On contributing to political campaigns and voting.

[merrily]

Contributions to Political Campaigns

If legislators are really opposed to Citizens United or corporate donations, why is the limit for individual donations so low?

Just as examples, Hillary and Bernie both announced formally about seven months ago and primary season still has several months to go. You don't have to be a billionaire to donate $300 a month throughout primary season, if it means a lot to you, either from income or savings. That would put you over the limit of $2700 per candidate per election.

Why is the political contribution limit for humans only $2,700 per candidate per election, especially since we profess to hate Citizens United so much?


Voting

If our votes are so important, why can't we get at least three hours off from work to vote, if we provide proof of having voted? For example, a man who works in my building has two full time jobs, from 7 am to 3 pm in my building and from 3 pm to 11 pm in a building nearby (both buildings managed by the same company, so they cut him a little slack running from one building to the other around 3 pm). His commute to Boston is about 40 minutes. There is no way he can vote where he lives without taking off from work. Also, until this year, the very blue town of Boston had only day on which people could vote, which was a Tuesday, a work day for him.

The same people who beg us to GOTV for them every two to four years never passed laws enabling this hard-working man to get to the polls. Why?

What are our real priorities? Should we be pushing for change in these two areas that are so pivotal and foundational to our system?

[daleanime]

1. We need a lot of changes....

Publicly funded campaigns and Election Day Holiday are definitely among them.

[merrily]

2. On voting holidays, I am a little conservative.

There should be a generous absentee ballot option, but many of us don't think ahead. I think there also should be more than one day to vote, one of which should be on weekend and one of which should be on a weekday. That would ensure that most people are able to vote without even needing time off from work.

If you have enough precincts and voting days, voting should not take an entire day. And, I think people should have to present proof of voting in order to get paid for the time off from work. So, in all, I disagree with Sanders that people should get an entire day off to vote, no questions asked. If we want to put another federally-mandated holiday into the calendar, I have no objection: Americans don't get enough time off, IMO. But, if more time off for workers is the goal, let's not pretend it's about voting. Let's just call it what it is.

One way or another though, our laws and practices should reflect that we as a society and we as people truly value individual participation in the political process.