Money In Politic$: You're Mo$tly To Blame.

I'm going to start, as soon as I can, a series of posts about the influence of money in politics -- which is far smaller than many people expect, and also, where it DOES have influence, money has that power in ways you don't expect and because, in part, of YOU.

Yep: point a finger at money in politics, and you'll have four fingers pointing right back at you, all of them saying "Why didn't you get more information before you voted, so you wouldn't have to rely on faulty press reports and attack ads to form an opinion?"

Your fingers are right: you should be learning more, and luckily for us we have access to a wealth of information right here... at your fingertips. (See what I did there?)

Want to learn about the claims regarding Mitt Romney Job Creation and his ability to do that?  That link will send you to a site that points out that Massachusetts was 47th in the nation during the time he governed us.  He may run the country like a business -- but if it's a business that doesn't do well, what good is that?

You could also learn the facts about Obama and his record on debts and revenues -- as well as how the Affordable Care Act might impact the federal budget (not as bad as you think.) Obama does better than Bush (a/k/a Worst President Ever) on those issues.

And that brings us totaxes, and the fact that most people act stupidly about them. Mitt, if you follow that link,  talks about when we didn't punish the rich by taxing them -- but doesn't note that top tax rates are about the lowest they've ever been, ever.

When most people say money in politics, they mean advertising spending.  They're wrong to focus on that.  Even as people gripe about the influence of SuperPACs (SuperPACs that could not keep any candidate afloat for very long) and misunderstand why that influence is a good thing, they forget that ads only work if you're not informed.  When I see an ad, I know the facts that are often contradicting the ad claims.

So between now and the general election, I'll be looking at, periodically, the actual way money affects politics, reading Citizens United to you, and examining how you're all wrong about money, and, where you're right, why it's your fault.

Fun! For me, anyway.  Now go read those links.