Letter: Rampant political spending's corrosive
U.S. Capitol dome at sunrise over Washington, D.C., on Sept. 25, 2013. Credit: Getty Images
I was disappointed to see that "A crusade to curb campaign spending" [News, Nov. 29] received too little attention.
The unrestrained spending that has been allowed to take place in our political campaigns is in no small part due to the Supreme Court decisions in Citizens United v. the Federal Elections Commission in 2010 and McCutcheon v. the FEC in 2014. The spending is posing a serious threat to the future of our country and its democratic process.
Dark money from the wealthy elite is flowing into the campaign coffers of our elected officials and is buying access and influence. It's having a corrosive effect on our government. Those with the deepest pockets are being heard and listened to, while average Americans are essentially being ignored. This adversely affects decisions and laws in all areas: education, environment, social services, taxation, etc.
Until something is done to stem this flood of money -- as the proposed "people's rights amendment" to the Constitution would do -- we as private middle-class citizens cannot hope to change anything for the better. The future of our democracy hangs in the balance.
Vincenza Ercole, Port Jefferson Station
Editor's note: The writer is a member of a campaign-finance reform group, Brookhaven Move to Amend.
