Now that Democrats will have control of Congress, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., are reportedly looking to close what they call the “Elon Musk loophole.” It’s an idea that is worth serious consideration.
The lawmakers’ idea is to block titans of industry from trying to sway elections while benefiting from contracts with the federal government. Such a law wouldn’t end ultrawealthy donors’ ability to buy politicians, but it would at least block one of the most baldly unethical forms of political influence.
“If you ask the normal person on the street whether it reeks of corruption for a CEO or big corporate shareholder to spend boatloads of money to elect members of Congress who will then ratify billion-dollar federal contracts, I think almost every person would say that stinks,” Van Hollen told The Washington Sun last week.
Van Hollen is right to oppose allowing executives who profit handsomely off the government to line the pockets of politicians.
It’s already illegal for federal contracting companies to donate to federal political campaigns, but the law doesn’t block donations from individuals linked to and profiting from those companies. As Government Executive reports, the new bill, called the Close the Campaign Cash-for-Contracts Loophole Act, “would also bar donations from officers of contracting corporations and their affiliates as well as anyone with at least 5% interest or share in the company.”
Elon Musk runs multiple companies, including Tesla and SpaceX, that have made billions of dollars from federal contracts. Those companies have helped make him the world’s richest person. But since he’s considered a separate entity from his company, he’s not constrained from making donations. And he’s made plenty of use of that freedom. In this election cycle alone, he spent close to half a billion dollars. According to The New York Times, Musk “has given more money during the midterm elections than any donor has ever spent in a single election cycle, apart from wealthy candidates who have funded their own runs for office.”
While the amount of money Musk injected into this year’s campaign is particularly egregious and sets him apart, there are plenty of other wealthy executives who benefit from contracts with the government and engage in political activism through big donations.
Jeff Hauser, the founder and executive director of the Revolving Door Project, which fights corporate influence in politics, told me he believes the measure Van Hollen and Garcia announced is “absolutely worthwhile.”
“Democrats have been far too docile ever since Citizens United and the rest of the Roberts Court’s assault on common sense campaign finance reform,” he said. The Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United allowed corporations and other outside groups to spend unlimited money on elections.
At a strategic level, Van Hollen is right to oppose letting executives profit handsomely off the government as they line the pockets of politicians — a transactional dynamic voters can easily tell is inappropriate. His idea advances the Democratic Party’s emerging focus on corruption as a key issue for government to tackle. A September Gallup poll found that 89% of American adults believe government corruption in the U.S. is widespread.
This bill could easily pass in a House dominated by Democrats, but it’s likely to hit a wall in the Senate, as the Democrats won’t have a filibuster-proof majority. The GOP is also bankrolled by, and firmly allied with, corporate power. Nonetheless, trying to pass it would allow the Democrats and the public to develop a better understanding of what the party intends to do to defend our government from being dominated by corporate interests and wealthy elites.
The post Democrats’ new idea for fighting Elon Musk’s influence is a good one appeared first on MS NOW.
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