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 ...
Jeff Lambert's user avatar
  • 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 ...
Teleka's user avatar
  • 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 ...
ohwilleke's user avatar
  • 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, ...
Peter's user avatar
  • 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 ...
Relaxed's user avatar
  • 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 ...
Acccumulation's user avatar
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 ...
Royal Canadian Bandit's user avatar
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, ...
Ella's user avatar
  • 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 ...
Alex's user avatar
  • 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 ...
cpast's user avatar
  • 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 ...
Royal Canadian Bandit's user avatar
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 ...
r13's user avatar
  • 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 ...
eggyal's user avatar
  • 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 ...
ASGM's user avatar
  • 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. ...
Fizz's user avatar
  • 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 ...
Acccumulation's user avatar
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 ...
JimmyJames's user avatar
  • 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....
Brythan's user avatar
  • 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 ...
PoloHoleSet's user avatar
  • 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/...
David Rice's user avatar
  • 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 ...
PoloHoleSet's user avatar
  • 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 ...
pjc50's user avatar
  • 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,” ...
Fizz's user avatar
  • 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 ...
Barmar's user avatar
  • 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 ...
ohwilleke's user avatar
  • 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/...
Ruminator's user avatar
  • 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 ...
hszmv's user avatar
  • 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 ...
BobE's user avatar
  • 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' ...
Brythan's user avatar
  • 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...
user25542's user avatar
  • 131

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