If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The Blog
Whoever emerges as the GOP standard-bearer will be deeply indebted to a handful of people, each of whom will expect a good return on their investment. And this is just the beginning. We haven't even come to the general election.
You don't have to be enamored with any of the Republican candidates to enjoy the exercise and the proof it provides that power resides with the people.
Last December, the Montana Supreme Court ignored Citizens United and continued its ban on corporate election spending, upholding the Montana Corrupt Practices Act. But those corporate interests that were upset by this law are now petitioning the Supreme Court to have it reversed.
Real conservative Americans should be seriously irked after the Heartland document leak. Think tanks like Heartland falsely brand themselves as conservative while blindly espousing a free market free-for-all that history proves as untenable.
A famous political cliché is that money is the mother's milk of politics and it would be impossible to eliminate money from campaigns. But what is most disconcerting is when that funding comes from a very small number of individuals and organizations.
Our elections have replaced horse racing as the sport of kings. Only these kings are multi-billionaire, corporate moguls who by the divine right, not of God, but the United States Supreme Court and its Citizens United decision, are now buying politicians like so much pricey horseflesh.
With every election, individuals with little or no chance of success willingly take on the significant financial burden and unyielding workload that comes with running a local, state or national campaign. Why do they do it?
Citizens United destroys the American notion of citizenship by creating separate and unequal classes of Americans. It creates a de facto American House of Lords, in which all other Americans are relegated to second-class citizenship.
Ignoring all evidence and facts, Wall Street is reported to be "an industry that the White House has thoroughly and repeatedly demonized and demoralized" -- what?
It is in nobody's interest to see the Supreme Court's legitimacy damaged as Super PACs increasingly erode Americans' fundamental commitment to democracy. The Court should be given a second-chance to define the meaning of free speech.
By accepting Super PAC money, Obama is all but guaranteeing that the special interests of the richest 0.01% will dominate the interests of the 99% and his second term will accomplish little to right the balance.
Obama's reversal on Super PACs is not a betrayal of principle. It is a reflection of the brutal reality that to run and keep the White House, it will cost a pretty penny.
President Obama's (non-coordinated) "Priorities USA Action" is the latest Super PAC whose organizers have to used the phrase "unilateral disarmament" ...
If the critics of Citizens United want to be taken seriously, they must move beyond superficial slogans and focus on the real issue at stake: When should the government be allowed to regulate political contributions and expenditures -- even if they are speech?
