The One Billion Dollars We Will Spend Picking a President in 2008 Could Buy....

[McCamy Taylor]

Election 2008 is on track to be the most expensive in American history, according to
Open Secrets.org.

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/index.asp

After nine months of fundraising, the candidates for president in 2008 have already raised about $420 million. This presidential money chase seems to be on track to collect an unprecedented $1 billion total. By some predictions, the eventual nominees will need to raise $500 million apiece to compete--a record sum.

No wonder you have to be the wife or son of an ex-president or an ex-movie star or someone who appeals to the movie stars or a millionaire to mount a successful bid for the White House. Half a billion dollars is a lot of money for one person to solicit. One billion dollars is a lot of hard earned American money flushed down the toilet—-for what? We know that when all is said and done, we are going to get a president. We used to do it for a lot less. Why does it now cost so much?

Here are some of the other things our one billion dollars could buy.

700,000 life saving sets of body armor for the troops in Iraq. Since there are 170,000 U.S. soldiers more or less and decent body armor costs more or less $1400, this would average out to one set for every two soldiers. With any luck, not every serviceman or woman is involved in direct combat at all times.

500,000 additional children enrolled in SCHIP for a year. I base this on the bill that Bush vetoed, the one that projected that 4 million more children could be covered at a cost of $35 billion over 5 years. A year would give them time to get any serious health problems fixed and teach their families the benefits and importance of preventive medicine.

100,000,000 insecticide treated mosquito nets which have been shown to be one of the most effective ways to prevent malaria in Africa and Asia. The disease is a major killer of young children. They cost about $10 each including the cost of getting them to the families who are too poor to pay for them. They are generally provided to mothers or pregnant women free of charge—if someone is willing to cover the cost.

http://www.mrc.ac.uk/YourHealth/StoriesDiscovery/Mosquito-Nets/index.htm

Running water for the remainder of the Colonias in Texas which still lack this basic resource. Home to American citizens who happen to be poor and Latino, the state of Texas ignored them for decades, and now, in the last ten years, has been oh so slowly assisting them in getting the utilities we take for granted.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/27/us/27colonias.html

5,000,000 cheap computers for poor children. Buy them in twos as the manufacturer suggests and send one to a poor child in another country and keep one for a child in the United States (because we have our share of children who need access to the Internet).

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1678273,00.html


So, during this election cycle, when Democrats gloat that they can raise (and spend) more money than any Republican, recall the days when campaign finance reform seemed like a good idea, and running for president didn’t mean starting two years before the election and buying an armload of television and radio ads and hiring marketing consultants and running polls upon polls and doing dirty tricks and paying people to raise even more money and hiring image consultants and doing background checks on everyone of the opponents’ employees and family members and relatives and hiring voice coaches and debate coaches and stylists and bloggers and paying more people more money to raise more money and bragging about how much money you made and how many people donated to you to help you make that figure and how “pure” your money is compared to someone else’s money---

Think about the days when people ran for president as politicians, not as candidates in a beauty contest, their thongs or bra tops padded with wads of cash. But try not to think about what good use you could put that one billion dollars to, because it just might make you cry.

:cry:

[JVS]

1. A shitload of ramen noodles.

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. That money pays for hotels, banquets, plane fares, printing, and

all kinds of other services. That money goes right back into our economy.

[depakid]

3. Much goes into the pockets of the media conglomerates

Wasted, every dime of that.....

[nancyharris]

4. None of it, however, is taxpayer money

Americans spent 23 billion at McDonald's last year.

[dpbrown]

5. 4 Days in Iraq

The occupation of Iraq is estimated to cost $275 million per day.

The cost of a Presidential race is meaningless when we are confronted with this obscene level of fiscal waste.

[Tumbulu]

6. I keep thinking that we should send money to health providers

And then they have to tell the patients: "your free check up was paid for by a Kucinich supporter". Or "your mammogram was paid for by xyz". Or better yet: "free teeth cleanings to the first 100 to sign up paid for by an abc supporter". This would bypass the media entirely and who wouldn't at least listen seriously then to what that candidate has to say after that?

Or direct mail to people vegetable seeds- paid for my the candidate of choice.

At least something productive would come from the money, not tv silliness.

[sss1977]

7. You know what they say...

You get what you pay for.

And since we're paying for our canditates, we buy candidates who can be bought. There's no getting around that sad fact.