Money & Politics

Current Campaigns

Ethics Reform

Recent congressional scandals demonstrate the role of powerful interests and their lobbyists, as they engage in unseemly practices from accepting gifts and travel junkets to outright bribery. Read more.

Overview

Money plays far too great a role in American elections, from the municipal level all the way up to the U.S. Presidency. Large contributions from a few groups and individuals unduly influence who wins elections and reduce the role of ordinary voters in our democracy.

MASSPIRG is working to achieve campaign finance reform by enforcing tough campaign contribution limits, creating systems of public financing, and enacting lasting lobby reform.

Former super lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s fall from power cannot be credited to an aggressive House or Senate ethics enforcement process. He was turned in to the Justice Department by a competitor turned whistle-blower. After the initial details of the case came out, the House and Senate Ethics Committees sat on their hands. They initiated no probe nor asked any questions nor made any attempt to see if members had violated the rules and the public trust. The House Ethics Committee was so paralyzed they failed to even convene a meeting for most of the 109th Congress.