SurrealPolitiks S01E014 – Valuable Consideration

I recently had occasion to consider a subject too often overlooked, which forms in no small part the foundation of all politics. It does so because it is at the heart of all human motivations. One might say, without it, there is no such thing as motivation. It is the question of value. While this is in some portion closely related to our talk from Episode 6, it ought not be mistaken for a purely economic phenomenon. Value is central to all human relationships, not the least of which are those we define as political. Value is often mistaken as money, or objects exchangeable for money. Services, as well. though too often too narrowly defined. Elsewhere, I had a lengthy conversation with a very interesting gentleman who said we needed to get money out of our politics. This is a popular enough idea, and given the rampant criminality in our government, you can understand how one would be drawn to it. His suggestion was that, based upon a certain degree of popular support, as evidenced by petition signatures, a person or party would gain access to public resources to spend on a political campaign. It necessarily follows from this that, no other political spending is permissible, and in this way, goes the theory, we get money out of politics. And, goes the theory, in this way, we reduce corruption in government. OK. Fine theory. Let us consider the practice. It might go without saying that politicians are beholden to those who finance their campaigns. Owing to the obviousness of this, in the United States, there are very significant limitations on what one can donate to a candidate for federal office. Theory being, if you limit what any one person can spend on political campaigns, you can limit that individual’s influence, and thereby make the society more democratic by spreading power more evenly among the populace. According to the Federal Elections Commission, an individual may donate no more than $3,300 to any candidate for public office in a given election. He may also donate up to $5,000 per year to any SuperPAC, a combined total of $10,000 per year to any “state/district/local” Party committee, $41,300 to any national party, and “$123,900* per account, per year” to any “Additional national party committee accounts”. That last one sounds like a bit of a loophole, but these are by no means uncommon and, as we’ll discuss, ultimately unavoidable. Similar though not identical limits apply regarding transfers from committees to candidates. Corporations, you might have heard, can spend unlimited funds on political campaigns. You might have heard this, because Democrats are liars and lots of people are ignorant. Corporations are prohibited under federal law from contributing money to politicians. This popular myth stems from the Supreme Court case known as Citizens United, in which a private entity made a film critical of Hillary Clinton. They were sued for violating campaign finance law under the theory that one may not spend money to make political statements on their own volition. Rightly, the filmmakers prevailed, and ever since then we have been hearing about corporate campaign contributions as if they were a real thing. They are not. There is also something known as the “in kind contribution”. In this, if say, a landlord, provides rent fre