It always surprises me when donors who operate successful businesses assume that just building a school structure means that a community now has access to education. When creating a business, does renting an office space now mean that you're producing goods, training staff and generating revenues?
We need a senator who fights for things like affordable health care, college and technical school, not tax cuts for wealthy donors. That doesn't mean free college or Medicare for All, I'm against that.
It's easy to see how non-profits become engrossed in catering to donors, which may or may not be the best thing at all times, while if a company is ultra-engaged with its customers, it's universally positive and helpful.
While Matt Bevin only helps his special interest donors, I care about expanding access to affordable health care for our families and making sure workers have the training and skills they need to get good-paying jobs.
Despite broad public support, raising the minimum wage is always difficult owing to the disproportionate influence that wealthy firms and donors have in Congress.
Democracy functions better when donors push politicians to win campaigns based on their defining issues instead of using financial pressure for policy changes, favors, or special access.
In Maine, we are fortunate to have a Clean Elections system that allows legislators to turn down corporate special interest money. At the national level, Congress should follow Maine's example by empowering the voices of small donors.
In my home state of Maine, we've seen out-of-state groups with anonymous donors spend millions of dollars to campaign against issues that don't fit their agenda.