Have Billionaires Bought The Midterms? with Issue One's Michael Beckel

Hasan sits down with Michael Beckel, Issue One’s Money in Politics Reform Director, to talk about how American elections have been corrupted by wealthy interests, how fundraising dominates the schedules of members of Congress, and the rising influence of AIPAC. Learn more about Issue One’s mission at issueone.org/darkmoney and Montana’s ballot measure at MontanaPlan.org.

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Co-Creator & Executive Producer: Hasan Minhaj
Co-Creator & Executive Producer: Prashanth Venkataramanujam
Executive Producer/Director: Tyler Babin
Executive Producer/Showrunner: Scott Vrooman
Producer: Kayla Feng
Producer/ Copywriter: Annie Fick
Cinematographer: Austin Morales
Editor: Javi Aguiar and Zae Jordan
Talent Coordinators: Tanya Somanader and Kori Schulman
Executive Assistant: Samuel Piland

0:00 Monologue
12:36 Ad
13:41 Is “campaign financing” just corruption?
15:45 Patient Zero: Citizens United
18:11 Dark money
21:34 The limits of “disclosure”
22:55 SuperPAC can name themselves anything
23:49 How 501(c)(4) loopholes work
25:19 Where is the FEC?
26:24 Is the Supreme Court cool with corruption?
30:17 Ads
33:02 The “no corporate PAC money” promise
34:50 AIPAC - the new NRA
37:41 The fundraising treadmill
43:50 How public financing limits corruption
49:46 Ads
52:34 Will the post-Trump era mobilize reform?
54:37 Reform #1: Cap superPAC contributions
55:45 Reform #2: Regulating corporations directly
57:14 Reform #3: Amend the constitution
59:43 Final thoughts (about diarrhea)

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THE SHOW:
Hasan Minhaj Doesn’t Know is a long-form interview podcast hosted by two-time Peabody Award-winning comedian Hasan Minhaj. The show features in-depth conversations with politicians, public figures, financial experts, scientists, intellectuals, authors and celebrities. Rather than sticking to standard talking points, Minhaj aims to ask deeper, more probing questions that reveal personal perspectives and challenge conventional narratives. The tone is direct and curious, and focused on uncovering what guests really think beyond rehearsed answers.

KEYWORDS:
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