Bad news for civics geeks…like myself. Today the SCOTUS ruled that corporations can put as much money as they want into the election of a federal candidate. Aye caramba! It all dates back to 1886 when the SCOTUS ruled that corporations have all the rights and privileges as real people. WTF? I thought Supreme Court Justices were supposed to be smart. Guess not.
But you’re probably asking your monitor, “WTF do I care if corporations can spend butt-loads of money on political campaigns?” Good question. And if you asked it, you’d better sit down for the answer. You see…corporations have lots and Lots and LOTS of money. For someone to get elected, they need lots and Lots and LOTS of money. So now, corporations can pick their favorite candidate and spend the other candidate into submission. You think WalMart is gonna support a candidate that is pro-union? Nope. You think Shell Oil is gonna stand idly by while a tree-hugging, Green Party, liberal gets elected to the Senate? Nope.
Now, I’ve got to do a full disclaimer here: Every time you watch a political commercial, we here at PTB make ONE MILLION DOLLARS. That said, the new ruling is gonna be a boon to the television industry. YAY! But how much is it gonna help political discourse in America? Actually, it’s gonna kill it. Remember how the Swiftboaters made Vietnam vet John Kerry into a traitorous coward while they made George W. Bush into a hero? Americans didn’t even bother to check the facts. They just believed what television told ‘em to believe. That’s how dumb of a nation we are. That’s the road we’re gonna go down later this year and every election after. Aye caramba!
Well…now that I think about it, there might just be a silver lining in all this. In a few years, politicians are gonna have so many sponsorships, they’re gonna have logos all over their suits, makin’ ‘em look like NASCAR drivers. At least we’ll know who paid ‘em off. True dat.
(8.-)
4 comments:
Ok.
so how is that any different from allowing Unions to buy elections using the "little guy's" money instead of responsibly investing in their pensions? Oh, and did I mention that the "little guy" has no say in who the union party bosses support? Sounds like TYRANNY to me.
Wake up. FREEDOM is finallly here.
And don't forget that Senator Chuckie Schumer is not for free speeck, but only for free liberal speech. "Waaaaaaaaaa" I'm a big tax & spend liberal and now Corporations are going to expose me for that. I liked it better when I could conceal my hypocrisy.
This is why I don't think my vote counts!~
First of all - the law doesn't lift restrictions on contributions to individual candidates. READ THE FREAKING RULING. It lifts restrictions on contributions to issue oriented advertising so Corporations and Unions have the ability to run ads in support or against issues. And why shouldn't they?
The New York Times, ABC, CBS, NBC,(Owned by GE) CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, LATIMES, Newsweek, TIME etc are ALL ran by corporations who all get to say whatever they want about candidates up to and during elections. Why should they get to voice their opinions when Microsoft, Google, Wells Fargo or Chevron not get to have their say in how things are run? It's a mistake for you to think that Corporations are all monolithic in their support of candidates and issues. They all have different opinions on the issues just as we do. Why would you support free speech for some but not all?? Oh - yeah - you're a liberal. Chevron may lobby for the rights to drill for Oil off the California Coast while Google or the Sierra Club lobbies against it. In the end, Corporations are run by individuals trying to do the best for their companies, employees stockholders and customers.
I think restrictions should be lifted for contributions to individual candidates as well. Placing restrictions limits a challenger's abillity to fairly fight an incumbent. This isn't about cleaning up politics - it's an incumbent protection plan. Otherwise the only candidates we get are Billionaire fucktards like Edwards, Bloomberg, Forbes and Kerry, or cadidates the media picks like Obama or Mc Cain.
Wise up PJ. The so called Campaign finance laws didn't clean up corruption in politics - as illustrated by Obama cutting back room deals with unions and senators to try to get a health care bill passed. The only way to clean that shit up was just demonstrated last week with the special election - because voters were pissed with politicians not listening to them. Corporations also have to be careful not to overstep their roles either or they will meet the same fate.
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