Money Out of Politics

Whoever has the most money should not get the biggest say.

Wealthy interests spend effectively unlimited money buying our politicians and the results are exactly what you would expect. A well-known Princeton study found that what ordinary people want has almost no measurable impact on what policy outcomes actually get passed in this country. On issue after issue, strong majority support from the public translates into nothing, while the preferences of wealthy donors and organized business interests become law. That is not a functioning democracy. We need comprehensive reforms to reclaim the democratic power of regular people. 

In 2024, federal election spending reached a record $16 billion, with outside spending alone hitting $4.5 billion and dark money spending reaching $1.9 billion, also records. Elon Musk personally spent more than $290 million to elect Donald Trump, the largest disclosed political donation by an individual in American history, and he was rewarded with a senior White House role and effective veto power over federal agencies that regulate his companies. Six other billionaires each gave over $100 million in the same cycle. Elections are essentially auctions for the ultra-rich. We need to end the auction and declare the people the winners. 

Running a Corporate-Free, People-Powered Campaign

My campaign is entirely grassroots, powered by ordinary people rather than corporate PACs or federal lobbyists. I refuse corporate PAC money and federal lobbyist money. I am loyal only to the Constitution and my constituents. This is not just a symbolic commitment. Every dollar a politician takes from a corporate interest is a dollar that buys their attention, their time, and eventually their vote. The only way to be genuinely accountable to working people is to refuse the money that makes politicians accountable to someone else.

Ban Congressional Stock Trading

Members of Congress should not be trading stocks in companies whose fortunes they directly influence through their votes. It’s a clear-cut conflict of interest that is wildly unpopular among all voters. The current administration has done nothing to stop it, and in fact seems to welcome it with open corruption among the cabinet. I’ll push for a ban on individual stock trading by members of Congress, their immediate family members, and senior staff, with real penalties for violations.

Ending Means Testing and Making Government Programs Actually Work

Means testing is portrayed as a way to target assistance more efficiently. In practice, means testing disproportionately excludes people who are qualified to receive necessary services. I will work to enact universal programs that do away with means testing wherever possible. Universal programs are cheaper to administer and far more effective at actually reaching the people they are supposed to serve.

All government services should be easily accessible for everyone. To make that possible, I’ll advocate for policies that:

• Increase staffing and work hours at government offices so working people with various disparate shifts and days off can actually get in the door. 

• Simplify technology systems and expand language support so that access does not depend on English fluency or a fast internet connection. 

• Provide cultural awareness and humility training for service providers so that the people delivering public services can actually serve the communities in which they work.

The Trump administration's attacks on federal workers and public services have made all of this dramatically worse. Rebuilding public-sector capacity is not glamorous work that will generate a lot of buzz, but it’s necessary to make sure that every person who qualifies for a benefit, a service, or a protection can actually access it.

Overturn Citizens United

Citizens United v. FEC unleashed unlimited corporate spending on our elections by ruling that political spending is a form of protected speech and that corporations have the same free speech rights as everyday people. The result has been exactly what critics predicted: a torrent of dark money, super PACs, and corporate-funded interest groups drowning out ordinary voters.

One of my top priorities will be to build support for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. We must firmly establish that corporations are not people and that money is not speech. Restoring these basic principles is foundational to every other reform on this list. As long as unlimited corporate money can flood our elections, no other democratic reform will be enough.

Enable Public Financing of Elections

I support public financing of federal elections. When campaigns are funded by small-dollar donations matched with public funds, candidates can run competitive races without being dependent on wealthy donors or corporate interests. Public financing programs at the state and municipal level have been shown to produce more diverse candidate pools, more responsive representatives, more time spent talking to constituents, and more faith in the strength of democracy.

Public financing should be paired with robust small-donor matching programs, so that a candidate's ability to run for office depends on the support of their community rather than the pockets of wealthy donors.

Ban Dark Money Loopholes

Even without overturning Citizens United, there is a lot Congress can do to stop dark money, such as:

• Passing the DISCLOSE Act, which would require organizations spending money in federal elections to disclose their major donors. This would close many of the loopholes that allow shell organizations and politics-oriented nonprofits to launder anonymous corporate and billionaire contributions. The bill has been introduced repeatedly and blocked repeatedly by the same people who benefit from dark money secrecy. 

• Requiring full, timely disclosure of the true sources of political spending, including the donors behind super PACs and shell organizations.

• Strengthening rules against coordination between candidates and supposedly-independent SuperPACs designed only to support a particular candidate.

• Real enforcement authority and funding for the Federal Election Commission, which has been deliberately weakened and circumvented by the political establishment.

Close the Revolving Door

The movement of people and money among Congress, federal agencies, and the private sector is the source of many of our problems. Staffers write legislation and then leave to lobby on it. Regulators write rules and then leave to fight them on behalf of the industries they used to oversee. Members of Congress retire into multi-million-dollar lobbying careers built on the relationships and knowledge they accumulated on the public dime.

I will advocate for meaningful cooling-off periods before former members of Congress, senior staff, and federal officials can lobby, along with real restrictions on the kinds of corporate payments and board seats they can accept after leaving office. 

Reform Lobbying

Lobbying is protected by the First Amendment, covered under the right to petition the government. Today’s lobbying industry bears almost no resemblance to that constitutional principle. Corporate lobbyists far outnumber members of Congress; they write large portions of the legislation that eventually becomes law and they operate with minimal disclosure and weak enforcement.

I support legislation stipulating stronger registration and disclosure requirements for lobbyists, a ban on lobbyist contributions to the members they lobby, and clear, codified rules against bribery and corruption. Ordinary constituents should not have to compete with paid professional advocates just to be heard by their own representatives.

Keep Public Resources Public

I oppose the privatization of public or natural resources in most circumstances. Privatization is almost always pitched as efficiency, but it’s almost always designed to pilfer resources and increase corporate wealth. Public goods created and sustained with public money are handed over to private owners who raise prices and cut services. Private operation should only be considered with overwhelming community support and clear evidence that it will actually improve outcomes for the people affected, not just for shareholders.

I am also generally opposed to public-private partnerships. Injecting a third-party profit motive into public services funnels wealth and resources out of local communities creates perverse incentives for public officials now beholden to private interests. I theoretically could support public-private arrangements were they to meet strict conditions: the private partner must be a locally owned business that primarily serves the local community, the arrangement must be limited in duration and scope, it must include penalties for misuse of public funds, and it should exist only in cases where the public sector genuinely lacks the resources, skills, or capacity to provide the service.

As a member of Congress, I will push to maintain public services and create even more of them. For example, I will support public banking at the state and federal level. Public banks can finance public infrastructure, support affordable housing, and provide people with basic financial services without exploiting them for profit. 

Restrict Corporate Subsidies

Public money and tax incentives should only be used to subsidize private businesses when those businesses are:

• Locally owned and primarily serving the local community

• Providing an important cultural service or basic need

• Generating more funding for local services through taxes

• Strategically necessary as part of a larger economic development plan

Subsidies should never be offered to companies requiring funding because of their own mismanagement. Nor should they be offered to companies whose goods or services are unethical or in tension with the public good. The current system often rewards bad behaviors: large corporations shake down local governments for tax breaks and then relocate or lay off workers the moment a better deal appears somewhere else. When public money does flow to a private company and that company engages in mismanagement, fraud, or mass layoffs, executive compensation at those companies should be subject to clawback. Executives who walk away with millions after their firm takes a public bailout have been stealing from taxpayers; they should face real, serious penalties for the damages they cause. 

Connecting the Dots

Every issue on my platform, from healthcare to housing to war and peace, faces the challenge of operating in a system in which the people who benefit from the status quo can pay to protect it. Democracy means that the people who live under the law get to shape it. When money decides instead, we do not have a democracy. I am running to change that because everything else depends on it.