Could something like this happen? Legally, this could absolutely happen. Somebody could...
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Stewart, Jon: Could something like this happen?
Trevor Potter: Legally, this could absolutely happen. Somebody could create a political organization... so-called outside group, a super PAC, 527... raise an unlimited amount of money, and then choose to give that money to another organization, a charity, and use it for public purposes. And you don't need the donors' consent to do that.
Trevor Potter: The problem we have is that none of the pieces of the system are working today. You have regulators like the Federal Election Commission that don't have a quorum, can't meet, and when they do, they disagree on what the law is. You have Congress deadlocked so it can't rewrite the laws. You have the Supreme Court that thinks that almost nothing is corrupt and that citizens won't think the sale of access, what the court calls ingratiation in return for giving money to candidates, is a problem.
Stewart, Jon: So, to sum up, we currently have hundreds of millions to billions of dollars that is... uh... uh... untraceable, uh... that can pour into groups that are actually coordinating with... with candidates who end up having to spend a good amount of their time raising more and more money to keep up with the arms race that is occurring. Uh... the money continues to pour in and corrupt not just where they spend their time and how they spend their time, but on the types of legislation that they would even bring to the fore. And the one group that would be charged with regulating, uh... this spigot, uh... doesn't meet 'cause there aren't enough of them.
Trevor Potter: Yes.
[incredulous laughter]
Trevor Potter: I realize that's not helpful to you, but...
Stewart, Jon: It is very helpful. Thank you
Trevor Potter: Legally, this could absolutely happen. Somebody could create a political organization... so-called outside group, a super PAC, 527... raise an unlimited amount of money, and then choose to give that money to another organization, a charity, and use it for public purposes. And you don't need the donors' consent to do that.
Trevor Potter: The problem we have is that none of the pieces of the system are working today. You have regulators like the Federal Election Commission that don't have a quorum, can't meet, and when they do, they disagree on what the law is. You have Congress deadlocked so it can't rewrite the laws. You have the Supreme Court that thinks that almost nothing is corrupt and that citizens won't think the sale of access, what the court calls ingratiation in return for giving money to candidates, is a problem.
Stewart, Jon: So, to sum up, we currently have hundreds of millions to billions of dollars that is... uh... uh... untraceable, uh... that can pour into groups that are actually coordinating with... with candidates who end up having to spend a good amount of their time raising more and more money to keep up with the arms race that is occurring. Uh... the money continues to pour in and corrupt not just where they spend their time and how they spend their time, but on the types of legislation that they would even bring to the fore. And the one group that would be charged with regulating, uh... this spigot, uh... doesn't meet 'cause there aren't enough of them.
Trevor Potter: Yes.
[incredulous laughter]
Trevor Potter: I realize that's not helpful to you, but...
Stewart, Jon: It is very helpful. Thank you
Full Transcript
00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:03.077
Could something like this happen
00:00:03.803 --> 00:00:07.907
Legally this could absolutely happen
00:00:07.941 --> 00:00:12.779
Somebody could create a political organization
00:00:12.812 --> 00:00:16.816
so called outside group a super PAC 527
00:00:16.085 --> 00:00:19.719
raise an unlimited amount of money
00:00:19.752 --> 00:00:22.922
and then choose to give that money
00:00:22.956 --> 00:00:25.859
to another organization a charity
00:00:25.892 --> 00:00:28.828
and use it for public purposes
00:00:28.862 --> 00:00:32.998
And you don't need the donors' consent to do that
00:00:32.999 --> 00:00:34.134
The problem we have is that
00:00:34.167 --> 00:00:37.871
none of the pieces of the system are working today
00:00:37.904 --> 00:00:41.174
You have regulators like the Federal Election Commission
00:00:41.207 --> 00:00:43.109
that don't have a quorum can't meet
00:00:43.143 --> 00:00:46.012
and when they do they disagree on what the law is
00:00:46.002 --> 00:00:49.816
You have Congress deadlocked so it can't rewrite the laws
00:00:49.849 --> 00:00:51.818
You have the Supreme Court
00:00:51.851 --> 00:00:55.288
that thinks that almost nothing is corrupt
00:00:55.321 --> 00:00:59.893
and that citizens won't think the sale of access
00:00:59.926 --> 00:01:02.162
what the court calls ingratiation
00:01:02.195 --> 00:01:06.001
in return for giving money to candidates is a problem
00:01:06.999 --> 00:01:09.001
So to sum up we currently have
00:01:09.001 --> 00:01:11.001
hundreds of millions to billions of dollars
00:01:11.999 --> 00:01:13.773
that is uh uh untraceable
00:01:13.806 --> 00:01:16.242
uh that can pour into groups
00:01:16.276 --> 00:01:19.245
that are actually coordinating with with candidates
00:01:19.279 --> 00:01:22.215
who end up having to spend a good amount of their time
00:01:22.248 --> 00:01:24.184
raising more and more money to keep up
00:01:24.217 --> 00:01:27.001
with the arms race that is occurring
00:01:27.187 --> 00:01:31.191
Uh the money continues to pour in and corrupt
00:01:31.224 --> 00:01:33.001
not just where they spend their time
00:01:33.999 --> 00:01:37.002
and how they spend their time but on the types of legislation
00:01:37.004 --> 00:01:39.999
that they would even bring to the fore
00:01:39.999 --> 00:01:42.001
And the one group that would be charged
00:01:42.999 --> 00:01:48.997
with regulating uh this spigot uh doesn't meet
00:01:48.998 --> 00:01:50.999
'cause there aren't enough of them
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Yes
00:01:55.348 --> 00:01:57.999
I realize that's not helpful to you but
00:01:57.999 --> 00:01:59.752
It is very helpful Thank you
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Movie Summary
A Democratic strategist helps a retired veteran run for mayor in a small, conservative Midwest town.
