THE SOFT FORK | American Promise
Safe Is Something We Feel
We keep arguing about symptoms, while the operating system stays corrupted.
The “operating system” is money in politics. Not donations you can see. Not arguments people can debate. The masked money. The unlimited money. The money that moves through layers so voters can’t trace who is buying the narrative.
A former Massachusetts Assistant Attorney General, Jeff Clemens (American Promise), lays out the timeline clearly:
Buckley v. Valeo (1976): the Court invents the idea that “independent” election spending is protected speech and can’t be limited.
Citizens United (2010): that logic gets turbocharged, opening the modern floodgates.
Result: elections become a marketplace where influence is auctioned, often through channels voters can’t see.
Here’s the part that matters for regular people:
If you can’t tell who funded the message, you can’t evaluate the motive.
That isn’t free speech. That’s masked influence.
And this is why Super PACs matter. They can take unlimited money. Then “dark money” systems can route donors through shell layers so the public can’t see who is behind the spending.
We don’t fix democracy by arguing louder.
We fix democracy by restoring seaworthiness:
visible rules
enforceable limits
transparency that doesn’t depend on “trust me”
American Promise is pushing a constitutional amendment to restore the ability of Congress and the states to set reasonable rules for money in politics, including distinguishing between natural persons and artificial entities.
That’s not left or right. That’s basic survivability.
Call to action:
If you believe in rules-based government, put your name behind the idea that voters deserve to know who is paying to influence them. Start by reading the amendment language and sharing it with one person who doesn’t agree with you on everything, but still believes in fair rules.
TJ Baden | CreatorHuman™
Safe is something we feel.
