Biden Inauguration Fundraising Is Wrong
FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | December 17, 2020
President Obama began his presidency in 2009 with an inauguration financed by contributions limited to no more than $50,000 per individual. Corporations were prohibited from making contributions. (Obama changed the rules for his second inauguration.)
President-elect Joe Biden has chosen another path to begin his presidency in 2021 —corporations will be allowed to contribute up to $1 million per donor and individuals will be able to give $500,000 per donor, or $1 million per couple.
This makes no sense, should not be done, and is the wrong message for Biden to send to the American people as he starts his presidency.
These huge contributions are the kind that can create opportunities for corporations and the super wealthy to buy influence over Executive Branch officials and policies.
The donations are being raised, furthermore, for an inauguration that is being scaled way back, raising the question of why these huge contributions are needed in the first place.
The donations are risk-free investments for the donors – unlike campaign contributions made before the winner is known, the big donors here are investing in an officeholder who has already won.
We are just completing the Trump presidency which may go down as the most corrupt in modern times.
President Trump began his presidency in 2017 by raising over $107 million in huge contributions for his inauguration events, double the amount raised in 2013 by Obama. Investigations are still underway as to just what happened with the Trump inauguration money.
President-elect Biden has been a national leader on public financing of elections since he came to the Senate in 1973. He has repeatedly demonstrated his commitment over the decades to fundamental campaign finance reforms.
Biden has said that H.R. 1, the historic democracy reform legislation that passed the House in 2019, and that includes essential campaign finance and voting rights reforms, will be a top priority for his administration.
I do not question Biden’s longstanding commitment to repairing our campaign finance system and fixing our broken political system.
The solicitation of huge contributions to finance his inauguration, however, is wrong. Biden is making a mistake by starting his presidency this way.
###
