Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 08:42 pm
Jon Stewart brilliantly used the example of ice cream to explain the corruptive force of money in politics during an interview on CBS Sunday Morning.
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Stewart was asked about the corrupt impact of money in politics on CBS Sunday Morning.
The Daily Show host answered,
Nancy Pelosi, I’ll never forget, was sitting on the show saying we have to get money out of politics. You raised $32 million for your PAC. It was the most of anybody. Well, what are we supposed to do, disarm? Well no, but if money corrupts the process, and you have to get money, then you’re being corrupted by the process. No. It corrupts them. Why doesn’t it corrupt you? We’re not corruptible. Really? Because that’s what an insane person would say. Ice cream makes them fat. It doesn’t make us fat. We can metabolize it. You know why? Because we know it’s bad for you. If you know it’s bad for you, it doesn’t affect you.
Democrats have to raise lots of money because of Citizens United. Stewart was correct. Just because Democrats want to get rid of the money, doesn’t mean that the process of having to raise huge sums of money does not have consequences for them. The reality is that elected officials spend a lot of their time raising money.
Much of the time spent in office is dedicated to fundraising for the next election. The money and the process of raising it is a corrupting force in our politics. People who write big campaign checks are going to have more access than those who don’t. It is a fact of politics.
Elected officials who are supposed to be representing the people are being forced to spend more and more of their time appealing to donors. The result is that the donor class is more important than the average constituent. If the American people want leaders that they are focused on their needs, they have to work to get the money out of politics.
The corruption that is caused by big donors will be on full display in the next Congress, but the problem isn’t a partisan one. The government will not be returned to its people until the for sale sign is taking off of our the people that are elected to represent us.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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