美国国家公共电台 NPR--Candidates and political action committees spent nearly $17 billion on midterms

Candidates and political action committees spent nearly $17 billion on midterms

Transcript¹

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Ciara Torres-Spelliscy of the Brennan Center, about how campaign spending trends shaped the midterm elections, and how they could affect future elections.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The 2022 election is the most expensive midterm election yet. Candidates and political action committees spent nearly $17 billion on state and federal campaigns. That's according to data compiled by OpenSecrets, which is a nonpartisan research group that tracks money in politics. Ciara Torres-Spelliscy is a fellow at the Brennan Center and an expert in campaign finance and election law. Welcome to the program.

CIARA TORRES-SPELLISCY: Good morning.

INSKEEP: How is it that campaigns keep getting more expensive cycle after cycle?

TORRES-SPELLISCY: So I see the Supreme² Court's fingerprints³ all over this election. The Supreme Court has been laying the groundwork for the past 46 years, starting with Buckley v. Valeo, which allowed rich individuals to spend all they wanted on elections. And then the court expanded that right to spend to corporations in Citizens United. And the result has been the federal election was $9 billion and the state elections were $7.8 billion. And both of those numbers are up from the last midterm.

INSKEEP: Can I just note, I think this is probably still less money that people spend on advertising⁴ for cars or video games or shoes or any number of things. Is it really that bad?

TORRES-SPELLISCY: I certainly think so. I think it distorts our politics, and it warps⁵ who can even be elected.

INSKEEP: What do you mean?

TORRES-SPELLISCY: So one of the things that happens is we put candidates through a money primary before they go through a real primary. And if a particular candidate can't fundraise, they are written off as being nonserious. But the ability to fundraise and the ability to govern are two different skill sets.

INSKEEP: Are there individual wealthy people who have raised their voices in a way that makes them far larger than a single vote?

TORRES-SPELLISCY: Indeed. So Citizens United and Buckley empowered large donors⁷ to spend lavishly⁸ in our elections. And just 10 wealthy individuals poured over half a billion dollars combined into this year's election, according to our good friends over at OpenSecrets. And in this election, there was a lot of money from crypto and the tech sector⁹. Sam Bankman-Fried spent 38 million. And Larry Ellison spent 31 million.

INSKEEP: Wow. I want to note something. You said that the Supreme Court has been chipping away at campaign finance restrictions¹⁰ for 46 years. I suppose we should note the context. After the Watergate scandals, there were a lot of questions about the way that political candidates were spending money. Congress stepped in, attempted to regulate this. They even said that presidential campaigns, general election campaigns, would be publicly financed. That is the structure that was set up - am I not mistaken? - that has been gradually eroding¹¹ and is pretty much gone at this point. Is that right?

TORRES-SPELLISCY: That is correct. Buckley, which is sometimes misknown for the theory that money is speech, looked at that Watergate-era reform and sort of tore pieces out of it. And the Supreme Court has been dismantling¹² campaign finance ever since.

INSKEEP: Is it at least some consolation¹³ that in some cases, although not all, we have some idea who is spending the money?

TORRES-SPELLISCY: So one of the problems that we have in campaign finance is the dark money problem. Dark money is money that is spent on a political campaign where voters can't tell who the original donor⁶ was. And in the 2020 election, there was $1 billion of dark money spent.

INSKEEP: Wow.

TORRES-SPELLISCY: In this election, it looks like it's lower, which is typical of a midterm, compared to a presidential election. But there has been at least $100 million of dark money in the 2022 election.

INSKEEP: If it's not disclosed, is it possible we don't even know about violations¹⁴ of the few laws that there are? For example, it might be foreign money. We wouldn't know.

TORRES-SPELLISCY: That is the big problem. If we don't know where money is coming from, it could be coming from an illegal source, including a foreign source, which is not allowed under our laws.

INSKEEP: Ciara Torres-Spelliscy of the Brennan Center. Thanks so much.

TORRES-SPELLISCY: Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

3 fingerprints   

n.指纹( fingerprint的名词复数 )v.指纹( fingerprint的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Everyone's fingerprints are unique. 每个人的指纹都是独一无二的。
• They wore gloves so as not to leave any fingerprints behind (them). 他们戴着手套，以免留下指纹。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

5 warps   

n.弯曲( warp的名词复数 )；歪斜；经线；经纱v.弄弯，变歪( warp的第三人称单数 )；使（行为等）不合情理，使乖戾，

参考例句：

• This wood warps easily in damp conditions. 这种木料受潮容易变形。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Matt Lauer: Renewable biofuels. Park Ranger Rick Marshall Close. Time warps. 马特·劳尔：“可再生生物燃料。”瑞克：“不说了，时间都扭曲了。” 来自互联网

6 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

7 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 lavishly   

adv.慷慨地，大方地

参考例句：

• His house was lavishly adorned.他的屋子装饰得很华丽。
• The book is lavishly illustrated in full colour.这本书里有大量全彩插图。

9 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

10 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

11 eroding   

侵蚀，腐蚀( erode的现在分词 )； 逐渐毁坏，削弱，损害

参考例句：

• The coast is slowly eroding. 海岸正慢慢地被侵蚀。
• Another new development is eroding the age-old stereotype of the male warrior. 另一个新现象是，久已形成的男人皆武士的形象正逐渐消失。

12 dismantling   

（枪支）分解

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。
• The dismantling of a nuclear reprocessing plant caused a leak of radioactivity yesterday. 昨天拆除核后处理工厂引起了放射物泄漏。

13 consolation   

n.安慰，慰问

参考例句：

• The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
• This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。

14 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。