Sheldon Adelson has shelled out more millions for Newt Gingrich. The billionaire casino owner has given another “substantial” contribution to an independent group supporting Gingrich which plans to launch an ad campaign in seven states with upcoming primaries or caucuses. While the amount wasn’t disclosed, a person who knows said it was in the range of the Adelson’s earlier contributions.
This is legal. The U.S. Supreme Court said so when it removed the restraints upon political contributions.
So Adelson gave the Gingrich campaign $5 million and his wife ponied up another $5 million just to keep things equal in the family. The latest dollop may, therefore, be between $5 million and $10 million.
Bottom line, Gingrich is being supported in his race primarily by two people.
Americans can be glad, I guess, that Warren Buffett isn’t into party politics. Maybe he would just buy a couple of television networks and end the suspense. And the justices would say, dandy fine, Warren deserves his free speech.
Point is that allowing very wealthy individuals, corporations and PACs to spend without limit in support of candidates skews the system.
The rest of us are grossly under-represented when money is allowed such a powerful role in our elections.
The best way, the preferable way, to get back to a political system which respects all Americans would be for the political parties themselves to give the power back to the people through self-regulation.
For a bunch of unsavory reasons, that isn’t likely to happen. The alternative would be a constitutional amendment establishing limits on political contributions and perhaps creating a neutral body to review and alter those limits every four years — a year before presidential elections — to stamp out the devious ways the Adelsons of the world have found to get around the law at each election cycle.
Worth a try.
— Emerson Lynn, jr.
