Here’s an Article I Wrote Ten Yeras Ago and Nothing’s Changed
The Senate May Be Paid to Vote, but the Cost Is Small Time
Jul 19, 2015
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Who would possibly have thought that securing Obama’s Fast Track authority for the passage of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade treaty could have been bought and paid for? This is a major trade deal that, among other things, strips national governments of their sovereign authority—including the United States.
Wonder of wonders, it has been done. Wonder of wonders, it only cost business and industry a mere $1,148,971, an average of $17,676.48 ‘donated’ to each of the 65 “yea” votes. They probably could have achieved it even without the additional 48 cents. My eyes mist over at the thought.
The most powerful nation on the planet gives in on the cheap.
The terms of this treaty are so secret that Congress has only been given brief glances at portions, sworn to secrecy and not even allowed to take notes. Now with the passage of Fast Track, meaningful debate is entirely removed from the process. Your jobs, cost of medicines, environmental standards—even access to the internet is now entirely beyond the reach of your elected officials to debate—all according to the entirely legal payoff of those you elected.
It is against the law to bribe your Senator or Representative with a paid golf vacation or fancy dinner at a high-end Washington rest.aurant
It is not against the law to ‘contribute’ $17,676.48 to his or her campaign fund. It is not against the law to ‘swing a deal’ to pay them to sit on your board of directors when they retire or lose an election. It is not against the law to ‘contribute’ millions to a campaign fund, have them decide not to run and keep the money.
These things are not against the law because Congress makes the laws.
But who would have thought that, with all that money and all that power, their votes for a trade deal worth trillions to business and industry could be bought so cheap?
A number of years ago, in a similar huff over similar issues, I rather tongue-in-cheek bought the BuyBackAmerica.com domain and offered it to anyone who would set up a Super PAC in that name, funded by small citizen donations. A dollar a year would have put $340 million in the coffers.
That might have allowed the guy on the street to outbid the $51,700 John McCain received in the first quarter of 2015 to Fast Track their future. Didn’t that dude run for president or something?
No one took me up on the offer, but what was once tongue-in-cheek now simply looks cheeky.
SO, I’M OFFERING IT AGAIN. IN SIX WEEKS I’LL BE 90, AND I’D LIKE TO SEE MY AMERICA SAVED BEFORE I’M DEAD. SOMEONE TAKE OVER THE DAMN DOMAIN, AND SET UP A POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (PAC).
Buy Back America. Let’s not let Elon Musk have the place at a discount.
According to the Federal Register, a little over 262 million Americans are over the age of eighteen, and eligible to vote. I know it’s asking a lot, but suppose each of them was willing to agree to pay an annual subscription to the Buy Back America Super Pac. One buck would load up $262 million in the coffer. Five would bring in just over $1 billion.
Just think about it. American citizens finally able to outspend the billionaires, and run our country like the democric republic it was born to be.
Chat GPT tells me, As of the 2024 U.S. federal election cycle, the largest super PAC in terms of funds raised was Make America Great Again Inc., which amassed approximately $410.5 million and spent around $376.9 million in support of former President Donald Trump, who won a second term.
Following closely, WinSenate PAC raised about $313.1 million, while Senate Leadership Fund secured approximately $298.8 million.
It's noteworthy that America PAC, primarily funded by Elon Musk, raised around $263.5 million and spent over $260 million during the 2024 elections, significantly supporting Republican candidates, including Trump's campaign.
These figures underscore the substantial financial influence super PACs exert in U.S. elections, with the top groups raising hundreds of millions of dollars to support their preferred candidates and causes.
And you and I, along with both Democrat and Republican friends, could have our fingers in that cookie-jar, buying back the progressive taxes that once funded our government without endless debt, rebuilding union jobs and expanding the rights to vote the Supreme Court took away. We might actually cut back on the military-industrial thieves who bring us endless wars, build ourselves some schools, fix up a bridge or two, and re-introduce some sanity into our two-party system. Who knows, we might even decide that women can make their own decisions about having children.
Political Action Committees have to fess up to their mischief, just as Trump, Musk, Big Oil, and the Big Banks pretend to do.
But Buy Back America might decide to have an Annual Meeting, to invite its ‘stockholders’ (you and me) in to set goals and even thrash-out a political platform to keep ourselves in the game.
It would take some give-and-take to replace the winner-take-all game in Congress, but we might even save our republic, before it bankrupts itself.
I’s sure like to see that happen before I cash in my chips—and I still own the domain, if anyone is interested. (email: jim@jim-freeman.com)