Young Turks host says US political system is in ‘jeopardy’

Ana Kasparian, a host on the left-leaning online show “The Young Turks,” says she’s worried about the increasing influence of money in politics, warning that America’s system of government is in “jeopardy.”

She said she is worried “too much power” is being given to the executive branch and warned of the influence of money in politics “getting worse.”

“I’m worried about essentially doing away with our Democratic process overall,” Kasparian told Hill.TV contributor Richard Greene during an interview that aired on Friday.

“I’m seeing too much power being concentrated in the executive branch and so our system of government is really in jeopardy, and more importantly, the overwhelming issue that we’ve had for a long time is money in politics,” she continued, adding “I see that problem getting worse.”

The Young Turks host backs a proposal for a 28th Amendment to the Constitution that would get money out of politics by requiring that state and federal elections be publicly funded.

Kasparian said that the idea for the amendment was the “brainchild” of Young Turks’ founder, Cenk Uygur as part of his political action committee, Wolf PAC. Uygur started Wolf PAC in 2011 at the height of Occupy Wall Street, with a goal of “ending corporate personhood and publicly financing all elections in our country.”

Wolf PAC subsequently has started a petition in hopes that the amendment could gain more widespread support on a state level. So far it has more than 1,500 signatures — still short of its 5,000 goal.

But Kasparian remains hopeful about the prospects of the 28th Amendment gaining more grassroots support.

“Cenk [Uygur] is pretty confident that we can do this and I do trust that it is possible, especially given how aware people are,” she said.

There are two ways for amendments to be proposed for the U.S. Constitution: Either two-thirds of both houses of Congress can vote to propose an amendment or two-thirds of state legislatures can ask Congress to call a national convention to propose amendments.

Wolf PAC advocates for the latter — a Convention of the States — arguing that the federal government is too corrupt to pass such a resolution.

So far, only five states, including New Jersey and California, have passed resolutions calling for a convention.

Addressing corruption in Washington is a top priority for Democrats taking back the House in January.

In November, House Democrats unveiled a blueprint of their first bill in the new Congress. The sweeping political reform bill, known as H.R. 1, looks to reduce the role of money in politics and expand voting rights.

But the anti-corruption bill won’t likely be the first bill they vote on upon taking back the House in January.

Democrats are currently looking at a number of options to end the ongoing partial government shutdown over President Trump’s proposed border wall, which is expected to continue into the new year.

President Trump is now threatening to “close the Southern Border entirely” if Democrats don’t give him the $5 billion to build his barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border.

— Tess Bonn