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America for Sale
Author: BobR
Date: 10/29/2010 10:27:17
I'm getting a certain sense of déjà vu. Every two years, I see the craziness swirling around the impending election, as if a tornado is bearing down on our house, with the leaves kicking up and debris scattering hither and yon... We wake up on Wed morning to see if our house is still standing, and feel - regardless of the results - a certain sense of relief that it is over. Every year I think: "good gawd - I've never seen the craziness THIS bad before", and every year I think it can't get any worse...
... and every year I am wrong.
This year we've got witches, Aqua Buddha, animal porn, stompings, militia arrests, violence (and allusions to "2nd amendment remedies"), and enough under-qualified candidates in line for higher office to send a chill down the spines of any reasonable citizen who hopes our government will be run by the best and brightest. How is it that so many races are so close when one of the candidates is clearly unfit for public office?
In a word: money.
American politics has degenerated from a debate over ideas into a shout-fest, and the person that shouts the loudest and most often - regardless of the truth, regardless of the message - is often the winner. And - as we all know - nothing talks louder than cold hard cash. How much cash? The estimate for this year (a non-presidential election year at that) is 4 BILLION DOLLARS:
The liberal side of me wonders about all the good that much money could do: feeding the hungry, housing the poor, educating children... I know that money spent on campaigns provides jobs, so it does go back into the economy. But it's a lot of money creating a lot of negative energy. We can thank the recent Supreme Court ruling for the large influx of anonymous corporate money.
Where is all the money coming from and who controls it? After all - it seems like a lot of money being spent on jobs that don't pay nearly enough to create anywhere near that kind of payout... Well - the reality is that certain large industries can make or lose fortunes based on legislation that gets passed, so it's in their best interests to have politicians in office that are looking out for - yes - their best interests.
The answers may be surprising to those who don't normally take the time to scratch very far beneath the surface. Hiding behind PACs with benign names and groups that purport to be "grass roots" are a few very well-connected political operatives and business leaders. I can't embed it, so take a look at this diagram which shows just one part of this web; it's very incestuous.
There's also the Tea Party. Purporting to be a "grass roots" organization of "real people", it is also a front for a few well-connected groups, such as FOX News and the Koch brothers:
There is a LOT more at the article. You owe it to yourself to find out more about this handful of men who control so much of America's money and power. How ironic is it that a rich corporate entity is behind a movement that thinks it is grass-roots and anti-corporate control?
This is why serious campaign finance reform is so important. In the meantime, there are certainly plenty of reasons to vote for one candidate over another, especially when it comes to ideologies. This is my last blog before the election, and I want to ask all my readers on the left and on the right: When you go to vote, please consider more than the candidates party affiliation. Please take the time to see if the claim in that ad that upset you is really true. Please consider which candidate is going to be smart and honest and do the right thing, rather than demagogue and take partisan positions that will assure them reelection.
Money talks, and it has been screaming in your ears and shoving it's unholy message into your eyes for weeks now (and will over the next 4 days). Don't let money be the winner in this election.
... and every year I am wrong.
This year we've got witches, Aqua Buddha, animal porn, stompings, militia arrests, violence (and allusions to "2nd amendment remedies"), and enough under-qualified candidates in line for higher office to send a chill down the spines of any reasonable citizen who hopes our government will be run by the best and brightest. How is it that so many races are so close when one of the candidates is clearly unfit for public office?
In a word: money.
American politics has degenerated from a debate over ideas into a shout-fest, and the person that shouts the loudest and most often - regardless of the truth, regardless of the message - is often the winner. And - as we all know - nothing talks louder than cold hard cash. How much cash? The estimate for this year (a non-presidential election year at that) is 4 BILLION DOLLARS:
In the latest sign of this year's record-breaking election season, an independent research group estimated Wednesday that candidates, parties and outside interest groups together could spend up to $4 billion on the campaign.
[...]
There are three general tides of money swamping this year's elections, according to CRP's data: House and Senate candidates, who have reported raising $1.7 billion; the political parties, with about $1.1 billion; and outside interest groups, which have raised at least $400 million.
The liberal side of me wonders about all the good that much money could do: feeding the hungry, housing the poor, educating children... I know that money spent on campaigns provides jobs, so it does go back into the economy. But it's a lot of money creating a lot of negative energy. We can thank the recent Supreme Court ruling for the large influx of anonymous corporate money.
Where is all the money coming from and who controls it? After all - it seems like a lot of money being spent on jobs that don't pay nearly enough to create anywhere near that kind of payout... Well - the reality is that certain large industries can make or lose fortunes based on legislation that gets passed, so it's in their best interests to have politicians in office that are looking out for - yes - their best interests.
The answers may be surprising to those who don't normally take the time to scratch very far beneath the surface. Hiding behind PACs with benign names and groups that purport to be "grass roots" are a few very well-connected political operatives and business leaders. I can't embed it, so take a look at this diagram which shows just one part of this web; it's very incestuous.
There's also the Tea Party. Purporting to be a "grass roots" organization of "real people", it is also a front for a few well-connected groups, such as FOX News and the Koch brothers:
A few weeks after the Lincoln Center gala, the advocacy wing of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation—an organization that David Koch started, in 2004—held a different kind of gathering.
[...]
Five hundred people attended the summit, which served, in part, as a training session for Tea Party activists in Texas. An advertisement cast the event as a populist uprising against vested corporate power. "Today, the voices of average Americans are being drowned out by lobbyists and special interests," it said. “But you can do something about it.” The pitch made no mention of its corporate funders. The White House has expressed frustration that such sponsors have largely eluded public notice. David Axelrod, Obama's senior adviser, said, "What they don't say is that, in part, this is a grassroots citizens’ movement brought to you by a bunch of oil billionaires."
[...]
Americans for Prosperity has worked closely with the Tea Party since the movement’s inception. In the weeks before the first Tax Day protests, in April, 2009, Americans for Prosperity hosted a Web site offering supporters "Tea Party Talking Points."
[...]
With the emergence of the Tea Party, he said, "everyone suddenly sees that for the first time there are Indians out there—people who can provide real ideological power." The Kochs, he said, are "trying to shape and control and channel the populist uprising into their own policies."
A Republican campaign consultant who has done research on behalf of Charles and David Koch said of the Tea Party, "The Koch brothers gave the money that founded it. It’s like they put the seeds in the ground. Then the rainstorm comes, and the frogs come out of the mud—and they’re our candidates!"
[...]
The Republican campaign consultant said of the family's political activities, "To call them under the radar is an understatement. They are underground!" Another former Koch adviser said, "They're smart. This right-wing, redneck stuff works for them. They see this as a way to get things done without getting dirty themselves."
There is a LOT more at the article. You owe it to yourself to find out more about this handful of men who control so much of America's money and power. How ironic is it that a rich corporate entity is behind a movement that thinks it is grass-roots and anti-corporate control?
This is why serious campaign finance reform is so important. In the meantime, there are certainly plenty of reasons to vote for one candidate over another, especially when it comes to ideologies. This is my last blog before the election, and I want to ask all my readers on the left and on the right: When you go to vote, please consider more than the candidates party affiliation. Please take the time to see if the claim in that ad that upset you is really true. Please consider which candidate is going to be smart and honest and do the right thing, rather than demagogue and take partisan positions that will assure them reelection.
Money talks, and it has been screaming in your ears and shoving it's unholy message into your eyes for weeks now (and will over the next 4 days). Don't let money be the winner in this election.
