If any doubt was left about the power of big money in our politics, the Wisconsin election destroyed it. Charles and David Koch goosed Gov. Scott Walker's campaign with $10 million through their front group Americans for Prosperity, $1 million through the Republican Governors Association, and more from members of the "million-dollar donor club" of financial titans that meet regularly at Koch-hosted secret summits. Meanwhile, the official campaign of Democratic opponent Tom Barrett raised about $4 million. Is it any wonder that Walker climbed steadily in the polls and ultimately won?
Yet as my new film Koch Brothers Exposed illustrates, the Kochs' political influence goes beyond buying the public debate. The Kochs have also been investing in suppressing the vote -- providing a one-two punch to democracy. First they try to change your mind, and failing that, they try to take your vote.
The invaluable Lee Fang reveals at Republic Report that a $100,000 donation linked to the Koch brothers went to a Florida group called Protect Your Vote in 2010. The perversely named organization was formed to fight ballot initiatives demanding fair redistricting. Specifically, the initiatives -- known as Amendments 5 and 6 -- said district boundaries couldn't be drawn to favor a political party, deny minorities equal opportunity, or be gerrymandered.
The initiatives ended up winning. But who could have opposed such sensible guidelines? Anyone with a vested interest in maintaining control over the political process instead of trusting the public to govern itself. Anyone, that is, who wants to preserve the illusion of public accountability while rigging results behind the scenes -- creating suppression in effect, if not in name. Could there be a more apt description of the Koch brothers' modus operandi?
Indeed, Kurt Browning, the official who ran Protect Your Vote, is the man behind Florida's recent effort to purge the rolls of potentially eligible voters. Naturally, the disenfranchised folks are disproportionately likely to vote for Democratic candidates. The Justice Department has now demanded that Florida stop the purge in light of evidence that the list -- which at one point had around 180,000 people -- had numerous mistakes and was violating federal voter protection laws. So the man the Koch brothers backed shifted from shady redistricting to denial of the vote -- removing even the appearance of fair democracy.
The Kochs have supported outright suppression in the past. They are longstanding leaders in the American Legislative Exchange Council, which has pushed voter ID bills making it more difficult for vulnerable populations to vote. In 2011, 34 state legislatures introduced such bills, potentially disenfranchising up to 21 million voters.
The Kochs, then, have a crafty strategy for commandeering the political process: spend vast sums not only for TV ads, "grassroots" campaigns, and think tanks that manipulate public opinion, but also on direct efforts to ensure that many of those who aren't fooled are unable to vote anyway.
This is the Koch vote -- a constituency of two with the bullhorn of millions.
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What are you afraid of, "conservatives"? After all, "voter fraud" is NOT a significant problem in this country, as even a FIVE YEAR investigation by the WBush administration demonstrated. So if it's not voter fraud (which it IS NOT), then what is it? The ONLY other logical reason for doing what you do is to PREVENT people from voting who would overwhelmingly vote for your political foes. Once again Republicans prove that they will do anything they can, including tanking the economy or disenfranchising legitimate voters, in order to advance their twisted agenda....
After all, since the SCOTUS said money = voice, shouldn't the wealthy have more power than the poor???
The logic is clear, the intent is pure, and the effort is backed by Billions.
We cannot allow the GOP to win back more power, because they will turn more power into ALL the power.
I don't suppose liberals even realize it, but by their own logic, the only reason Obama was elected was because he had more money than McCain.
No. They don't know that. What's more, they don't know how to do it.
We can't entirely blame them, either. The press does a poor job, at best, of exposing the deceits. On the internet, one can find evidence to support any position he choses. The truth is out there, but there's a lot more untruth drowning it out. There's no certifying agency awardingn halos to truthful sites and pitchforks to dishonets sites, so how does the average Joe know?
Then there's the tendency for folks to only read the people who they agree with.
So more money, telling more lies more convincingly, and more consistently, wins.
Oh brave new world. Bah!
When UNIONS donate to a candidate, you know that UNION MEMBERS - the voters - are behind the money and the effort.
You CANNOT say the same about these vaguely named SUPER PACs.
You DO know that over a third of union members voted for Walker, right?
Leftovers on the interwebs are complaining about how Scott Walker allegedly outspent his opponents 7 to 1, and how 64% of his money came from outside the state.
Now as we watch Obama raise millions at $40,000 dinners where the donors are all either from Manhattan or Los Angeles (or who really live in Italy or France when not working in Hollywood), which he then uses to campaign in the other 48 states, we might wonder if the leftovers know what percentage of their recall effort's money (and in kind contributions) came from outside of the state.
We might want to point out to them that they are the ones who started the recall effort, thematized it, and nationalized it.
But even aside from all that let's do some arithmetic, since Democrats have proven they can't balance a budget or do simple math: if 64% of your money is from outside the state, 36% was donated locally. And 36% of 7 is 2.52. So local Wisconsin residents donated 2.52 times as much to defeat the recall as all of the pro-recall pro-regressives, both inside and outside of Wisconsin, donated.
The products of government schools do not have the skills needed to be citizens or function in a modern market economy. Â Without government make work sinecures they'd be homeless. Â Hence their need to organize cartels to exploit the serfs.
The lesson I'm walking away with is that Barrett isn't the guy to beat Walker. That, and the key to winning elections is voter turnout.
I won't deny the corrupting, corrosive influence of money on politics; I just don't think money is the biggest determiner in the Wisconsin race.
Does the money spent by the unions for nearly 18 months count?