Power has the immense capacity to corrupt. Our nation’s founders knew this, and that’s why they built a system of checks and balances, including three independent branches of government made up of hundreds of elected officials, ensuring that no one person could have too much power. It’s almost like they saw 250 years into the future and understood we’d one day face a despotic leader, forcing millions of people to rise up in “No Kings” protests… but I digress. The point is, they understood human capacity for corruption, and they knew it was a threat to the new kind of government they were building. Never has that been more clear, which is why I have made fighting corruption in Washington a key pillar of my campaign, along with unrigging our economy so it actually works for working people. I’ve put together detailed plans for addressing corruption and affordability, which you can read about in my previous Substacks. But today I want to talk about the ways these issues are intertwined – the ways corrupt politicians are perpetuating a system that’s rigged for the wealthy and keeps them in power. This is happening right now in three key ways: 1. GerrymanderingI became a civil rights lawyer specializing in voting rights because I believe voting is foundational – the one right all others are built on. And I detest gerrymandering. This shouldn’t be a radical statement: Voters should choose their elected officials – not the other way around. Gerrymandering has made Congress the dysfunctional mess we see today. It keeps extreme, unpopular incumbents in office with zero accountability, denies representation to minority groups, and protects the status quo that has benefitted the wealthy few for far too long. What happened here in Texas this summer was one of the most egregious examples of corruption I’ve ever seen. You know the story. President Trump calls up his buddy Greg Abbott and orders him to find five seats and improve Republicans’ chances of keeping control of the House in next year’s midterm elections. And if you’re thinking, “Wow, they’d rather cheat to stay in power than start passing laws that help people,” you’re exactly right.
Abbott and the GOP-led legislature were only too happy to comply, carving up Texas to eliminate five Democratic-held seats, including the one I used to represent. And who’s going to suffer? Texans who won’t know who to turn to the next time we get a flood or a freeze, or when they need help with their VA benefits, or after they no longer have a district office near them because their representative is now serving parts of Dallas and parts of Upshur County in East Texas. So, what are we going to do about it? Well, first, we fight fire with fire. We organize and win – despite the rigged maps – and even the playing field where we can. This is what Democrats are doing right now in states like California and New York. Once we retake power – and we will – we will pass a federal redistricting law that requires independent, nonpartisan commissions to draw maps using transparent criteria designed to favor people and communities, not Democrats or Republicans. Because at the bare minimum, the people drawing the maps should not be self-interested politicians with something to gain. With fair maps, we can increase accountability. Politicians who hide in the shadows, making backroom deals with billionaires, will be rightfully voted out of office in favor of those who actually make a difference for the people they serve by lowering costs, improving infrastructure, and investing in communities. 2. Insider TradingIn my six years in Congress, I never traded a single stock, and I promise never to do so in the Senate either. Why? Because members of Congress have access to insider information – and profiting off it is flat-out wrong. But I was the exception. The alarming truth is that members of Congress and their families regularly trade stocks in the industries they regulate, creating conflicts of interest. Sen. John Cornyn, who I’m running to unseat, is one of them. In 2008, ahead of the financial crash, Congress got closed-door briefings about the economy, and then many of them went and made trades that saved them millions. Meanwhile everyday Texans saw their retirement accounts slashed, their life savings gutted. The same thing happened in 2020 when Congress was told about the impending COVID-19 pandemic; a lot of representatives turned around and made trades based on that insider information. Allowing politicians to trade individual stocks creates circumstances in which our leaders are more concerned about their own bank accounts than the people they represent. It’s not just a conflict of interest; it’s corruption at its finest, and we can stop it with the Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act. This would prohibit members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children from buying or selling individual stocks while in office, with the option to either move their stocks into a blind trust or divest, limiting personal investment to conflict-free mutual funds and Treasury bonds. That way, Texans can trust that when their representatives vote to lower drug prices or regulate energy companies, they’re doing it for the public good – not their own financial gain. 3. Unlimited Corporate Donations / Dark Money Destroying ElectionsIn its disastrous Citizens United decision of 2010, the Supreme Court paved the way for unlimited corporate and billionaire spending in our elections. Today, our nation’s largest corporations curry favor with politicians by raising millions of dollars through their special-interest PACs. The result? Politicians answer more to these special-interest donors than to their voters. And everyday Texans wind up working harder and paying more while corporate profits skyrocket and the wealthiest 1% reap the benefits. Just look at John Cornyn. His campaign is largely funded by corporations, not people. Through the first half of this year, public filing data showed he had fewer than 3,000 individual donations to his entire campaign – by comparison, we have had hundreds of thousands since July. I’m incredibly proud of that number – that our campaign is funded by grassroots donors, real people who believe in our movement and are willing to invest in a better future, rather than faceless corporations. I promise that I will never accept a cent of corporate PAC money because I only want to be accountable to the people I serve.
And when I get to the Senate, I will work to overturn Citizens United and pass the Ban Corporate PACs Act to improve transparency and accountability throughout our government. But that’s not the world we live in yet. Right now, John Cornyn is rubbing shoulders with CEOs and mega donors who are writing massive checks. His allegiance is reflected in the policies he supports – you don’t have to look farther than his vote this summer for a budget that cuts health care to fund a tax break for the ultrawealthy. And thanks to his billionaire buddies, he has nearly $20 million in his campaign war chest – and counting. It’ll take a lot of grassroots support from folks like you to keep up with the likes of that – but you know what? I’d rather have thousands of $28 donations (our average gift) from real, passionate, fired-up people than a million dollars from a super PAC any day. That’s the country I’m fighting for, one where fairness and accountability come first. Where everyday folks who work hard can get ahead. Where, crazy as it seems, politicians serve their constituents and don’t have special interests on speed dial. I know we have a long way to go to get there, and I know it can be overwhelming to think about, but we must keep fighting. Right now politicians like Gov. Abbott and Sen. Cornyn are helping Trump try to rig the midterm elections, benefitting from insider info to enrich themselves, and doing the bidding of corporate lobbyists to get big campaign checks and stay in office. It’s a horrible, corrupt cycle that’s making life harder for everyone else, but together, we can break it. With every $28 donation, every town hall, every conversation, our movement is growing. Texans are ready for change. The system is broken, but it is not irreparable. If you agree, please chip in anything at all to my campaign to help me get to the Senate and fix what’s broken in Washington. That’s how we overhaul a corrupt system – with people power and millions of tiny actions. Thanks for reading, Colin
Paid for by Allred for Texas
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