American Democracy Permanently Soiled

What is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s role in this anonymous funding of campaigns? Politics in America always had a price tag. That price is now astronomically higher. And unless those of us who voted for change march, protest and vote, America will pay dearly in the end.

[Speaking Truth To Power]

With only a few weeks left before the 2010 Elections, the Republicans’ defeat of the Disclose Act will certainly play a pivotal role in whether Democrats can retain control of Congress. Consequently, the question is: are corporate interests both foreign and domestic—like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce—about to buy this election with covert cash?

The Disclose Act was designed to required transparency by campaign donors and to inform the public of who contributed how much to whom. The bill was a response to the 2010 Citizens United v Federal Election Commission Case decision. In a 5-4, primarily partisan, Supreme Court ruling by the John Roberts’ Court, their judgment effectively opened the door to unlimited campaign funding. Republicans, along with their judicial appointees, argued the case on First Amendment grounds.

The case revolved around a challenge launched by Citizens United, a conservative advocacy group that produces right-wing propaganda. This corporation produced a film critical of Hillary Clinton—that was to run during the 2008 Democratic primaries—a move which violated the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act.  At issue was the fact that the film was used in a way that violated limits placed on how corporations and groups with clear-cut political objectives can spend money during elections. The Disclose Act was an attempt to, partially; remedy the situation by forcing transparency which required donors revealed themselves to the American people.

The bill was defeated in a 59-39 procedural vote needing 60 votes to pass. Senate Republicans filibustered the bill in July, after it passed the House in June. They claimed the bill was an assault on free speech and that anonymous donations shouldn’t be outlawed. Senator Mitch McConnell attacked the legislation, and Democrats, saying “They want government to pick and choose who gets to speak in elections, and how much they speak.”

But, President Obama said “I am deeply disappointed by the unanimous Republican blockade in the Senate of the Disclose Act, a critical piece of legislation that would control the flood of special interest money in our elections. Today’s decision by a partisan minority to block the legislation is a victory for special interests and U.S. corporations—including foreign-controlled ones—who are now allowed to spend unlimited money to fill our airwaves, mailboxes and phone lines right up until Election  Day. And it comes at the expense of the American people, who no longer have the right to know who is financing these
ads.”

There’s no question millions of dollars are flowing this election cycle in races all over the country. And the domestic and foreign sources of this money are now being hidden from us. Given the other dynamics at play here, all Americans who voted for change, in 2008, should be paying close attention. For, there’s a movement working hard to overturn the democratic decision made by millions of Americans who elected Barack Obama as the first Black president. This seismic shift is seen as a threat by those who fear real change that will empower the legions of underprivileged and disenfranchised; and the primary perpetrators here are not the Tea Party.

For the last couple years we’ve been focusing on the Tea Party crackpots instead of the big money scalawags orchestrating their xenophobic antics. Unfortunately, the American people are largely unaware of the big money puppeteers—like the
Koch brothers and their Republican stooge Dick Armey—who’ve facilitated the currently charged conservative climate exemplified by the Tea Party crackers.

David and Charles Koch are the owners of Koch Industries, the second largest private company in America, with annual revenue of nearly 100 billion. The Koch brothers are the creators and bankrollers of Freedom Works, a right-wing advocacy group like Citizens United, which is the current driving force behind the Tea Party. The Koch brothers’ agenda is clearly to keep us with a fangless government that will refuse to bite corporate charlatan vampires, like those on Wall Street, who’ve gotten fat off the blood of regular Americans.

Moreover, the wretched Citizens United decision, and the defeat of the Disclose Act, further empowers, and insulates, economic elitists from true democratic transparency. Republican judicial activists Antonin Scalia, John Roberts, Samuel
Alito, and Uncle Clarence Thomas have done, possibly, irreparable harm to the evolution of democracy in America. Question: were these judges trying to counteract the Obama paradigm of using the Internet to receive campaign contributions from the masses? Big money will now further pervert American politics, especially when deep-pocketed contributors can mask their identities.

The efforts of the Koch brothers are known, but what about the other anonymous billionaires and millionaires now lining the pockets of whorish Republicans? What about the corporate companies that will use these two spurious decisions to
subvert the democratic will of the American people? What is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s role in this anonymous funding of campaigns, especially as it relates to foreign entities?

Politics in America always had a price tag. That price is now astronomically higher. And unless those of us who voted for change march, protest and vote, America will pay dearly in the end.


“Speaking Truth To Empower.”

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