Monopoly Corporatocracy Replaces Democracy

The Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 to make George W. Bush President allow large corporations to spend as much as needed to place their candidates in office, so that they will pass laws:

• giving them access to government funds
  
• restricting their smaller competitors
  
• allowing them to dump toxins in the water and air
  
• requiring people to purchase health insurance - (already in progress)
  
• anything else they want
  

This ruling unleashes monopoly corporatocracy. The - currently - biggest corporations win. This sets in place that they get to run things now, and stay biggest. Of course first and foremost the biggest companies will use their vast resources to keep the playing field rigged to their advantage so they stay biggest. And then to get bigger. How long before they get antitrust laws off the books? And then of course we will see things like Exxon will get laws passed restricting alternate energy.

Imagine being a state legislator and a company tells you they will spend ten or a hundred million against you - smearing you like the Hillary documentary this case was about - if you don't do what they say. No one can stand up against that and if they DO they'll be out of office in a heartbeat.

This one-dollar-one-vote ruling is a sad day for one-person-one-vote democracy.

"I hope we shall... crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and to bid defiance to the laws of our country."
~ Thomas Jefferson, letter to George Logan. November 12, 1816

 

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Comments

[Eggsackley]

09:33 AM on 01/22/2010

This will complete the destruction of democracy in America if we let it stand. There are only two ways this can be reversed. First, by appointing people to the Supreme Court who will reverse this decision.
Good luck with getting such appointments through the Senate. Second, by Constitutional Amendment.

Either of these options will require strong public demand for new leadership in Congress and strong leadership by Obama. He has to step up unless he wants to preside over the demise of our Democracy.
I hope he wakes up to the peril before the State of the Union message to Congress.

[Countess]

02:10 PM on 01/21/2010

This will not be changed by either political party because politics increasingly attracts only opportunists and second rate lawyers always open to a bribe.

[Master-T]

01:51 PM on 01/21/2010

In a way, this is a good thing. The utter apathy the public has shown toward corporate control of the citizenry is disgusting. Why have they shown such apathy? Because they still have it too good. Too much entertainment, too many sports, too many video games, too much porn, too much etc ...

Only when things get so bad that people have nothing to lose will real change be possible. Corporation power needs to be brought down and the country returned to the citizens. That will only happen with a serious fight.

[Dave Johnson]

02:35 PM on 01/21/2010

"Ernst Thalmann thought the same thing.

He died in Buchenwald."

Here is where this comes from: http://seetheforest.blogspot.com/2005_02_01_seetheforest_archive.html#110944980841818544

[Dave Johnson]

02:38 PM on 01/21/2010

Further explanation, the post I re4ferenced adds this:

"Take these people seriously, and fight them at every opportunity. Don't give them an inch. Don't "give them enough rope." I really don't like to think about right-wingers with ropes -- because more likely than not they will hang YOU."

[LeftRight]

02:48 PM on 01/21/2010

This ruling is not a good thing. It may eventually lead to better things, but at what cost suffering?