Someone on Quora asked me (and others):  Does the Citizens United case threaten democracy?

No. The need for money and the distance between Congress and citizens has killed democracy.

Didn’t you read about the 2014 study at Princeton that showed America is an oligarchy? There’s no correlation between legislation that is passed and what the people want and . But there’s a strong correlation with what the wealthy want. Democracy is dead.

And it was dead or dying long before Citizens United. Citizens United was merely burying the casket. Declaring the corpse would not rise again.

There are two things that killed democracy in America.

1. Politicians’ need for money killed democracy in America

Yes, money corrupts. Today, politicians spend several hours every day fundraising. Democrats recommend new representatives spend five hours a day at it! Most try not to sell out to special interests. They try to listen and assure that the policies they already support are in the best interests of the lobbyists. And maybe they’ll bend them a little, sweeten them just a little.

But it’s a straightforward conflict of interest and the above study shows the results.

The candidates that raise and spend the most money win 95% of elections. If you want to win, raise more money.

The problem isn’t the Citizen’s United. The problem is that money is essential to win elections. That’s what needs to change. That’s why PeopleCount.org has the only solution to this problem- put our politicians in direct communication with citizens, controlled by citizens.

PeopleCount has the only solution: Drastically lessen politicians’ need for money

You ask for reports on the issues you say are important. You read them and you grade them. And this costs the politicians pennies. With PeopleCount, Congressional and Senate campaigns can cost 1/10th as much as they do now, or less.

Plus, you vote on issues so we can all see what we want and know what kind of legislation is reasonable to pass. And the candidates will no longer need to spend lots of money to pollsters interrupting you at dinner.

Remember the drug war? No matter what we’ve done, the demand for drugs keeps them flowing in. None of the campaign finance laws proposes a real solution, to lessen the demand.

Plus, if America uses PeopleCount, atop lessening the need for money in campaigns, we’ll be able to pass campaign finance reform and anti-corruption legislation easily.

In the next post, we’ll see the other killer of Democracy. Join us- add your email address to our announcement list.