California

The Special Exemptions Act – Like Miracle Grow for Spiraling Campaign Cash

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Initiative would do nothing about SuperPAC insanity.

by Brian Leubitz (Note: I work for the Stop Special Exemptions Campaign. Cross-posted to DailyKos)

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve seen the outrageous levels of spending on campaigns this cycle. What’s more, the SuperPac Billionaires are apparently willing to go to unprecedented lengths to get their cronies elected.

It doesn’t take much to realize just what Citizens United and the associated fallout has meant for our elections. Individual Billionaires are giving unprecedented sums to SuperPACs to get their way. Sheldon Adelson, a gambling magnate, is just one example, but his $10mil to a Romney SuperPAC means that his voice will be far larger than any of us can afford. In other words, our elections are now a free for all for those that can afford to spend millions on a campaign. And much of it is done through “non-profits” that don’t even disclose their donors.

The Special Exemptions Act will only make this worse here in California. It will act like miracle grow for the outrageous growth of campaign spending. Rather than being a balanced approach to campaign finance reform, it leaves loopholes for the SuperPAC Billionaires to drive their armored trucks through. Here are just a few of my favorite Special Exemptions:  Sole proprietorships, Real Estate Investment Trusts, LLCs, and  LLPs. And there are many more, just waiting for “investment.”

All this means that the voice of the wealthy would be even more disproportionate to everyday Californians. The Special Exemptions Act tries to pretend that it is Roundup for our campaigns, but in reality, it’s just Miracle Grow for the out of control campaign spending. That’s the last thing we need.

If you would like more information about the Special Exemptions Act, you can join the campaign today. You can also like the campaign on facebook or follow on twitter.

One thought on “The Special Exemptions Act – Like Miracle Grow for Spiraling Campaign Cash”

  1. I wish there was a way to frame this initiative differently. “Exemptions” is a big word, probably too complicated for voters to understand or get fired up about. And it doesn’t aim at the villains, corporations and the 1%.

    What about framing aimed at who wins, such as:

    “Corporate Privileges Act”

    “Corporate Advantages Act”

    “Billionaire Benefits Act”

    or {…add your own…}

    Or framing aimed at who loses, such as:

    “Destroy the Middle Class Act”

    “Screw Working People Act”

    “Ruin California Act”

    or {…add your own…}

    The rethugs are calling this initiative the “Paycheck Protection Act”, which is very deceptive and very misleading. But it shows they understand the business of framing much better than the Dems do.

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