The US Senator Joe Biden and the Political Action Committees - Essay Example

Campaign Finance in the United s with a Focus on the US Senator Joe Biden, Delaware Section Introductions and Motivations The reforms relating to campaign finance followed by the US representatives during their respective elections was certainly something very interesting to encounter that stimulated my sensitivity to an unignorable extent. This might be owing to the reason that I strongly feel the reforms of campaign finance have the capability to corrupt a specific electoral candidate in terms of serving their own individual interests as well as the same of their respective campaign donors instead of considering public good. I believe that an unusual massive financial contribution might largely affect the voting behaviors as well as the attitudes of an elected official. As per my view, in order to conduct a successful election campaign, certain major factors like communication and money associated with communication costs shall play an imperative role. In this similar context, I feel that the elected officials, at certain times, might become much corrupted in properly and precisely utilizing the accumulated fund or money in incurring various expenditures (NCSL, 2014). According to my observation, in this present day context, the greed of the individuals have increased considerably in comparison with the preceding years, resulting in gaining momentum of corruption at a wider extent. Thus, I have a perception that campaign finance might be a potential factor contributing towards the underlying cause of corruption among politicians of our country. However, from a critical perspective, in order to attain an unbiased understanding of this assumption and evaluate every contradictory point related to the same, I selected someone as the subject of my research paper whom I believe to be clean. I decided to place my focus on the US Senator from Delaware, Joe Biden. I chose him not only because he is a potential political leader but also because of his attempt to utilize campaign finances in fair means. Joseph Robinette Biden. Jr., also acknowledged as Joe Biden, was born in the year 1942 and served 36 precious years in the US Senate Office. At a very young age of 29 years, he became an elected member at the Senate. While serving as the US Senator from the region of Delaware for 36 years, Biden established himself to be a potential political leader in addressing and mitigating the imperative domestic as well as international challenges faced by the US (CNN, 2012). It can be apparently observed that the US Senator Biden has been widely recognized for researches based on the issues of criminal justice that included ‘Violence against Women Act’ and the ‘Landmark 1994 Crime Bill’. Specially mentioning, since the year 1997, this US Senator has been playing a decisive role in providing a better shape to the foreign policies of the nation. In addition, he has been recognized to remain at the forefront of mitigating the issues linked with arms of massive demolition and terrorism among others (GPO, 2012). My intention, with this research paper, is to examine the office holder’s campaign finance records, i.e. of the US Senator Joe Biden, for his most recent election campaign. In this examination, the raised amounts and the contributing parties making finances such as the Political Action Committees (PACs), interest groups and diverse industries relating to the campaign finance of the recent election of Biden would be taken into concern. Moreover, this research paper intends to determine whether any sort of conflict of interest exists between campaign receipts and votes in the election process of the US Senator Biden. Section 2: 1998 to 2005 While examining the campaign finance records of the US Senator from Delaware, Mr. Joe Biden for his most recent election campaign and identifying any conflict of interest to be existing between campaign receipts and votes in the election process, I started by watching back at the years 1998-2005 in order to identify the trends regarding the same. One of the prime underlying causes, which I identified to make Biden won successive six-year terms, specifically in the US Senate, is attaining success in attracting huge contributions of campaign finance. In this similar context, during the years 2001-2002, Senator Biden did not receive any sort of financial assistance from PAC contributors. However, he succeeded to attain US$ 2,726, 583 in the similar year (Boyer & Ratledge, 2009). It can be apparently observed in this regard that most of his funds for his 2002 reelection were raised from out-of-state contributions, especially from the fundraisers that encompassed US$ 1000-per-head-ticket lunches, cocktail parties or dinners held at various hotels and restaurants around the nation. It would be vital to mention that a bank holding corporation, named MBNA Corporation, had been the topmost donors for Biden’s campaign from the year 1993, which remained unchanged in 2002 as well. As previously mentioned, my choice of Biden as the subject of my research paper, whom I believe to be clean to raise and utilize campaign finances, proved to be right, as the research results show that he took no “soft money” from PACs nor accepted any contribution from Democratic Party during his 2002 reelection(Boyer & Ratledge, 2009). Therefore, it can be asserted that he paid due attention towards maintaining transparency in his sources of finances. Accordingly, during the time of 1993-1998 election campaign of Biden, MBNA Corp contributed US$ 66,350, followed by others that entail Girardi & Keese contributing US$ 23,000, Verizon Communications contributing US$ 16, 050 and MacAndrews & Forbes contributing US$ 15, 000 (OpenSecrets.org, n.d.). This can be better understood with the help of the pictorial illustration below. Source: (OpenSecrets.org, n.d.) Apart from the above discussed contributors, there laid certain industries that made biggest contributions during 1993-1998 election of the US Senator Joe Biden. This can be justified with reference to the fact that the industry of lawyers or law firms contributed a totaled of US$ 524, 140, Real Estates contributed US$ 115, 665, Finance or Credit Companies contributed US$ 78, 350 and Securities & Investment contributed US$ 64, 000 among others (OpenSecrets.org, n.d.). The following pictorial illustration would thus provide a better idea about the above discussed aspect. Industrial Contribution during 1993-1998 Election Campaign: (OpenSecrets.org, n.d.) Most importantly, the cycle source of funds that had its apparent role in the successful conduct of the campaign finance has been presented in the form of pictorial representation hereunder. In this respect, the major fund sources were mainly noted as PAC Contributions, Individual Contributions, Candidate Self-Financing and others. It would be vital to mention in this similar context that amidst the above discussed fund sources, PAC Contributions and Candidate Self-Financing did not seem to make any sort of contributions in the context of raising funds during 1993-1998 reelection of Joe Biden. Source: (OpenSecrets.org, n.d.) Section 3: 2006 to 2010 With regards to examine the campaign finance records of the US Senator Joe Biden in his most recent and current election, the fundraising cycle of 2005-2010 election has been taken into concern for discussion. In this similar concern, it can be apparently observed that a total of US$ 5,987,676 was raised during his campaign, out of which, the major input was made by large individual contributions with a total of US$ 5,855,421 (98%). The rests included individual contributions that helped raising US$ 5,756,267 (96%), other sources accumulating US$ 226, 399 (4%) and small individuals with aggregate contributions of US$ 58, 393 (1%) (OpenSecrets.org, n.d.). These can be better understood with the help of the following graphical representation. Source: (OpenSecrets.org, n.d.) While identifying the different committees that Joe Biden serves as an office holder, it was observed that he is currently serving as the 47th US Vice President. Prior to serving in this respective committee, the US Senator served two important committees that included the ‘Senate Judiciary Committee’ and the ‘Foreign Relations Committee’. Serving these two particular committees, he was noted to deal with several issues that were associated with crime prevention, arms control, civil liberties and drug policy among others. The US Senator Joe Biden served into the above identified committees for a longer time period in the history of the US as a Democrat. It can therefore be affirmed from a broader understanding that serving on the aforesaid committees for an extensive time period, certainly assisted the nation to overcome numerous challenges as well as issues. Amongst various challenges as well as issues, terrorism and arms control were the prime ones that were addressed by Biden in the respective committees for a prolonged time period (Council on Foreign Relations, 2014). After acquiring a brief idea about the diverse committees that the US Senator Joe Biden served, it can be affirmed that any sort of overlap or relationship between committees served and money raised from various sources, did not appear during the election. This might be owing to the reason that the US Constitution segregates the liability between the conduct of elections as well as methods of raising funds and serving the required responsibilities of the above discussed committees (U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, 2000). The US Senator Joe Biden portrayed voting rights to be one of the crowned jewels of civil rights as the votes influenced the Senator to serve for an extensive time period in the US. However, no such stances concerning votes were witnessed during his 2005-2010 election. On the other hand, certain issue stances of Joe Biden can be apparently observed that erupted problems while raising funds during the election. In this similar context, the issue stances can be apparently identified as raising debt ceiling along with commissions, especially on fiscal responsibilities and lessening spending power of certain industries such as IT. In addition, the other issue stances entailed focusing much on the significant concern of deregulation, urging for having more transparency in effectively utilizing private equity funds as well as hedge funds and investing into newer programs by eradicating tax cuts. Based on the above discussed vote and issue stances, it can be affirmed that the votes given by the major contributors would certainly prove to be favorable rather than being in opposition. This can be justified with reference to the fact that the voters, with their significant contribution, had eventually made Joe Biden to successfully serve on various committees in the Senator position for a prolonged time period. It was because of this support received from the common public that the US Senator became the 47th Vice President of the US, gaining the scope to make greater contributions to the welfare of the society (OnTheIssues.org, 2012). Section 4: Possible Conflicts There might lay one particular conflict of interest, which is to be viewed between campaign receipts and votes. This specific conflict of interest can be determined based on the issue concerning sexual violence, which remains largely misunderstood and pervasive in the US. The opponents of the US Senator Biden strongly highlighted this issue towards the general public of America, resulting in conflict of interest between campaign receipts and votes by a certain level. The issue of sexual violence, which is typically considered to be the underreported violent crime in the US, eventually triggered conflict of interest, despite having legal reforms applied by the US government to mitigate the same (GPO, 2011). It would be vital to mention that various interest groups perceive the major contributors to have the potential of winning the electoral candidates in order to bring significant changes in the reforms intended to address various sorts of issues including sexual violence, terrorism, arms control and civil liberty among others. The various interest groups visualize the above discussed issue stances to affect the overall development of the nation at large, in terms of raising crime rates as well as violence and deliverance of inadequate security to the nation (GPO, 2011). It is worth mentioning that the bill sponsorships of the office holder, i.e. the US Senator Joe Biden, can be examined by taking into concern the promotion of a federal system, specifically for Iraq. Thus, it can be apparently observed that the bill for demanding as well as promoting a federal system, particularly for Iraq is mainly supported by numerous sponsors. These sponsors included prominent Republican Senators such as John Warner, former Chairman of ‘Armed Services Committee’, Richard Lugar, a member of ‘Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking’ and former Presidential candidates like Chuck Schumer, John Kerry, Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein. On further note, it was observed that the sponsorships made by the aforesaid sponsors eventually led towards opening the door of a realistic as well as a successful Iraq strategy (Hoffmann, 2007). These sponsors can be compared with those of the groups from whom the US Senator received donations including various corporations, industries and PACs in terms of holding their respective positions in the nation. For instance, the sponsors contributing to pass the bill of promoting a federal system for Iraq holds superior legislative position as compared to the corporations, industries and PACs that contributed in supporting the 2005-2010 election of the US Senator Joe Biden. After examining the bill sponsorships of the US Senator Joe Biden relating to the demand along with the promotion of a federal system for Iraq, it can be stated that the contributors or the sponsors contributed in passing this bill are likely to attain certain significant benefits. In this similar concern, the benefits that are likely to be attained by the contributors or the sponsors include, securing their individual interests pertaining to the subject matter of the bill, enabling their decision-making procedure and most vitally, taking appropriate actions if faced certain stressful, adverse and conflict situations (Hoffmann, 2007). Gaining a broader understanding overall, it can be affirmed that the contributors or the sponsors envisage themselves to accomplish certain significant objectives for which, they contribute or sponsor for a specific electoral candidate, which might have both positive and negative implications on the degree of corruption within the economy, depending largely on the transparency principles followed by the political campaigners. References Boyer, W. W., & Ratledge, E. C. (2009). Delaware politics and government. United States: U of Nebraska Press. CNN. (2012). His story. Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/election/2012/vice-presidents.html Council on Foreign Relations. (2014). Joseph R. Biden Jr. Retrieved from http://www.cfr.org/experts/world/joseph-r-biden-jr/b1451 GPO. (2012). Biography. Tributes Delivered in Congress, 3-23. GPO. (2011). Federal register. Retrieved from http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-04-05/pdf/FR-2011-04-05.pdf Hoffman, H. (2007). Iraq: U.S. Senate supports Sen. Joe Biden plan for a federal system. Retrieved from http://www.worldsecuritynetwork.com/United-States-Iraq/hubertus-hoffmann/Iraq-U.S.-Senate-supports-Sen.-Joe-Biden-Plan-for-a-Federal-System NCSL. (2014). Campaign finance review: an overview. Retrieved from http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/campaign-finance-an-overview.aspx OpenSecrets.org. (n.d.). Politicians & elections. Retrieved from https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cycle=1998&type=I&cid=N00001669&newMem=N OnTheIssues.org. (2012). Joe Biden on budget & economy. Retrieved from http://www.ontheissues.org/Joe_Biden.htm U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. (2000). The committee on foreign relations of the United States Senate. Media, 1-130. Read More