Party Expenses

Recently, the Fayette County Record published a column about local elections and the need for qualified candidates to run for positions in city and school board elections this spring. The article reported on elections of 200 years ago and more, when candidates bought votes from the public by providing food and liquor and transportation to the public meetings where elections were conducted by voice vote or a show of hands.

Today, all the money flows in the other direction, as individuals and corporations make bigger and bigger contributions to electoral campaigns, in order to buy influence with candidates or office-holders and thereby affect future public policy-making. There are laws about political contributions, such as those forbidding federal candidates from receiving contributions from foreign individuals or businesses, but the enforcement is up to the elected bodies, which leaves us with a “fox-guarding-the-henhouse” situation, of course.

And there’s another type of political contribution that might be even more worrisome, and that’s the matter of fund-raising for an inauguration of a president or other office-holder. You might think that an inauguration ought to be financed by the government itself, and certainly the official part is paid for by taxpayers (swearing-in ceremony, lunch at the Capitol, security, etc.), but that is likely a pittance compared to what it costs to host all the associated private (invitation-only) events such as the big parade, many balls with pricey music groups performing, banquets at expensive venues, and other celebrations.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy’s total inauguration costs were an estimated $1 million. This year, the Trump Inaugural Committee was expected to raise almost $200 million in funding from donors, much of it in $1 million to $5 million chunks from big donors and corporate sponsors. So even though the Kennedy extravaganza seemed pretty big then, in today’s dollars, that $1 million would only be worth $10.6 million, which makes the 2025 version seem gargantuan in comparison.

And the odd thing about these funds is that if more is raised than is ever spent on inauguration events, the rest can be spent on anything the president wants, without regulation or public reporting. In other words, unlike campaign contributions and spending, which eventually must be made public, there is no such requirement regarding spending for the inauguration. (Contribution amounts and donor names must be released within three months of the event.)

Does this mean that all the big shots who contributed and attended the Trump Inauguration will have undue influence on President Trump’s policies? I honestly don’t know, and perhaps we shouldn’t even care. After all, the Supreme Court decided a few years back that corporations have the same rights individuals do to influence elections via unlimited contributions to Political Action Committees (PACS) and candidates directly (Citizens United decision), so maybe I’m the only one who worries about trivial things like “undue influence” anymore, and ought to just accept all things are decided with these forces at play everywhere.

But I’m just not entirely comfortable with that, worrying as I do that once the camel’s nose is under the corner of the tent, the rest of the camel will soon be living inside the tent with us too! And no matter how smelly the camel’s breath might be, the entire body will be smellier still!

If voters are casting ballots for their favorite candidate and that candidate is financially beholden to billionaires and corporations that don’t necessarily put the health, safety, and well-being of the voters and general public at the forefront of their own priorities, then we are likely to have an office-holder whose promises to voters may well take second place behind influence of the big contributors.

Do your own interests, dear readers, align with those of the billionaires and big corporations of America? If so, current trends are good for you! If not, then I suggest you dig deeper into these matters. Seek out political organizations and non-profits that are working to overturn Citizens United, and restore influence of voters of modest means, the ones who don’t expect to be billionaires any time soon. I’m in that latter group, myself, and I am not ashamed to admit it.