Fifteen bucks a signature: the crisis of money in US politics is growing | Katrina vanden Heuvel

The fight over California’s billionaire tax is just the latest symptom of a crisis that has escalated since 2010There’s money to be made in California this spring, no startup pitch or buzzy screenplay required. Instead, signatures are one of the state’s most coveted commodities: campaigns are paying $15 apiece to those willing to collect them.Petition distributors can thank Sergey Brin for this pay bump. In an effort to kill California’s proposed billionaire tax, the Google co-founder and other...