Campaign Finance (Issue 3)

Campaign finance is a huge deal for any candidate that is running for election for president. Campaign finance refers to the fundraising and spending that political parties do in election campaigns. The Dino-Mights feel that finance towards certain parties is very beneficial, and we support campaign finance.”President Obama, GOP nominee Mitt Romney, and the super PACs that support their campaigns have raised hundreds of millions of dollars and are on track to spend more than $2 billion by Election Day”( www.washingtonpost.com,2012). We feel that this is an outrageous amount of money. However, in order to gain in this election you have to be willing to risk some big money. All money that is spent on our party will mainly be put towards advertising which is our big focus for the 2012 political race. “ Most everyone has heard of “super” Political Action Committees or Super PAC’s that act as vehicles for Americans to unite with other Americans on common political beliefs. The rise of Super PAC’s has led to a slew of advertisements, mostly negative from 2010 to 2012”( www.redstate.com, 2012). A Super PAC is a type of committee which may raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions, and individuals but may not contribute directly with party candidates. Although some people may complain about the over spending that these contributors are doing, they are benefitting the parties they support. An earmark is a legislative provision that directs approved funds to be spent on specific projects, or that directs specific exemptions from taxes or mandated fees. The Dino-Mights believe that earmarks are not a good thing in our society. The fact that money can be set aside for events or say new highways and bridges under another bill is not right in our eyes. Our party believes that government should be transparent in their actions. This goes hand and hand with earmarks. Since the Dino-Mights completely disagree on earmarks we encourage government transparency. “The administration of Barack Obama's plans to usher in a "new era of transparency" by privatizing Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA)”( www.businessinsider.com,2012). We agree with President Barack Obama when his party says this statement. By allowing the public eye to view further information into the government, it would answer a lot of unsolved questions that American citizens have. There is a lot of information that we don’t find out because government is covering it up. For example The Watergate Scandal is a perfect example of how government transparency would not only make Americans happier and give them more insight. “ The prowlers that were arrested inside the DCN were connected to President Richard Nixon’s reelection campaign, and they had been caught while attempting to wiretap phones and steal secret documents. While historians are not sure whether Nixon knew about the Watergate espionage operation before it happened, he took steps to cover it up afterwards, raising “hush money” for the burglars, trying to stop the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from investigating the crime, destroying evidence and firing uncooperative staff members”( www.history.com, 2012). Another example is the “ Bridge to Nowhere”. “Congress had previously approved for a bridge in Ketchikan, Alaska, to fund reconstruction of a hurricane-damaged bridge in Louisiana. Dubbed the "Bridge to Nowhere," the bridge in Alaska would connect the town of Ketchikan (population 8,900) with its airport on the Island of Gravina (population 50) at a cost to federal taxpayers of $320 million, by way of three separate earmarks in the recent highway bill”(heritage.org,2012). This goes to show how earmarks are not a good thing and that government transparency would be a benefit, to allow citizens to see the truth behind our government. Things such as the Bridge to Nowhere wouldn’t be randomly thrown into a highway bill to get it through. Campaign finance and Super PACs have been a good thing for all candidates. All money that we gain will be put towards mainly advertising, we want to put our supporters money to good use. The Dino-Mights want to take America in the right direction, and to do this we feel getting rid of earmarks and making government transparent in their actions is the answer. We want to prevent problems such as the Watergate Scandal and the latest “ Bridge to Nowhere”. Our party is proud to say that we want to be upfront and let the U.S citizens know what is happening in our government.