By Eric Wang
Imagine if, 20 years ago, Congress had passed a law limiting each car manufacturer or retailer to spending no more than a certain amount per year on research and development or expanding its operations. Large, established institutions like General Motors or Walmart might have done just fine. But startups like Tesla and Amazon.com would never have been able to make the capital-intensive investments to get off the ground, and consumers would have been worse off for it.
Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on S J Res 19, a proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution to allow Congress and state legislatures to pass exactly this type of law when it comes to how much money politicians, their critics, and their supporters may raise and spend in appealing to voters about who may wield the lawmaking power in the first place. Specifically, the proposed amendment language would authorize limits on “the amount of contributions to candidates” for elective office, as well as “the amount of funds that may be spent by, in support of, or in opposition to such candidates.”
Perhaps it is fitting that the sponsor of this proposal is Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., the scion of a political dynasty that stretches back more than 100 years and includes his cousin Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., his father, former Secretary of the Interior and Rep. Stewart Udall, D-Ariz., and his uncle, former Rep. “Mo” Udall, D-Ariz. It is thus also ironic that Sen. Udall’s amendment declares that its purpose is “to advance the fundamental principle of political equality for all.”
