Katrina vanden Heuvel: Dark Money Drowns Out the Voice of the People

Katrina vanden Heuvel: Dark Money Drowns Out the Voice of the People

Katrina vanden Heuvel: Dark Money Drowns Out the Voice of the People

“Social welfare groups” don’t have to disclose their donors, even though they’re giving millions to campaigns.

Facebook
Twitter
Email
Flipboard
Pocket

After the Citizens United decision, Super PACs dominated the media discourse on campaign finance. But a hidden trend among rich donors could have a much bigger impact on this election cycle. Dark money is funneled through “social welfare non-profits” listed as 501(c)(4)s, which don’t have to disclose their donors. As a result, we don’t even know how much some groups have spent this election cycle. 

Nation editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel appeared on Up with Chris Hayes to talk about the “scary” effect of dark money on our elections. Vanden Heuvel calls for a movement after this election against the corporate money that is “drowning out the voice of the people.”

Steven Hsieh

For more on the influence of money in politics, check out Lee Fang’s blog.

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.

Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

Ad Policy
x