Jon Stewart: Billionaires Can’t Buy Elections!
on Sunday, August 9, 2015Jon Stewart Money Quotation saying in his “Bull_hit” segment of his last show – billionaires can’t buy politicians – right? Well unless they use opaque (fake) corporate shell games. Jon Stewart said:
“Hey, a handful of billionaires can’t buy our elections, right? Of course not! They can only pour unlimited anonymous cash into a 501(c)(4) if 50% is devoted to issue education. Otherwise they’d have to 501(c)(6) it or funnel it openly through a non-campaign coordinated super PAC” — Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart was joking above, so reference to “a handful of billionaires” is not accurate, as the influence of wealthy donors on elections affects people of all backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses. Additionally, the idea that billionaires can only pour unlimited anonymous cash into certain types of organizations (501(c)(4) or 501(c)(6)) is not accurate – they can actually put excessive amounts of money in a bunch of places.
Furthermore, “funny[ing] it openly through a non-campaign coordinated super PAC” could be perceived as perpetuating the idea that it is acceptable to use anonymous or secretive funding sources in political campaigns. This can undermine the transparency and accountability of the political process, and can lead to the appearance of corruption or undue influence.