FEBRUARY 24, 2020 – Much has been said about the corrosive effect of money in elective politics. I’d guess that most Americans would agree it’s a problem and would support remedial legislation. But headway in campaign finance reform is prevented by substantial headwinds. It’s a circular dilemma: to get money out of politics, we first have to get money out of politics.
To illustrate how the system works, let me tell a true story—one I experienced first-hand 25 years ago. However shocking it was back then, rest (un)assured, thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court in Citizens United, matters are far worse today.
The setting was our weekly “direct reports” meeting at the mega-bank where I used to work. My half dozen peers and I gathered around the table in our department’s main conference room. Our boss presided at the head of the table, and on that particular day, he started off by introducing a representative from the “Government Affairs Department.”
The buttoned-down representative passed out packets as he described his purpose.
“In the interest of all of our stakeholders,” he began, “it’s important that we ensure access to our representatives in Congress—House and Senate. Contrary to what you might think, we are not partial to one political party over another. Right now we have very good access to both Democrats and Republicans, and it’s important that we maintain that positive rapport with everyone. We maintain access by way of our political action committee, and our employees are the best source of contributions to our PAC.
“What we’d like each of you to do is take time this week to deliver the message to your respective divisions. Inside your packets you’ll find materials to assist you in your messaging. What I’d like to do this morning is walk you through those materials.”
As he did so, I felt overwhelmed by a wave of revulsion. So this was how money in politics worked!
At the end of his spiel came the inevitable “ask.”
“As leaders, each of you needs to lead. By that I mean, each of you needs to contribute to the PAC before you meet with the people in your respective divisions. We find that you’ll be much more effective in your messaging if you ‘walk the talk.’ In each of your packets you’ll find a pledge card. As you’ll see, it’s really easy. You can do a one-time charge to your credit card right here or you can contribute regularly by way of automatic payroll deductions.
“Any questions?”
I raised my hand and said I wasn’t going to contribute and wasn’t going to ask my people to do so either. I said that what we were being asked to do was nothing short of official corruption of the democratic process.
The room went silent, as our boss’s face turned bright red. The guy from “Government Affairs” thanked us for our time and departed.
It would take time, but eventually I too departed—with a severance package.
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© 2020 by Eric Nilsson
