Clean Democracy
The Emancipation Party reforms will be of no use if we fail to clean up democracy and ensure that the government remains of and for the people. Money will always bring power; over time, even the most transparent system can be corrupted. The problem with too much money in politics is obvious. “One person, one vote” prevails in elections, but when it comes to being heard, those with more money effectively have more votes than those with little money. This leads directly to the capture of our political system by the money power.
The Emancipation Party solution takes advantage of the unique capabilities of free money and real transparency. We will create a new kind of money, “political money,” $8.50 of which will be deposited into the account of every citizen every month. Political money can only be used for political purposes; and only political money can be spent for political purposes. At $100 per citizen this amounts to over $30 billion a year for political speech, more than is spent now. But it is equally weighted per citizen, not disproportionately weighted towards the money power.
Of course, money has many ways to influence politics. One of these is the revolving door. As corrupting as campaign finance is, the revolving door that lets government officials trade on their public experience for personal gain in the service of special interests is even more corrosive. Whether this involves a Congressman “retiring” to a lobbying firm where he is paid millions to influence his old colleagues, or a senior SEC official moving to Wall Street for a big paycheck, these incestuous relationships undermine the public trust and feed crony capitalism.
As a response, we propose a strict divide between public service and private benefit. We define lobbying broadly, and substantially curtail any lobbying activity by former elected officials. And while we recognize the usefulness of private expertise in crafting our public laws and regulations, we must apply strict limits on the ability of lawmakers and regulators to work for the firms that they have been granted the public trust to regulate.