Voting with Dollars: A New Paradigm for Campaign Finance

Voting With Dollars was a book that seemed interesting after reading The 2% Solution by Matthew Miller. Bruce Ackerman and Ian Ayres talks about the strong influence of money in politics and how we as citizens, can take back our politicians away from corporations (PACs, lobbyist, etc). Since money talks and BS walks, they have introduced the "patriot dollars" concept. This "dollar" allow us to give money to people who would normally not run for office because of the price tag of getting into office. We are still able to use these dollars for a Democrat or a Republican, but the option of helping a third party is made available. Ackerman and Ayres follow up the "patriot dollar" with their "secret donation booth." This can be accessed through any ATM (which should be readily available in America). The "secret donation booth" is designed to limit the influence of wealthy donors (they are not proposing donation limits). By doing that, politicians are more focused on what the general public needs, not what "special interest" need. They readily admit that money will always be involved in political office but their goal is to minimize the influence of large rich donors and increase the influence of "average" citizens. Excerpt from their book: "Short of the abolition of free markets and private property, there is simply no way to eliminate the influence of private money on democratic politics-and to paraphrase Madison, surely this cure is far worse than the disease." As for disliking the book or a negative feedback, I can't think of one because it has not been implemented. Every election cycle, we talk about campaign finance reform and still nothing happens. When a reform is suggested, lawyers find loopholes and exploit it. Ackerman and Ayres go through every possible loophole in their proposal and explain what can be done to make their proposal viable. Just as important, their proposal is Constitutionally sound.

Full disclosure: I just started a non-profit with the authors to educate people about ideas like those in Voting With Dollars. Our website is at www.CitSov.org. Here's why I joined the effort. The Citizen Sovereignty Act, a two-part legislative proposal detailed in Voting With Dollars, would invigorate citizen involvement in politics and remedy cynicism about campaign fundraising. The Act would fundamentally reform federal campaign fundraising by extending voters the use of automated teller machines for publicly funded campaign contributions of "Patriot dollars," and; by rendering private campaign contributions anonymous, mimicking the secret ballot as a safeguard to the integrity of the political process. A major benefit of these innovations is to allow a substantial increase in campaign contribution limits and associated free speech. Other, more incremental efforts to reform federal campaign finance fall short of the Citizen Sovereignty Act. * The Act eliminates the sale of political access for political funds while increasing the funding and opportunity for free speech. * The Act redirects the permanent campaign of political fund-raising toward all the nation's voters and away from the one-half of one percent who today make half of all contributions. * By potentially involving every American in political fund-raising, the Act increases voter participation on Election Day. Voting With Dollars details the Act and how it satisfies constitutional requirements. A model statute provides a concrete basis for an effort to restore faith in Congress and the Executive Branch. Read Voting With Dollars. Take a look at www.CitSov.org. Get involved in making it possible for everyone to participate in the money primary of American politics.