Part
11: Money and Politics
[This page is still being written.]
This section actually covers four different topics having to do with
money:
One: Understanding the buying power of large
sums of money. (For instance, how much is $10 billion relative
to the total budget of the Federal Gov't?)
Two: How much money is spent in politic campaigns?
Three: The importance of
campaign finance reform (Can citizens decrease the power of big
money to dominate politics?)
Four: Understanding some basic economics
The Buying Power of Large Sums of Money
Citizen Joe's
Dollar-O-Meter
How much money is spent in politic campaigns?
Questions answered in Part A:
1. What's the cost of a typical House or Senate campaign?
2. Roughly, what's the most recent cost of the Presidential
campaigns (all candidates)?
3. Why do candidates accept large amounts of money from special
interest groups and PACs?
4. What do campaigns spent all the money on?
Campaigns cost money.
The money spent for the 2000 cycle of Congressional races was 1.01 billion
dollars. The top 50 Senate races raised more than 1.9 million
each. The top 50 House races spent more than 1.8 million
each.
In 2000, the Bush campaign spent $187 million. And Gore's campaign spent
120 million. ($342 was spent for all candidates.)
Where does the money come from? In the 2004 cycle for federal
candidate for all PAC money, soft money and individual donations.
74.3% came from business
3% came from labor
A piece of good news is that money isn't all-powerful in politics. In
the 2000 elections, 8 out of the 20 candidates who raised the most money
lost their elections.
"The three most important things in politics are money, money
and money." -- Senator Robert Kennedy
Questions to answer:
What is soft money?
What is hard money?
What is a PAC?
Who can give to candidates, and who can't give?
Why is there public funding available for Presidential candidates?'
Questions answered in B
1.
Can Money's Power Can Be Significantly Decreased?
Basic Economics
http://www.amosweb.com/cgi-bin/prv_lsn.pl?lsn=1
A five-lesson free course.
http://www.investopedia.com/university/economics/default.asp
An eight-lesson free course.
http://www.americas.org/item_71
Lists terms relating to international economics.
The following are excellent background articles, usually about two pages
long, about various economic topics. These are from AMOSweb whose
principle author is Orley M. Amos, an economics professor from the
University of Oklahoma. Ignore the leading paragraphs in blue, since
they are about fictitious events -- as a kind of lighthearted
introduction.
About economic growth
http://www.amosweb.com/cgi-bin/awb_nav.pl?s=pdg&c=dsp&k=16
"The Economics of Dueling Political Views"
http://www.amosweb.com/cgi-bin/awb_nav.pl?s=pdg&c=dsp&k=36
About the Federal Deficit
http://www.amosweb.com/cgi-bin/awb_nav.pl?s=pdg&c=dsp&k=21
About economic forecasting
http://www.amosweb.com/cgi-bin/awb_nav.pl?s=pdg&c=dsp&k=15
About ten commonly-used economic indicators
http://www.amosweb.com/cgi-bin/awb_nav.pl?s=pdg&c=dsp&k=17
About Social Security
http://www.amosweb.com/cgi-bin/awb_nav.pl?s=pdg&c=dsp&k=43
About inflation
http://www.amosweb.com/cgi-bin/awb_nav.pl?s=pdg&c=dsp&k=28
About foreign investment
http://www.amosweb.com/cgi-bin/awb_nav.pl?s=pdg&c=dsp&k=23
For some current US economic statistics:
http://www.amosweb.com/cgi-bin/awb_nav.pl?s=awb&c=stp
When ready, please continue on to the
last part, Total Advocacy. |
