As I write this article, New York voters recently voted in a presidential primary. Ask most people randomly on the street, they would hardly know that poll sites are even open. They might know more about the $25 million raised by President Biden and $50 million raised by former President Trump.
Why, $75 million could buy thousands of people food and clothes for months. It could also pay for job training or salaries for law enforcement officers. Instead, it will go towards commercials and staff for political campaigns.
I don’t have to reiterate the facts that we experience and read about on the news every single day. People are hurting financially, especially the middle class.
Yahoo Finance reported in December that those making $100,000 a year can't get ahead to fulfill the American Dream and may not feel successful enough to feel “rich” anymore.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, the national average salary in the U.S. was $59,384 in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Untenable Cost of Living
Bankrate just reported that the average U.S. home now requires a six-figure salary to afford, marking a significant increase compared to pre-pandemic levels, and median home prices have surged from $290,000 to $412,000, a 42% increase since January 2020.
Massachusetts is one of the most expensive places to live, followed by California, New York and Washington, according to the Council for Community and Economic Research’s Cost of Living Index.
What do these four states have in common, besides Democrat leadership? They have some of the costliest political campaigns.
Last February, New York’s congressional district held a special election in which Tom Suozzi rewon his seat to flip a Republican representation to Democrat. Depending on who you ask, this campaign cost between $20 million to $40 million among parties, political action committees (PACs) and other expenses. This money was spent on a seat being challenged now for November. That means for less than 10 months of actual representation, donors contributed millions each month.
Despite many discussions, campaign spending continues to surge in record numbers, climbing over 16 billion for the 2022 elections.
This election cycle promises to see billions of dollars spent, and a political system geared to a very few with power — everything our forefathers tried to avoid.
The American Promise Candidate Pledge is a volunteer-led effort to get candidates and elected officials at all levels of government to pledge on the record that they will use their office to advance the For Our Freedom Amendment. They also started an online voter campaign.
All this for a job in which all members in the House and Senate make $174,000 a year.
Fuzzy Math
Does it add up to any common-sense voter that they are receiving multiple emails daily from candidates, issue-oriented organizations and superPAC leaders to donate to million-dollar campaigns?
If we divide the costs of campaigns by success rates, especially in primary races, most would agree that deficits outweigh the wins.
What happened to campaign finance reform that young candidates in both parties pledged to support several elections ago?
If ever there was a time to unite, and excite voters from both parties, it would be press conferences where candidates offer campaign finance reform and set an agenda to use some of those usual campaign donations for tax benefits or employment opportunities for their constituents.
Here's a novel thought. If candidates stuck to listening to voters and actually hearing them, they could cut campaign costs and excite their constituents. Candidates would also benefit when taking donations and redistributing them to families who have lived through losing a loved one at the hands of an illegal criminal.
Who Am I?
Candidates like Lauren Boebert and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won their initial primaries against big money and better-known opponents.
Congressman Adam Smith, a progressive Democrat from Washington state and members of the Republican Freedom Caucus have tried in the past to address campaign finance reform.
We, the voters have a choice. Do we continue to pay for out-of-control campaign expenses, or do we challenge the budgets of the people whose salaries we pay for?
On November 5th, it doesn’t matter how much a campaign spent, it matters who and how they voted.
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Cindy Grosz is an award-winning media personality, brand ambassador and Jewish activist. She is the host of “The Jewess Patriot” radio show on WGBB Radio and through Jewish Podcasts out of Jerusalem. She ran for Congress in 2020 and was a Jewish advisor for the National Coalition for Trump.