this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2024
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I'm not saying that this is a good thing, but the meme really wants you to believe that ordinary people have donation limits and rich people don't. This is an oversimplification.
The limit is still $3,300 in individual donations directly to a campaign, no matter who you are. There is no limit on individual contributions to a PAC, so long as the PAC doesn't work directly with any candidate or campaign when spending the money, and this also doesn't matter who you are.
There isn't a literal rule that separates the rich from the poor here. You too can donate your entire savings to a PAC without limits.
The real inequality is how much we can afford to donate. I won't ever have $45,000,000 in my life, so I won't ever get the level of political influence that people like Elon Musk can buy. I can try to exploit the same systems he does, but he'll always be able to exploit them more.
Sure, but it's a practical truth. Which is to say, it's true.
Now, if you want to file the paperwork to start your own superPAC as Stephen Colbert did on his show, you can do that. It wouldn't cost much. That would allow you to accept and funnel unlimited funds to whoever or whatever you wanted. The "laws" around it are ludicrous.
But if you're a regular working stiff and just want to relax and not fuck around but feel like donating to a candidate - the limit is there for you. That's the practical distinction that makes the meme true.
If someone works from 18 to 65 and makes $60,000 a year then over the course of their career they would have a total take-home pay after taxes of about one million dollars. This guillotine dodger is donating 45 people-lives worth of productivity a month.
So rich people don't have a limit. Got it.