Campaign finance in the United States

Frisella proposes eliminating lobbies, PACs and even paid political advertising.

“There should not be lobbies. There should not be PACs. There should not be, I don't even think you should be able to run ads for politicians”

REAL AF with Andy Frisella: 1062. Andy & DJ CTI: Trump At The United Nations, Chinese President Xi Welcomed To The US & CNN, MS Now & Politico Reporters Regain Entry To White House (Sep 25, 2026) · Listen from 1:02:51

Frisella argues government service should be temporary service by ordinary citizens rather than a lifelong career.

“they aren't supposed to be mitch mcconnell or joe biden who served in our government for it's not a career dude it's a active service”

REAL AF with Andy Frisella: 1062. Andy & DJ CTI: Trump At The United Nations, Chinese President Xi Welcomed To The US & CNN, MS Now & Politico Reporters Regain Entry To White House (Sep 25, 2026) · Listen from 38:33

Frisella proposes banning out-of-state contributions to state and district elections.

“We shouldn't be allowing people from outside the state to contribute any dollars to that election”

REAL AF with Andy Frisella: 1029. Andy & DJ CTI: Trump Targets Massie, Henry Nowak Defendant Claims Racial Abuse & Mom in $250M Somali Fraud Scheme Sentenced (May 22, 2026) · Listen from 30:17

Frisella argues foreign interest groups should be barred from donating to any U.S. election.

“it should be totally illegal for any foreign interest group at all to make any kind of donation of any sort Into any election”

REAL AF with Andy Frisella: 1029. Andy & DJ CTI: Trump Targets Massie, Henry Nowak Defendant Claims Racial Abuse & Mom in $250M Somali Fraud Scheme Sentenced (May 22, 2026) · Listen from 27:50

Pfeiffer attributes reduced large-donor giving partly to fear of retaliation from Trump via investigations and regulatory scrutiny.

“there are a lot of people who are very afraid of being targeted by Trump”

Pod Save America: Choosin' Texas with Bobby Pulido (Sep 27, 2026) · Listen from 33:41

Pfeiffer argues Republicans are spending in Trump +10-15 districts to limit the size of a Democratic House majority rather than to keep control.

“It's to limit the size of the Democratic majority to make it easier for them to potentially get it back in 2028 or 2030”

Pod Save America: Choosin' Texas with Bobby Pulido (Sep 27, 2026) · Listen from 28:54

Pfeiffer says he cannot understand why savvy donors favor short-term TV ad spending over long-term infrastructure investment.

“I've never been able to figure out why when you talk to them about investments that pay out over time is less appealing than the short-term”

Pod Save America: The Democratic Party's Civil War (Jul 19, 2026) · Listen from 1:02:41

Booker proposes banning PACs, overturning Citizens United, and barring presidential crypto coins and senator stock trading as part of a first-100-days agenda.

“We kill Citizens United and that's the worst decision. Maybe that's another one of our bold ideas. We make everybody from a president won't be able to have crypto coins, a senator won't be able to trade stocks”

Pod Save America: Taxing Cory Booker's Patience (Apr 5, 2026) · Listen from 1:11:34

Booker recounts a crypto industry representative calling to apologize for a large PAC during his negotiations on market structure legislation.

“somebody from that industry tried to apologize. What was the exact words? Yeah, we don't want you to think this is a threat”

Pod Save America: Taxing Cory Booker's Patience (Apr 5, 2026) · Listen from 47:11

Booker says he has stopped taking corporate PAC money and, as of the end of last year, issue-area PAC money as well.

“I was one of the first people in Congress to say no corporate PAC money. At the end of last year, I said, enough”

Pod Save America: Taxing Cory Booker's Patience (Apr 5, 2026) · Listen from 46:04

Vietor argues Democratic governor's races are chronically underfunded because donors see only Congress as a check on Trump.

“Democratic donors see the Senate and the House as a check on Trump. They don't think that way about governor's races”

Pod Save America: Trump Plans to Shove What Where? (Oct 6, 2026) · Listen from 16:24

Vietor argues that major Democratic donors are wrongly holding back during a potentially historic opportunity.

“it just feels like a moment when all the biggest donors in the party should be pushing all their chips in the table”

Pod Save America: Choosin' Texas with Bobby Pulido (Sep 27, 2026) · Listen from 31:56

Sanders calls on Democrats to bar super PAC money from their presidential and congressional primaries.

“Democrats within Democratic primaries, their presidential primaries, as well as congressional and other primaries, got to get super PAC money out of those primaries”

Pod Save America: Bernie vs. the Robots (May 3, 2026) · Listen from 12:41

Sanders argues that AI industry super PAC spending intimidates candidates who might support regulation, linking AI to a corrupt campaign finance system.

“I got a $10 million check going in to negative ads against you, which takes us, John, from the dangers of AI to a corrupt campaign finance system”

Pod Save America: Bernie vs. the Robots (May 3, 2026) · Listen from 11:57

Rogan claims members of Congress across both parties accumulate unexplainable wealth through insider trading and grifting.

“Look at all these congressmen that make, you know, $170,000 a year and they're worth $80 million. How the fuck did that happen?”

The Joe Rogan Experience: #2480 - Arsenio Hall (Apr 8, 2026) · Listen from 2:44:00

Rogan says he is politically homeless and that a two-party system is inherently flawed because neither side can represent voters.

“We have a problem in this country where we have a two-party system. Two-party systems are inherently flawed because there's no fucking way that one side is going to represent you”

The Joe Rogan Experience: #2480 - Arsenio Hall (Apr 8, 2026) · Listen from 54:45

White, hyperbolically, advocates a strict cap on political donations and keeping billionaires out of politics.

“there should be a set amount that anybody can donate, and if they donate one dime more than that, they're hung by the neck until dead”

The Joe Rogan Experience: #2555 - Ron White (Sep 16, 2026) · Listen from 1:48:53

Litman contrasts Run for Something's roughly $8 million budget with the Republican Leadership Institute's $50 million.

“Run for Something's budget is $8 million a year, just about. The Republican counterpart to Run for Something is called the Leadership Institute”

Pod Save America: The Democratic Party's Civil War (Jul 19, 2026) · Listen from 1:00:28

Cooper called the recent Supreme Court ruling allowing unlimited party coordinated spending the worst campaign finance decision since Citizens United.

“This is the worst campaign finance Supreme Court decision since Citizens United”

Pod Save America: The Race to Replace Graham Platner (Jul 10, 2026) · Listen from 1:14:13

Platner advocates publicly funded elections lasting two months with no consultant class.

“If I have my way, elections will be publicly funded and they will last two months. And there will be no consultant class”

Up First from NPR: Can Graham Platner survive another controversy? | NPR’s Newsmakers (Jun 1, 2026) · Listen from 47:16

Kasparian called for a constitutional amendment taking money out of politics, including corporate and foreign-lobby spending.

“a constitutional amendment that takes money out of politics. We shouldn't allow corporate interests, we shouldn't allow pharmaceutical companies or defense contractors”

The Megyn Kelly Show: Dems EAT Their Own in California, with Ana Kasparian, and Trump's "Softer" Deportation Approach, with Gregory Bovino | Ep. 1317 (May 14, 2026) · Listen from 35:11

Steyer cites the head of the Western States Petroleum Association as evidence that corporate interests exploit Californians and must be confronted.

“said he thought it was the fiduciary duty of oil companies to take advantage of the Iran war and gouge Californians as much as possible”

Pod Save America: It's One Ballroom, Donald, How Much Could It Cost? (May 8, 2026) · Listen from 1:33:32