"Thing of Value" - Campaign Finance Reform
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To show just how far campaign finance reform is from the viewpoint of the average American, a great place to begin is with the phrase thing of value. This is a phrase from election law (and in fact many places in the law) which is so vague as to be almost meaningless. The two words mean exactly what they say: any possible thing which be construed to have some benefit. A document from the Federal Election Commission on the topic says this could[1]:
| …include goods and services that have tangible, intangible, or even merely perceived benefits, for example: promises, information, testimony, conjugal visits, and commercially worthless stock. |
The range of things that have been considered of value is unreal [2][3]. And I don't blame the FEC but rather Congress. By failing to facilitate the connection between candidates and voters, the best the government can do is try and regulate the behavior of campaigns.
Which isn't going well. Because “thing of value” is, potentially, anything.
[1] https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/2019-10-ELW-the-law-of-a-thing-of-value.pdf