?
For what it's worth, Yang's [team] said
“It’s something that has not been done before, so we relied heavily on our legal team, and we feel confident moving forward after talking to them about it,” ...
- 130k
16
votes
Does the GOP actually have a formal 'neutrality policy' that this unnamed RNC official describes?
From the Rules of the Republican Party
RULE NO. 11
Candidate Support
(a) The Republican National Committee
shall not, without the prior written and filed approval of
all members of the Republican ...
- 8,883
16
votes
Accepted
Do US House of Representatives members really need to "bring in a certain amount of donations, frankly, to get some top positions" on committees?
if this is indeed so ("Say it ain't so Joe, say it ain't so!)
As a strictly technical matter it isn't true. Committee assignments are made by House leadership for a party with the approval of ...
- 66.5k
15
votes
Why are big tech companies Bernie Sanders' top donors?
The donations you cite are made to the DNC, not to a Bernie SuperPac. He doesn't have one. They are for the purpose of obtaining special favors from the DNC:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
- 387
15
votes
Accepted
Minority Democrat report from Senate Judiciary Committee says Russia funded the Trump campaign via the NRA; what does this mean for the NRA?
So first off, the NRA is a non-profit organization that is funded largely through donations from people who agree with them. A quick read from google has found that it is fine for foreign nationals ...
- 15.6k
14
votes
Accepted
What did Bernie Sanders do with all the cash from his 2016 campaign?
According to the FEC the Sander 2016 campaign raised 237.7 million and disbursed 233.0 million, leaving 4.7 million cash on hand as of Dec 2018.
I can't imagine that he gave it to the DNC, as ...
- 10.2k
14
votes
Contributing to a candidate as a Foreign National US Resident?
Is buying merchandise also included in the scope
If the money goes to the campaign, yes. Presumably they are putting the notice there because the money is going to the campaign. E.g. Kamala Harris' ...
- 88.8k
13
votes
Ban on all campaign finance?
Why can't we simply disallow campaigning altogether?
From the First Amendment of the US Constitution:
Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech...
- 131
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible