[p_monk]

If the problem is that monied interest control policy, "getting money out of politics" doesn't solve the problem.

Look as Israel as a cautionary tale of a country that did everything right according to the liberal prescriptions. Regardless of implementing everything that Lessig calls for, monied interests still control the political system.

How does it work?

Well, take a look at Sheldon Adelson's actions. In the US, he buys his influence by being one of the biggest GOP donors. In Israel, he buys his influence by operating the largest daily newspaper (Israel Hoyim), which he runs at a loss of 20+ million a year. Israel Hoyim is the mouthpiece of the Netanyahu government. The paper never strays from the party line, in the same way that Granma never strays from party line in Cuba. This gives Adelson a tremendous amount of influence over the government. Even moreso than he's able to buy in the US. Billionaires will always find creative ways skirt the rules and buy their influence.

[sams99]

"by operating the largest daily newspaper"

Cough, I lived in Israel for many years... the biggest daily papers are

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yedioth_Ahronoth (centralist)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maariv_(newspaper) (centralist)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haaretz (Leftish)

Also the argument is kind of weird, "don't ban rape, people will still figure out a way to hurt other people, so ... no point"

[p_monk]

Israel Hayom is indeed the largest paper daily in Israel. There's really no other paper that's even close at this point. Yediot Ahronot was a long-time incumbent, but they simply can't compete.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/08/opinion/rosner-how-to-sile...

I'm not arguing that we shouldn't take steps to take money out of politics. My argument is yes, let's do this, but let's be realistic about what it will achieve. At the same time, if we really care about eliminating the role money plays in politics, then we need to work towards a system with an equitable distribution of wealth.