A state ballot initiative would stop artificial persons, including corporations, from contributing to campaigns and political parties. It could change America as we know it.

Video by Liz Scheltens, Sam Quigley, and Noah Johnson

▶️ WATCH ON YOUTUBE

TRANSCRIPT

“There is too much damn money in politics.”

“It’s corrupting the system.”

LIZ SCHELTENS, MORE PERFECT UNION: We hear all the time about how impossibly divided Americans are.

PBS News Hour CLIP: A dramatic rise in partisan animosity

MSNBC CLIP: Where we are as a nation, how we’re so politically divided

JONATHAN HAIDT DEBATE CLIP: We’re tribal. We evolved for tribalism.

SCHELTENS: Which is why I was surprised when I came across this poll. It shows more than 70 percent approval for a bunch of different ideas — cracking down on corporations buying up our housing stock, a $15 minimum wage, capping insulin costs, ending junk fees — everywhere we go, people tell us the same thing about why none of this universally popular stuff gets done.

MORE PERFECT UNION CLIP: People can run on a certain platform, but I have a feeling that even if you do get elected, at the end of the day a guy in a suit with a briefcase full of money shows up and tells you how it’s going to be

MORE PERFECT UNION CLIP: Some people are taking a lot of money from the industry. They’re getting paid a lot of money to keep their mouth shut.

MORE PERFECT UNION CLIP: That’s what kind of influence money buys.

MORE PERFECT UNION CLIP: It’s just more corporate greed and big companies thinking they can do whatever they want.

SCHELTENS: Ever since Citizens United came down in 2010, corporations and the wealthy have had a chokehold on our politics. But what if I told you that regular people in states across the country had come up with an ingenious fix?

Become a paid subscriber to view the full transcript below and get access to transcripts for all More Perfect Union videos.

From More Perfect Union via This RSS Feed.