Campaign Finance Reform
A few years ago, Congress passed campaign finance reform legislation. Well, I have to tell you, they didn't change or reform much. The candidates are still taking the money, legally or not. The law is written that you aren't supposed to give a Candidate over a certain amount of money or goods. But, there is no law saying that the Candidate can't take the money. It just says they must use their best efforts. Gee, I wonder who wrote that law?
Elections are still being bought, with the person having the most money supposedly going to win. With this type of system, can we ever expect the best Candidate to represent us in Congress? Can an average person expect to really compete for a seat to represent their peers? Will you really get the best person and the one with fresh ideas, or just the person who cut down the most trees and sent you the most things to put in the recycle bin, with all of their rich friends and special interest money buying and paying for their win? Let's not forget that once you are in office, your other friends in office will do everything that they can to help you stay in and advance your position, even if you're not good. Eweeee!
Running for office does seem a little discouraging to most people, and running for office seems completely out of the question from a financial standpoint to many. This system is wrong . . . unless you have real moral courage . . . the courage to NOT take the money! This system is wrong . . . unless you are really willing to work hard, like we are on the Renier Campaign.
You see, that is what we have done in our campaign. In a time when families are losing their incomes, we find it insulting to raise all kinds of money that could be better spent in the community. In a time when elections are being bought and paid for, we decided to just work harder to win. We decided to have real moral courage!
We almost won the last election against Tim Walberg. The results were 49% Walberg, 47% Renier. Walberg spent about a million and a quarter dollars; we spent only sixty thousand. Hum? Who do you think worked harder? Who do you think just bought and paid for the campaign? Do you think that you have gotten what you've paid for? Most people don't think so. Most people don't think they are getting their money's worth at the State legislative level either.
Think about why my not taking the money is important to you. I won't be representing special interests, lobbyists, or just the wealthy! I will actually be representing YOU, because I don't take the money. I'm not bought and paid for. Now, that's refreshing. And most voters "get" what we are trying to do, that is why we have won our primaries in the past. We just need to get our word out to more people. That's where you and the internet come into play. Tell everyone!! Vote!!
We have a few sayings here on the farm. One is about Compost/Manure. When compost is concentrated all in one place, kind of like campaign money in an election all invested in one person, it starts to stink. But if compost gets spread around, it does the entire garden, or community, some good.
The other saying I have is, "If a Candidate needs that much money to make themselves look good, there is probably something wrong with the Candidate!" Get it? Most people do.
Really, if you're online here reading this, go look up the other Candidates' voting records. (michigan.gov and click on legislative) Look to see how they voted. Look to see if they ever wrote any legislation that was passed. Look to see what you've gotten for your dollar. Look to see from where their money comes to run their campaign. (fec.gov) Is the money supporting their campaign from special interest? Remember, these folk's salaries are paid with YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY! What did you get for your money? Are you happy? Do you really want to have these ineffective people in office again?
OK, now that you've gone and looked, it's not very pretty, is it?
If I could put my version of campaign finance reform out there, it would consist of levels of public funding. This is just a simple example. In each level of race, all of the participants would get the same amount of money. So, for a Congressional race, I would give everyone $100,000. Then, I would sit back and see how fiscally responsible each candidate was and I would also be able to see who was really willing to get out there and work. A local school board race would get $5,000 per participant, a state house race $50,000, etc. That really is enough money to run a race, unless you aren't willing to work hard. But, the way I look at it, if the person isn't willing to work hard for you at this step, they probably aren't going to work for you when they get into office either. They are probably going to just keep on taking YOUR money. This method of campaign financing also eliminates special interest money from influencing campaigns.
Real Experience
I've worked in the real world, doing all sorts of things. I can roof a house and do the electrical and plumbing, drywall and trim work. I run my farm by myself. I've pumped gas when it was 19 cents a gallon (OUCH!), been a waitress, worked in an office, been a paralegal, drove an auto supply truck, and worked at MacDonald's. I've even been laid off from the unemployment office, because the economy got better during the first oil crisis in the 1970's. That is one of my funnier stories. Let's not forget being in a punk rock band in the 1980's. That was a blast! I believe that is one of the reasons that I will better be able to represent you-I've probably done your job. I know what you have to go through to get to work. And, I did a lot of it as a single parent! Can you relate to that?
My opponents, well, they are career politicians. Who do you think would be better able to solve a problem, one who has done many things and can figure out alternatives that maybe haven't been thought of yet, or someone who has done the same old, same old, and still after all those years of "experience in office" still can't seem to read a balance sheet. I know where I would put my money-real life experience.
So, the next time you hear the figures about how much a Candidate has in the bank, or that you are fooled into thinking that the person with the most money wins, do the real research. Find out about the candidates and where they really stand on the issues. And remember that you are Spartacus. Most of us don't have much money, but together, we can win! See through their hype.
