'Money politics' erodes US political systems

People take part in a rally against Money Politics at the west lawn of Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., the United States, on April 17, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - With estimated record spending, the 2016 presidential election will be one of the most "money-burning" in the US history, which demonstrated that "money politics" is eroding the US political systems.

Bloomberg has predicted that 10 billion US dollars will be spent on the 2016 US election, which has outnumbered the 2015 gross domestic product (GDP) of 30 percent of all the countries worldwide.

According to the Federal Election Commission, the expenditure spending for or against presidential, House or Senate candidates have exceeded more than 1.6 billion dollars by May 10.

In fact, interest groups, soft money and lobbying are lawfully permitted in the US political culture.

Moreover, the ruling of the US Supreme Court in the cases regarding Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, has overturned decades of restrictions on corporations' campaign spending and invalidated aggregate contribution limits, leading to unlimited influx of capital into the US political life.

In the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case, the US Supreme Court prohibited the government from restricting independent political expenditures by a nonprofit corporation.

In the case of McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court reversed a decision that imposed a limit on contributions an individual can make over a two-year period to national party and federal candidate committees.

"Money politics" has resulted in a situation where the US politics is fully influenced by big billionaires and their proxies, while the will and appeal of the general public have no way to express.

Aquene Freechild, co-director of the Public Citizen's Democracy Is For People Campaign, told Xinhua recently that "it was about a crisis for American Democracy. People are feeling more left out in the process, that their voice doesn't count, that their vote is not being counted, that our government is being intentionally obstructed and broken."

Public Citizen is a Washington-based public interest group that co-sponsored the week-long Democracy Spring protests in 30 cities across the United States in mid-April, including the one held in front of the Capitol Hill.

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