FOR THE PEOPLE
LUDO DESCHUYTTER, San Juan Capistrano
I was taken aback by your publishing Mayor Brian Maryott”s accusation that Congressman Mike Levin was the recipient of “dark money.” It is clearly evident that political parties make use of current legal shell games to inject anonymous money into politics. For Mr. Maryott to blatantly deflect Congressman Levin’s efforts to clean up political funding under the assertion that he has been bought by “political elites and out-of-state extremists” is specious. Both parties raise money for their candidates.
H.R. 1, entitled “For the People Act,” was the first legislation to come out of this year’s House of Representatives to reform outrageous voting machinations and, in particular, to limit the influence of money in politics. We are all well aware of the infusion of massive amounts of money from the fossil fuel industry, big pharma, financial monoliths and various other conglomerates. Corporate money vastly outweighs the influence of individual persons—the people. The bill curtails this excess, creates transparency, and returns an ethical honesty to the political process. Congressman Levin is a signatory to this bill and an active supporter of it. Unfortunately, this bill sits on the Senate majority leader’s desk, unacted upon. In the face of all this, Mr. Maryott’s comments and accusations are facetious and disingenuous.
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