Money Makes The World Go Around

Not that I want to rain on anyone's parade, be the fly in anyone's ointment, or otherwise abuse bad metaphors, but on a day when the Bologosphere is abuzz with the news about Senator Obama's hefty fundraising numbers, I thought it might be worth asking: should we be celebrating this? Should this be what we're talking about?

Yes- this is how the system works. Senator Clinton's presumed aura of inevitability has been shattered; but that presumed aura was defined by her ability to raise money. Senator Obama's viability is largely defined by his. 100,000 donors. 25 million dollars. An average of 250 dollars per donor. How many Americans can afford to donate 250 dollars per quarter? There are more than 35 million Americans living beneath the poverty line. I'm guessing that not many of them gave Senator Obama 250 dollars.

People powered politics should be about people power. The fact that we're talking about fundraising depresses me. You want to know why politicians don't do the will of the people? Money. The system is broken. As long as money defines political viability, we will not have a representative government. It's that simple.

Money is not speech. Money is money.

Campaign finance reform.

Now.

What's wrong with America?

From the Washington Post:

The financial reports begin to document the underpinnings of a drive for dollars that is expected to make 2008 the nation's first billion-dollar presidential campaign. Top-tier candidates are hard at work courting wealthy political enthusiasts who can deliver scores of thousand-dollar donors.

That's where it begins. That's the key. That's why our government fails to represent the best interests of most Americans, most people, or the world. Government of, by, and for the special interests. The only way we will ever take our government back is to take money out of political campaigns.