Did you know that the average college student graduates over $20,000 in debt (and I know that several of my friends here at Cornell will be graduating with substantially more debt than that)? Or that in the last year college costs at both private and public schools have risen more than twice the rate of inflation? Or how about that student loan companies have been known to donate as much as $500,000 to federal candidates to help fund their campaigns? (Wondering what that last number has to do with the first two? Keep reading.)
According to a recent report by the College Board, the substantial increases in tuition costs over the past year “closely track changes in financing that colleges receive from state government and other public sources.” Yet this issue of public money is not being addressed by public officials. Instead, politicians are so busy fundraising for their next campaigns that they can’t hear our cry for help. Plus, with such large donations coming to them from loan companies, politicians are certainly motivated to pass legislation that will favor those companies and ensure future donations, rather than acting on our — the voters’ — behalf.
So, one more question … what can we do?
The answer: fight back by changing the system and deepening democracy in the United States.
Democracy Matters is a totally non-partisan student club on campus dedicated to doing just that. We are part of a larger national organization with clubs on over 70 campuses across the country.
Democracy Matters has also joined forces with groups like the NAACP, Common Cause, Sierra Club, AFL-CIO, Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund and many others to spread the word about big private money in politics, and the promise of Fair Elections.
This week, Democracy Matters is celebrating the FENA Week of Action. FENA stands for the “Fair Elections Now Act,” a bill in Congress that would allow politicians to run for office without spending the majority of their time raising money. It is a voluntary system whereby candidates qualify for a public grant instead of raising private money for their campaigns.
Some states, like Maine, Connecticut, Arizona, North Carolina, Vermont, New Jersey, and New Mexico have already instituted Fair Elections systems — and they’re working. In these areas, it’s possible for people from all walks of life to run for office, even those without fat wallets or ties to big donors and corporations. This means that more young people can afford to run for office. It also means that politicians are responsive to voters, not big donors — because clean candidates’ campaigns are not funded by special interests and businesses, they are accountable only to the people who elected them and not to big private funders like banks and student loan companies. This means that they’ll be more likely to pass legislation that benefits us, like regulations on student loan rates.
If you’re still not convinced, consider this: big political donors (that is, those who donate $200 or more to a political campaign or party) make up a mere one fourth of 1 percent of the population. Because it has become so expensive to run for office, these meatier donations are invaluable to candidates, and so big donors gain greater influence over a candidate than his or her actual constituents. Just think of it this way: it has been estimated that candidates running for the presidency in 2008 will each have to raise at least $1 billion to run a competitive campaign. And that in 80 percent of elections, the candidate who raises the most wins. So after the financial sector alone donated over $20 million to President Bush for his 2004 campaign, it’s no wonder he encouraged legislation deregulating banks, despite the cost to consumers like us.
To celebrate the FENA Week of Action at Cornell and spread the word about clean elections on campus, we put on a big flyering campaign earlier this week — hopefully you’ve seen our quarter-cards around all the cafés and dining areas on campus. The cards are green (like money) and provide information about all the different ways big money in politics is harming us. There are eight different quarter-cards in circulation, one of which talks about student loans, while others show how rising oil costs, dangerous pesticide residues on foods, healthcare, prescription drug costs and more are impacted by private money.
Let’s start showing the government that students want clean elections now!
Abby Hemenway ’08 is the president of Democracy Matters. She can be contacted at ah329@cornell.edu. Guest Room appears periodically.