Yes, Irene, your democracy is FOR SALE!
Tag: Campaign Funding
Get The Money Out!
Since the beginning of the OWS movement and longer there have been those of us that have wanted to get all the cash out of the system….it has been slow going but now thanx to Dylan Ratigan the movement has taken on new life….if you agree with there should be NO private money in elections and government, then please go to the website and if you like what you read then consider joining the fight and sign the petition……
There has already been 140,000 signatures taken Congress and more is needed…..if you like the idea then pass it on to your friends and if you are a writer let people know about the movement…..and perhaps we can get something done to help return the government to the people….
Another Nail In The Coffin Of Democracy?
From the VOMITORIUM
Last year the Supreme Court opened up the way for the control of elections by corporations and special interests……they rules that it was fine for corporations to donate almost endless amount of funds to campaigns…..the Congress is already in the back pocket of special interests….and yet there is even more effort to keep the people from having a say in the electoral process……
This from the AP…….
Eager to cut spending, the Republican-controlled House voted to end multimillion-dollar federal subsidies for presidential candidates and national political conventions on Wednesday, the first of what party leaders promised will be weekly, bite-sized bills to attack record deficits.”Eliminating this program would save taxpayers $617 million over ten years, and would require candidates and political parties to rely on private contributions rather than tax dollars,” said Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., “In times when government has no choice but to do more with less, voting to end the Presidential Election Campaign Fund should be a no brainer.”
Under the law, presidential candidates qualify for matching funds from the government once they have met certain requirements during the primary elections. In accepting the subsidies, the White House hopefuls also must agree to certain restrictions.
Presidential nominees are eligible for funds after the party political conventions as long as they do no fund raising on their own during the general election campaign. Additionally, the conventions themselves are financed through the presidential fund.
Looks like another way that the GOP is trying to take the people out of the equation of the selection of who will become president……if this is enacted only the special interests will have the power to make a president….if they succeed then we can say hello to a “Corporatocracy” (thanx to Quin for the term…I knew I could eventually use it in a post….go to blogroll and visit Quin’s site, Quintessential Havoc….)
Is this really what the people want? Do they really want to be marginalized like this?
Slowly the people will play a lesser role in the election of our politicians…..it will be up to the special interests to decide who will lead us….and the way the GOP is going…how long will it be before that is NO longer our part in the process?
If Ever Witchcraft Was Needed
Now would be a good time to use all that one has learned at the coven……
It seems that someone has taken an interest in the campaign funds of Delware’s Christine O’Donnell……as reported in TPM………
Federal officials have reportedly opened a criminal probe into whether former Republican Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell broke the law by using campaign money to pay personal expenses, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
The feds are looking into whether O’Donnell’s spent $20,000 dollars in campaign money on personal expenses and rent, MSNBC reported. The probe stems from a complaint by the group Citizens For Responsibility And Ethics In Washington (CREW) which was filed back in September.
O’Donnell set a state record by raising more than $7.3 million for her campaign but has faced questions about her campaign finances. TPM reported that her last minute campaign hires included an anti-gay crusader and that she spent $200,000 on her “I’m Not A Witch” and Yale ads.But O’Donnell basically admitted that CREW’s main charge were true back in October, conceding she used campaign cash to pay rent on her Delaware town house because it doubled as campaign headquarters, which CREW charged amounted to using her primary campaign “as her personal ATM.” Commission rules “say candidates can’t use campaign money for their mortgage or rent ‘even if part of the residence is being used by the campaign’.”
Twitching one’s nose might be in order about now……blinking or nodding or snapping of fingers….something….to get ones self out of a predicament…….
Blue Dog Bites The Dust
One of the original Blue Dogs, Mississippi’s Gene Taylor, has gone down in defeat in the 2010 mid-terms….a victim of “throw the bums out” mentality racing across the country….only this time it was a moronic vote that defeated Taylor….
Taylor is my, or was my, representative…..and in the past I have not been too pleased with his voting stances on many issues that I hold dear…..but this time I am on his side…..he was screwed by the big money that the GOP received to beat any and all Dems in office…..
What makes this all the more moronic is that Taylor is a conservative Dem and voted like on on many issues…however he got a great rating by the group that watches middle class issues and also by the ARA a group that watches votes by Reps and then grades them on senior’s issues….which again makes his loss even more moronic….since most of the registered voters in his district are retired, most of them from the military and of course are staunch supporters of FOX News and subject to believe the lies and the misinformation that it deals out daily.
The voters of the 4th district in Mississippi voted against their own interests…now you can understand why Mississippi is at the bottom of so many lists…..what kind of mindless person votes against their own interests?
His area is a conservative area meaning pro-life, pro-gun, anti-gay, so on and so on…but yet that was not good enough for the mindless voter that let FOX and Limbaugh do their thinking…..sad case of stupid!
For instance, 100% rating from the National Right To Life Committee, 76% rating from the Christian Coalition, given an “A” rating by the NRA, a 90% rating by the Association of Retired Americans, 100% by the Citizens For Tax Justice, 92% by the US Border Control for a sealed border, all the issues that the conservs and especially the Tea Party stand for……his ONLY crime was that he was a Dem in the House that was controlled by Pelosi…that was the ONLY thing that was not to the special interest liking….so many bucks were sunk into the campaign of his opponent Palazzo and they succeeded in getting the great unwashed of Mississippi to vote against their own interests……
I have watched and commented on the situation in Mississippi for many years and it should not surprise me at the depth of stupid that its voters can sink to at any given time….Like I have said many times, I have never been a strong supporter of Taylor in his 21 years in the House….but he deserved better from the people that he represented for those years….especially when he was always voting in their interests….but then…..
Stupid is as stupid does……..
We Need Election Reform
For years many of us have been calling for some form of election reform….they have heard our calls…but their idea of reform is to control the funds that are given to campaigns…..everyone is yelling about the cash that is spent on and by campaigns….it is a legitimate concern but there is more to election reform than the amount of money that is thrown around….
There has been a movement since 1867 to try and control the amount of money in campaigns that in turn gives some more influence in politics than others…..and the recent ruling by the US Supreme Court has crapped all over that movement, when they ruled that corporations could directly donate to campaigns…this will give corporations unbridled influence and in turn will give even more than now, more say in what will be considered by the Congress and the Prez as important issues of the day.
I am, among others, talking about such other things, beyond campaign funds, like term limits, accessibility to third parties to the electoral process, etc…….
On term limits the Cato Institute has some very good points in favor:
Lesson One. Term limits stimulate political competition. That is accomplished in a variety of ways, from increasing the number of open seats and special elections to lowering the reelection rates of incumbents. Many former incumbents return to private life, and a significant number run for other offices, thereby stimulating political competition at other levels. There is also evidence to suggest that campaigns may be less costly in a term-limited electoral environment. Under term limits, California’s state campaign spending since 1992 is 44 percent lower than from 1984 to 1988.
Lesson Two. Term limits increase legislative diversity. The prospect of shorter political careers is also changing the characteristics of people who choose to seek public office, encouraging political participation by nonprofessional politicians. Hence, the occupational makeup of state legislatures is gradually moving away from the traditional preponderance of ex-lawyers and ex-political aides. In California in 1995 there were only 3.4 percent self-described full-time state legislators, down from 36 percent in 1986, and three times more legislators are now business people than were previously.
Lesson Three. Term-limited legislatures undergo positive institutional changes. As institutions, they become more merit based and less governed by an outdated seniority system. Term limits eliminate the possibility of entrenched legislative leaders dominating a legislative chamber. Leadership positions (especially that of Speaker) become less powerful as a more decentralized power structure evolves in response to the growing independence of term-limited freshmen legislators. Generally speaking, freshman legislators tend to ask tougher questions of bureaucrats and demand a higher level of performance from government agencies than did their predecessors.
Lesson Four. Term limits act as a natural campaign finance reform. Term limits diminish the value of a legislative seat to lobbyists and the special interests they represent in state capitals. That reduces the incentive for lobbyists to raise and to distribute the large “soft money” contributions so disliked by the political establishment. In states as dissimilar as Maine, Michigan, and Ohio there is evidence that lobbyists are unsettled by the term limits-induced need to build new political relationships from scratch.
Lesson Five. Term limits improve the quality of legislation. The continual infusion of fresh blood into state legislatures is improving public policy. By mandating frequent legislative turnover, term limits are bringing new perspectives to state legislatures, reducing the concentration on reelection, and thereby diminishing the incentive for wasteful election-related pork barrel spending that flourishes in a careerist legislative culture.
A good case for term limits……
What about third party politics? Here is a doozy of a subject—-third party politics is almost non-existent in the US…yes there is a wealth of single issue parties but few get on ballots and even fewer are anywhere close to successful. The biggest argument against this is that they point to Europe and their need for coalitions to govern…personally I think that is a lame excuse……they do not like the idea that a candidate could get less than 50% of the vote and still be the winner……and in the US they discourage any third party by making it all but impossible to get on a ballot…making it hard because of the number of signatures needed or the large sum of money to register the party…basically they give third parties ever obstacle they can imagine to keep them off of a ballot…..they cannot outlaw third parties outright because it would be anti-Constitutional, so they use legal trickery to do the same thing…keep third parties off of ballots…..
Personally, I think any party should be allowed on every ballot…it would make our system more democratic and make election watching far more interesting than it is now…..most people do not agree with me on this….they see ALL third parties as spoilers……..but they are the ones that think the two party system is the ONLY answer to a well run political system……apparently, they are not paying attention!
SCOTUS–Craps In Its Chili!
That is the Supreme Court of the United States….just in case you were wondering just what the hell SCOTUS was……glad to help……
In many recent polls the president has been criticized and his popularity has been waning….reason?…..all the media attention and the political attacks by the opposition. The Legislative branch is no better off….polls have shown that their approval is in the neighborhood of 24% and that is being generous…….reason?….that is easy…they are DO NOTHING a/holes that work 3 days a week and collect millions from special interests (do not you wish you had that deal?)…….that leaves one branch of government that has a chance to be working properly….the judicial……
My bad!……the recent ruling about campaign financing has shown just how worthless this branch….something it has in common with the other two….in a report on the Daily Beast website:
Looks like the Supreme Court is about as popular as the other two branches of government: A Washington Post-ABC News Poll found that 80 percent of respondents oppose the court’s recent ruling allowing corporations and unions to spend freely on political campaigns. Opposition was bipartisan, with 85 percent of Democrats opposing and 76 percent of Republicans. Senator Chuck Schumer is in charge of the Senate’s efforts to create legislation to limit the court’s decision.
I have said in the past that the system is broken and I thanked the Legislative for that dysfunction…..but it looks like it is EVERY aspect of government that is crapping in its chili…..if all three are broken….why keep pretending everything is fine?
Just maybe some of these vocal protesters have something to say…..maybe we as a nation need to think about a revamp of our system…..personally, I think a new system needs to be tried….one that holds all people are the government not just a bunch of part-time workers that spend more time raising money for their campaigns than they do keeping our political system working…….
All these politicians are doing is making the American people disgusted and turned off of politics which is good for them for they can get the remaining lunatics to keep voting them into office even though they are doing NOTHING good for the country……
And now the Supreme Court has put a price tag on the privilege of serving as a representative of the people….I AM SO PROUD AT THIS MOMENT! The Supreme Court has proven political theorem correct: “Disproportionate wealth will give few individuals disproportionate political power”……what to do….what to do?
We have a political hat trick….three for three…..all branches of the government are failing the people……time to punt people…..find a way to make it work and work properly or try something new……which ever you prefer….JUST DO IT!
GOP Challenges The Laws
The national Republican Party sued the Federal Election Commission Thursday, seeking to overturn prohibitions on unregulated corporate and labor contributions and to make it easier to coordinate spending with federal candidates.
In two lawsuits, the Republican National Committee directly challenged post-Watergate restrictions on the ability of parties and candidates to work hand-in-hand on political campaigns and the law Congress passed in 2002 banning unlimited contributions know as “soft money.”
Republican National Committee Chairman Robert M. “Mike” Duncan said in an interview that the suits were designed to “strengthen the Republican Party and bring a more level playing field to campaign finance.”
At issue are two distinct laws — one passed in the aftermath of the Watergate abuses of the early 1970s and the other a six-year-old ban on soft money. Both laws have been upheld by the Supreme Court, but since then the court has a new Chief Justice in John G. Roberts and a new justice in Samuel Alito.
The lawsuits come after the defeat of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, a fierce opponent of soft money and one of the authors of the 2002 legislation that banned the parties from raising unlimited money from corporations, unions and wealthy individuals.
The RNC lawsuit said the total ban on soft money amounts to a violation of the First Amendment’s guarantees of free speech and association.
The RNC wants to be able to raise unlimited contributions for “non-federal” activities — that is, for expenditures unrelated to presidential, U.S. Senate or House of Representative elections. The money, the complaint says, would be used to help elect Republicans to state offices, to finance congressional redistricting efforts by state Republican parties following the 2010 census, and to finance lobbying efforts on federal legislative issues.
The RNC’s effort to permit fundraising for state parties and state candidates would reverse a key component of the 2002 law that McCain helped write with Democratic Sen. Russell Feingold of Wisconsin and House members Christopher Shays, R-Conn., and Martin Meehan, D-Mass.
Under that law, the national parties can only raise money under federal fundraising restrictions. The law banned the national parties from raising so-called soft-money — that is, unlimited amounts of money from corporations, unions or individuals. If the national parties can raise money for state parties or for state candidates, they would adjust that fundraising to state limits, some of which are far more lenient than federal law.
Sounds like sour grapes?