Protect Our Democracy

Protect Our Democracy

Foreign Interference

Our democracy has been under assault from many fronts:  Vladimir Putin and the Russian oligarchs are using social media to create chaos in our elections; other dictators are trying buy our democracy.  I support policies like the following to combat foreign interference with our democracy.  These would hopefully taken on a reciprocal basis with our democratic allies.

  • Freeze assets of foreign leaders and political organizations who attempt to destroy our democracy.  I don't think using tariffs for this purpose is the best idea, because tariffs tend to hurt the ordinary people in both America and abroad.
  • Prohibit sales of weapons, surveillance tech, and crowd control weapons to enemies of democracy.
  • Prohibit technology transfer to high-tech companies that support suppression of democracy.
  • Prohibit the sale of communications, surveillance, and other technology from companies that are controlled by enemies of democracy.
  • Make it illegal for any foreign entity to interfere with political free speech in America (for example by extorting their employers).  In cases where foreign entities do interfere with political free speech, enable the impacted companies or individuals to sue in American courts for damages.

The Corruption of Money

Spoiled, incompetent, rich children are using inherited money and influence to buy their way into office. 

I support re-instating inheritance taxes with the express purpose of making inherited money difficult to use for political purposes.  I can tolerate a person using money they earned themselves to run for office, but it's absurd when a person can inherit $800 million, build that into a $200 million business empire and use it to run for President.  I also don't have a problem with passing money on to one's offspring in a trust as long as it can't be used for political purposes.

I support counteracting Citizen's United quickly by re-instating a variation of the Fairness Doctrine.  My variation would require that anyone airing a political ad pay for an equal time rebuttal.  The only exception would be entities that adhere to FEC fundraising rules and limits.  The Fairness Doctrine has already passed Supreme Court muster and my variation would almost certainly pass, because it not only creates more free speech, but prevents wealthy individuals from suppressing free speech by paying to shout loader than anyone else.

I will co-sponsor both the "We the People Amendment" (H.J. Res 48).  I am also willing to co-sponsor the "Democracy for All Amendment" (H.J. Res 2) if it's clear H.J Res 48 has no chance of success, but I clearly prefer the former.

I also support pretty much any form of public campaign financing.  For example, I would like to see Federal matching of donations at 9:1 for small donations (under $25) and 4:1 for medium donations (up to say $100).  With limits of $1 million on congressional races and $5 million for Senate races (maybe more for really large rural districts).  I would also like to see Federal sponsorship of 2 primary debates and 2 general election debates per election.