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Democrats regularly scream about “Big Money” and “Dark Money” in campaigns, yet they brought truckloads of such money into Georgia and South Carolina in the last election cycle. Democrats lost badly South Carolina, but their money bought them two radical Marxist Senators from Georgia. It’s quite clear that whatever efforts have been made to modify campaign finance rules haven’t achieved their stated goals.
Rules on large donations to campaigns are designed – in theory – to prevent megadonors from swaying the election. But this is a game. And games always have little ways to “not cheat.” A jump shooter in the NBA can “lean in” to a defender, causing a referee to call a foul. A fan in the outfield bleachers can steal signs and pass them on to batters. As AJ Foyt noted, “It ain’t cheatin’ if you don’t get caught.” There are so many work-arounds for Leftist Silicon Valley billionaires that the little Dutch boy hasn’t got enough fingers to plug the holes in this dike. That dam has broken. We need to consider a different approach.
In my home state of Florida, I vote for local officials as well as state Representatives and Senators. Those elections don’t seem to have a lot of financial corruption, but… Oh, yes, our Central Florida State Attorney was financed by George Soros (indirectly, of course). As we look around the country, State Attorneys in St. Louis and San Francisco appear on the Soros list as well. We know how well that’s working out, as bad guys get out of jail free, but law abiding citizens end up on the naughty list.
Moving up the food chain, we have federal elections for Senators and Congress-critters. These are the ones that get large attention from foreign donors in Silicon Valley, Chicago, and New York. Foreign to Florida, that is. And we have to ask why anyone outside of Florida should have a voice in who represents Florida in Congress? Those outsiders aren’t Floridians! Those Senators and Congress-critters are Floridians who represent Floridians! Why do we allow Peter Thiel or the Koch brothers to influence our Florida elections? They don’t live or vote in Florida.
Moving up to the very top of the heap, the Presidential election doesn’t have Floridians voting for a Presidential candidate! Yes, Donald Trump and Joe Biden were the listed candidates, but actually we voted for “electors” who – drum roll please – represent Florida. It seems archaic in a way, but local Floridians gather to cast votes for the President in a process separate from the November assembly and counting of citizen votes.
All this roundabout discussion has one key point. All elections in Florida involve Floridians choosing Floridians who will represent them in various bodies. Not one person who lives outside of Florida has any legitimate interest or proper voice in selecting those representatives. Period. So why do we let them contribute money to campaigns in Florida? It’s not their business!
Let’s extend this to business contributions. Why should Amazon, which is based in Seattle, have any voice in Florida elections? Jeff Bezos is as far from us as you can get in the lower 48. Why does Florida – or any state, for that matter – want to allow out-of-state businesses a voice in its internal affairs? Under Citizens United, businesses are allowed to finance political speech, but there’s no reason to allow that right to extend to electoral offices in a state that isn’t their home. There is a reasonable argument that they should be allowed to speak on issues that affect their business in Florida, but that’s different from supporting or opposing a candidate.
One further restriction should be considered. If you are contributing to a candidate’s campaign, you are engaged in electoral politics. At a minimum, you ought to be registered to vote. So, without further ado, allow me to present a possible state Constitutional Amendment that incorporates these key principles.
Proposed Constitutional Amendment:
Part 1: No candidate for elective office in Florida or Political Action Committee supporting or opposing a candidate for public office in Florida shall accept any monies not originating from either a registered voter in Florida or business domiciled in Florida. Since Electors for the President are candidates within Florida, Presidential campaigns shall be subject to the same limitations. The penalty for violation shall be treble the funds accepted, and the candidate and campaign treasurer shall be personally responsible. With regard to Presidential campaigns, the Presidential candidate and campaign treasurer shall be responsible rather than the electors.
Part 2: Issue advertising shall be subject to the same restrictions, with the exception that businesses with a physical presence in Florida may participate in campaigns related to their business interests.
This proposed Amendment would not in any way deal with contribution limits. That is a separate matter for the legislature. It would, however, establish that elections in Florida are of, by, and for the people of Florida. Imagine what might have happened if Georgia had had such a law.
Ted Noel MD posts on social media as @vidzette and @DoctorTed.
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COVID-19 lockdowns are taking down an independent news outlet
Nobody said running a media site would be easy. We could use some help keeping this site afloat.
Colleagues have called me the worst fundraiser ever. My skills are squarely rooted on the journalistic side of running a news outlet. Paying the bills has never been my forte, but we’ve survived. We have ads on the site that help, but since the site’s inception this has been a labor of love that otherwise doesn’t bring in the level of revenue necessary to justify it.
When I left a nice, corporate career in 2017, I did so knowing I wouldn’t make nearly as much money. But what we do at NOQ Report to deliver the truth and fight the progressive mainstream media narrative that has plagued this nation is too important for me to sacrifice it for the sake of wealth. We know we’ll never make a ton of money this way, and we’re okay with that.
Things have become harder with the coronavirus lockdowns. Both ad money and donations that have kept us afloat for a while have dropped dramatically. We thought we could weather the storm, but the resurgence of lockdowns that mainstream media and Democrats are pushing has put our prospects in jeopardy. In short, we are now in desperate need of financial assistance.
The best way NOQ Report readers can help is to donate. Our Giving Fuel page makes it easy to donate one-time or monthly. Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal as well. We need approximately $17,300 to stay afloat through March when we hope the economy will be more open, but more would be wonderful and any amount that brings us closer to our goal is greatly appreciated.
The second way to help is to become a partner. We’ve strongly considered seeking angel investors in the past but because we were paying the bills, it didn’t seem necessary. Now, we’re struggling to pay the bills. This shouldn’t be the case as our traffic the last year has been going up dramatically. June, 2018, we had 11,678 visitors. A year later in June, 2019, we were up to 116,194. In June, 2020, we had 614,192. In November, 2020, we hit 1.2 million visitors.
We’re heading in the right direction and we believe we’re ready talk to patriotic investors who want to not only “get in on the action” but more importantly who want to help America hear the truth. Interested investors should contact me directly with the contact button above.
As the world spirals towards radical progressivism, the need for truthful journalism has never been greater. But in these times, we need as many conservative media voices as possible. Please help keep NOQ Report going.
American Conservative Movement
Join fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. The coronavirus crisis has prompted many, even some conservatives, to promote authoritarianism. It’s understandable to some extent now, but it must not be allowed to embed itself in American life. We currently have 11,000+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.
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