# getting money out of politics? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 30, 2017, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-money-out-of-politics/787717 "2017-05-30T13:37:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DagNation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@DagNation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DagNation)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-money-out-of-politics/787717/41 "2017-06-02T01:45:33Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Trump gets to pick who’s on the register. Still a good idea? > > Regards, > Shodan Did you miss the part about the standards being objective and simple? ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-money-out-of-politics/787717/42 "2017-06-02T01:46:12Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Want to get money out of politics? That’s easy. Just get politics out of money. Perfect solution. ---
**Author:** ![DagNation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@DagNation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DagNation)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-money-out-of-politics/787717/43 "2017-06-02T02:05:33Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > Bad analogy. The sound truck behind you makes your soapbox speech inaudible. > > How about you on a soapbox and the guy ten blocks over has a sound truck? Do you think the guy should be denied his sound truck? I think it is a great analogy. The distance between the speakers is irrelevant, the reach of each person’s speech is not equal due to their differing wealth. This is a democratic system where (in my opinion) every voter should have equal access in sharing their opinion regardless of wealth or connections. There is very good evidence that repeating adds (or fake news) at a high frequency will convince people of all kinds of self-defeating ideas. To be clear, any limitations need to be focused on electioneering and lobbying activities - if some private company wants to rent billboard space to talk about space aliens (assuming there is no current ballot issue about space aliens), no problem. To return to the point here, and something I previously posted: Petitions. If I have an idea and I can convince a bunch of friends to go out and get signatures, then that proves some level of popular support. If I instead offer employees $1 for every signature they can collect, then the pile of signatures only proves that I can afford to hire people to get that done. People collecting signatures for pay (often) do not care what the issue is, they just want their $$. This is one blatant place where more money equals more access. ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-money-out-of-politics/787717/44 "2017-06-02T02:19:20Z")
> [@DagNation](#): > > I think it is a great analogy. The distance between the speakers is irrelevant, the reach of each person’s speech is not equal due to their differing wealth. No, if the sound truck is immediately behind you, the reach of your speech is _reduced_ (to zero). That is not acceptable. But if you’re on the corner, speaking, and someone is a couple of blocks away, using a bullhorn he bought, you have no right to use his bullhorn. Or to take it away. > [@](#): > > To be clear, any limitations need to be focused on electioneering and lobbying activities - if some private company wants to rent billboard space to talk about space aliens (assuming there is no current ballot issue about space aliens), no problem. You would have to repeal the first amendment. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-money-out-of-politics/787717/45 "2017-06-02T02:56:27Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > The argument on one side: My right of free speech is essentially meaningless when all I’ve got is a soapbox to stand on and the guy behind me has a sound truck. > > The argument on the other side: Tough! And this is somehow an argument to restrict speech rights to whatever the poorest person can do? I guess newspapers don’t have 1st amendment rights then, since it’s not fair that everyone can’t print a newspaper. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-money-out-of-politics/787717/46 "2017-06-02T03:16:38Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Simple. No campaign donations, every candidate gets the same campaign fund from the public purse (there might also be a public poster, public TV spot, that kind of thing), politicians who spend a dollar more get disqualified from the race. Ridiculous and impossible to enforce. What’s the dollar value of commentary on the internet? The dollar value of biased news media? The dollar value of professors, ministers, radio personalities? The dollar value of political art work? Who’s going to monitor and enforce that? Freedom of speech, assembly, religion, press, etc. are far more important than dollar equality in a campaign. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-money-out-of-politics/787717/47 "2017-06-02T03:19:06Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > The argument on one side: My right of free speech is essentially meaningless when all I’ve got is a soapbox to stand on and the guy behind me has a sound truck. > > The argument on the other side: Tough! Terribly inaccurate analogy with regards to how media is in reality. You have a platform that can reach the whole world practically for free. If you have an interesting enough message. ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-money-out-of-politics/787717/48 "2017-06-02T03:19:50Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Simple. No campaign donations, every candidate gets the same campaign fund from the public purse (there might also be a public poster, public TV spot, that kind of thing), politicians who spend a dollar more get disqualified from the race. How would you prevent a politician spending his own money on the campaign? The Constitution would prevent such a restriction. And the result would be the very rich candidates would have a huge advantage. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-money-out-of-politics/787717/49 "2017-06-02T03:24:58Z")
Maybe while we’re at it, everyone should have to use a public defender in court. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-money-out-of-politics/787717/50 "2017-06-02T11:41:19Z")
Fine by me; I really doubt if one side winning because they pay for a higher-priced lawyer serves ideal justice. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-money-out-of-politics/787717/51 "2017-06-02T12:23:45Z")
Which is fine if the state also had to use fresh out of law school rookies. And doesn’t get a team, but just one person having to do all the work building the case. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-money-out-of-politics/787717/52 "2017-06-03T15:53:37Z")
> [@DagNation](#): > > Did you miss the part about the standards being objective and simple? Not at all. Trump decides what the standards are. Do you still support the idea? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2017, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-money-out-of-politics/787717/53 "2017-06-03T17:03:24Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > How would you prevent a politician spending his own money on the campaign? The Constitution would prevent such a restriction. And the result would be the very rich candidates would have a huge advantage. A billionaire who pays to get himself elected gets one vote in Congress. A billionaire who pays to get other people elected can get dozens of votes in Congress. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-money-out-of-politics/787717.md?page=2)