You can now invest even more money into our corrupt elections than before and that means better returns for the wealthy few. Money is a corrupting influence in politics. It is contempt for democracy. It is nothing more than legalized bribery and an elaborate money laundering scheme.

This is good news for corporate media outlets. More money in politics means more corporate profits. That is the reason why we only get coverage of the horse race (who’s raising the most and who’s up in the polls) instead of in depth coverage of the issues, where all the candidates stand, and deep analysis of our public servants’ voting records. Corporate media isn’t democratic media and they don’t live up to their responsibility to inform our electorate.

More money in politics also means more quid pro quo and more of the status quo. As long as money defines our politics and it takes serious cash to be a serious candidate, citizens can expect business as usual at City Hall. The great divide in our community is not between the Democrats, Republicans or Charterites; it’s between public opinion and public policy.

As long as we allow people in Indian Hill to make or break our candidates and their dollars are the deciders, the citizens of Cincinnati will continue to be the real losers of a rigged game where the deck is stacked. Our community will not move forward because too many representatives will continue to have the wrong priorities. They will have the priorities of people who too often don’t even live in our city and can’t vote, yet they have more influence than our actual citizens do. This must change and has to be challenged.

The corrupt campaign financing of our elections will not be covered by the major media outlets, but you can send them letters this campaign season and hold them accountable. You can ask the politicians where they stand on this issue and make it an issue. Any politician that isn’t talking about campaign finance reform in a serious way is too comfortable with the status quo. The undue influence of big money in politics has got to go and we must demand more.

Together we can clean up our elections, make them more meaningful and get more people participating in the political process. A greater Cincinnati is possible and together we can make the necessary changes. A newly revived clean and fair elections coalition is forming and you can be a part of this change. Campaign finance reform is too important to be left to politicians.

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