Our country faces many national security threats, from military threats to cyber attacks, but one that does not receive as much attention as it should is our opaque campaign finance system, which leaves the door open for foreign interests to influence our elections.
In a recent op-ed published in The Fulcrum, Republican Jim Rubens, former New Hampshire State Senator and American Promise Advisory Council member, lays out the ways in which the U.S. campaign finance system threatens national security and empowers crony capitalism.
“National security cannot be walled off from our corrupt and corrupting political money system,” he writes. “Crony capitalism is why we have failed weapons systems like the trillion dollar fleet of F-35 fighters, the $30 billion Littoral Combat Ship, and $85 billion in redundant ground-based nuclear weapons. All are designed more to spread pork and campaign money into almost every congressional district than to enhance our defense.”
He continues, “Our overseas enemies use unrestricted money to finance online political ads and web publishers. These hostile acts are concealed using in-kind contributions, favorable terms on loans from state-controlled banks, untraceable shell companies, American subsidiaries of foreign companies, nonprofit organizations, think tanks and ‘dark money’ political groups. It’s also likely software-based bots are pouring millions of untraceable cash into campaigns through straw donors giving $200 or less, the cutoff for remaining anonymous.”
Ending this corrupt campaign finance system through a Constitutional amendment should be a priority for all Americans concerned about national security, Rubens says. That’s why he and other leaders are calling on Republicans in Congress to align with the overwhelming majority of their constituents who support the 28th Amendment.
