I was just reading in USA Today that minors (children) can give to political candidates as long as it is their money and their decision to do so. Although ages aren't kept by candidates, there have now been 2 million dollars worth of donations from "students". Now this catch all category conveniently covers up just how much of this money is coming from persons who can't vote, but I suspect that it is the majority of this money. While I'm not passing judgment on the candidates per se, especially since McCain tried to ban contributions from minors in the 2002 legislation that was struck down by the Supreme Court, I must say that this is an issue that definitely needs to be addressed. Now. You might say that a child, which is what anyone who can't vote is, can give their own money to whomever they please. I agree, and I, as a parent, would encourage my child to be a charitable giver. You can instill value in your children by encouraging this activity and helping your children give and make good decisions on who to give to. In any case, this child would much rather spend their money on Xbox games and movies, so it is usually something encouraged by the parents to instill good values. So then, how come so many children are contributing to political campaigns? Especially since political contributions are not charity. This is really an easy one. Irregardless of the law, which requires it to be a child's money and that same child's decision (do you really see a kid choosing this on a regular basis?), it is the parents who achieve this. The reason for this is that, in a family of four, the two parents can give 2300 dollars each to any particular candidate under the individual contribution laws for a total of 4600. So, they give their amount and their kids give 2300 dollars each too. This now totals 9200 dollars. Let's be real, the parents wanted to spend more than they are allowed on their favorite candidate, so they used the same method from above, which is a positive effort to instill charity, and got their kids to give too. Maybe it's my own prejudice here, but I say that instilling political giving isn't necessarily positive, but is crossing the line and becoming manipulative. Don't get me wrong, I think it is a parents responsibility to raise good citizens which includes raising people to be able to make good political and social choices based on sound beliefs and principles and by voting for who you think the best people are rather than what anyone tells you. Most importantly from all that is to vote. But instilling good citizenship habits and beliefs into your child and coercing them out of 2300 dollars are two entirely different things. If I wanted to instill such values, I'd have them join clubs at school, hold mock elections, even investigate the candidates and explain to me who they think is best and why, I don't have them take 2300 dollars of money they can use for college and give it away. I suppose reasonable people can agree to disagree on this issue. For those of you out there who, like me, think this is a big deal, here is a list from USA Today of who has taken the most contributions from "students".
Hillary Clinton - $556,640
Barack Obama - $503,821
Mitt Romney - $282,827
Rudy Giuliani - $214,600
John McCain - $105,750
John Edwards - $79,056
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