On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed. Almost 250 years later, the success of the freedoms demanded in the declaration are crucial to America and the world. Throughout almost 250 years of history, America has gone from a country ruled solely by affluent white men to a country truly ruled by the people, going from a country with no voting rights to minorities to constitutional amendments protecting the right to vote for women and people of color.
In order to celebrate the 250th anniversary, America250 has been established. Serving on the board of directors are multiple U.S. Senators and Representatives who are both Democrats and Republicans. Also serving on the board are Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, Secretary of State (and former acting U.S. archivist) Marco Rubio, and many other prominent politicians.
America250 is planning many events, including a D.C. fair, a nationwide maritime parade, the Patriot games (a high school sports competition), and historical patriotic events in local states and cities. America250 has many sponsorships in order to provide all of these events. Coca-Cola, Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, and BP are some of the many corporations that have sponsored these events. All of these corporate sponsorships beg the question: to what extent can money be used to gain influence in the United States?
Corporate sponsorship of federal programs is not an irregular occurrence in the U.S., but another big use of corporate funds for politics comes through direct candidate donations. Big companies support candidates who will positively impact their business. In the 2024 presidential election, the money of billionaires, corporations, and PACs totalled 2.2 billion, which was about 56.5% of the total money spent on campaigns. Is it constitutional for corporations to spend this much money to have a politician elected, which often seals an election?
Corporations have a right to protect their interests and the jobs of their employees, but what is too much money? In the 2024 election cycle (across local and national elections), JPMorgan Chase spent over 4.3 million dollars on campaigns to both Democrats and Republicans, those who were more devoted to the stock markets and in favor of large corporations. Now this is legal, through a bunch of FEC loopholes, and JPMorgan Chase has the right to do it, but is this what was intended when the FEC outlawed campaign contributions over $3,500?
Sponsorships are legal. But the argument that money is speech can’t be justified. These sponsorships prevent usage of the federal budget for these things (which is a good thing) but also allow corporations to curry favor with the government.
America250 is set to bring an impressive amount of celebration and inspiration to millions of Americans, and hopes to renew a sense of American pride for the next 250 years.
