According to the Democrats, campaign finance reform is important to level the playing field in elections. They use that phrase a lot.
In fact, virtually every component of their modern platform is attempting to level a playing field. That’s ironic considering the United States has been the freest country in the world throughout its existence.
In this case, the Democrats are trying to make elections “fairer” by limiting the amount of campaign money that can come from a single source. This would impact donations from businesses, PACs, lobbying groups and political coalitions.
Some variants of campaign finance reform even suggest that all campaign money should actually come from a federal purse that is distributed when a candidate can demonstrate enough support.
We don’t have nearly enough time to go into that can of worms, but let’s all stop and scoff at the idea that the existing government should have complete control over distributing money for the next round of campaigns.
The Practice
In practice, campaign finance has nothing to do with fairness. It’s about tipping the scales in favor of Democrats. Try to contain your shock.
The easiest way to understand the lopsided application of finance reform is to look at the For the People Act. It already passed the House this year. It’s a large bill with a lot of regulation, but the part regarding campaign finance is important.
The bill would limit the size of donations from any single source. It especially tries to target lobbying groups to keep their money out of Washington. It then makes specific exceptions for unions.
The law claims that it can exclude unions because they are already regulated, but that logic would apply to all lobbying. The real point here is that they want to go after the NRA and similar right-leaning coalitions without hampering the single largest monetary supply on the left.
In the 2018 election cycle, unions outspent all other political groups combined. Limiting spending on other groups and leaving unions alone is the most obvious display of bias imaginable.
If you still have doubts, consider this quote from Michael Barns, “Even though the measure will impact our election activities as well, it will cut into the NRA’s even more, reducing the gun lobby’s ability to obstruct the progress of sensible gun laws.” They aren’t hiding the ball on this one.
Still, the scarier part of this legislation isn’t about attacking the NRA. It’s about attacking gun owners. You see, campaign finance reform is going to change how political contributions are gathered. It’s a virtual inevitability that well-meaning citizens will accidentally break some of the rules.
Just like Democrats use convoluted state gun laws to go after gun owners when they travel, this finance reform will make it easier for them to single out gun owners who contribute to the cause of protecting the 2nd Amendment.
If you simultaneously cripple the NRA and find a new way to arrest a bunch of gun activists, then you win the political war pretty easy. That’s what this is really about.
Any legislation that claims to be about fairness should always trigger warning bells in your mind. It’s the mantra of socialists, and it’s been used to destroy many powerful nations in this world.
Laws that promote extra fairness in the freest country in the history of humanity will never live up to their promise. They’re always really about control, and in this case, fairness of elections is about attacking gun owners.
We’re still the ultimate line of defense between the radical leftists and complete dictatorship, and they know it. Never let your guard down, and make sure your Senators know that you are firmly against this new bill.
