Business Influence on Politics

Explain what you believe is the appropriate level of business influence in politics.

Personally, I believe there needs to be a balance and limits placed on how much influence business have on politics. I do believe there is a time and place for businesses to be involved in politics; their economic future may just be in the hands of the government. It is a good idea to participate and have a voice. At the same time, how much influence is too much? Remember Watergate in re: to campaign contributions? I will address this with the next question. Some businesses are big and hold a lot of influence, which can cause more harm in the end if not monitored properly.

How are businesses influencing the presidential campaign this year?

I found the following article interesting, dated September 27, 2012, just last week. Here is a preview:

“The 2012 presidential election is almost certain to be the most expensive in history, as the two main candidates set lofty fund-raising goals and money floods in to “super PACs,’' independent political committees that have been supercharged by a series of court decisions.”

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/c/campaign_finance/index.html

Corporations influence government by using many different avenues. Campaign contributions and lobbying are two of these. These influences are common themes in many political decisions.

Campaign Funding

With the rise of big business we see corporations donating to political campaigns.

In 1971 the Federal Elections Campaign Act was passed, banning corporate campaign contributions. That was followed by the Watergate scandal. As a result of that scandal, major amendments to that act were passed in 1974. Whether one considers the major act as that of 1971 or 1974 is not important. However, the major amendments of 1974 were clearly a result of Watergate.

The 1974 Amendment tried to limit campaign contributions and campaign spending. It also set up the...