Politicisation of taxpayer-funded advertising is wasteful and creates an uneven playing field in elections.
From Alaska to Alabama, corporations spend money to shape their local business environments, resources and regulations.
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Businesses can spend huge amounts of money to influence Congress. But sizable lobbyist and campaign donations also go to state campaigns and lawmakers to influence policymaking.
Protesters rally to have Colorado’s then-incoming governor put an up-to-nine-month moratorium on oil and gas development.
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Millions of dollars are spent every election by corporations that want to influence state regulations and policies, and that’s likely to continue in the upcoming election.
Popular wisdom may be popular, but sometimes it’s downright wrong. Five stories from The Conversation’s 2018 politics coverage interrogate popular wisdom – and find it lacking.
Lots of money is spent on campaigns. But is that a problem?
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Congressional midterm election spending will likely hit a record $5 billion. But the spending masks the main problem with US campaign financing: who gives the money and what they may get in return.
Money in politics? Somebody’s got to pay for those signs.
AP/John Raoux
Is money the root of all evil in politics? It’s easy to see a correlation between winning and fundraising – money flows to likely winners and competitive races. But correlation is not causation.
Trump’s long-time lawyer and political ‘fixer’ has pleaded guilty to breaking two campaign finance laws, allegedly at the direction of the president.
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Trump’s former personal lawyer broke two laws that control political spending, both passed after major election scandals. President Roosevelt survived his campaign’s misdeeds. Nixon did not.
Republican candidate for Georgia’s Sixth District congressional seat Karen Handel declares victory with her husband Steve.
AP Photo/John Bazemore