Follow the money. Always. It always leads us to oil, the military, banking, drugs, insurance, etc., etc.. Them who has it make the rules. And when their greed crashes the whole game - most recently in 2008 - then, we get a little soon-to-be-reversed-correction and we bail them out. Lather, rinse, repeat. Republican voodoo bullshit, followed by responsible Democratic governance, followed by Republican voodoo bullshit. Except we keep moving right...until we get the Richter-scale collapse. Stay tuned.
The following link states that 45 percent of corporate donations go to the Democrats and 55 percent to the GOP. https://www.quorum.us/blog/corporate-donations/. IMHO, corporations should be prohibited from donating to any political party or cause.
Good point Tim but, me thinks they do not donate equally because that doesn’t make any sense but, it creates a false narrative of impartiality. I have long believed that unlimited anonymous donations is an abomination. What honorable purpose do anonymous donations serve? I contend that if you can’t vote for them you should not be able to donate to their campaign. Think of the savings and maybe we would have actual voters deciding the issue. I know too radical.
Mike, The PACs are a real problem as are the 503c programs. It seems to me that first of all, there must be a very low, upper limit to what people can contribute to any candidate, say, $2500.00 from any person, no donations from any public service agencies like utilities, prisons, etc. No corporations should be able to give more than say $5,000.00 to a candidate and every single penny that goes to any candidate or PAC or any other agent must be accounted for and assigned to the specific person who gave it, and that person must have donated under their actual name. I think that would help cut down on the extreme donations like Adleman's today (I think that's the name) of $500 million to Trump. That's like buying a candidate and that should never be legal.
Harvey, I like it! It would be hard on the businesses that depend on all that dark money, the guys who dip into contributions to pay Trump's legal fees, for example. There should be a law against that, but Trump doesn't care since he has been regularly breaking all kinds of laws and the judges who "happen to" get his cases are coddling their Baby Donnie so he does not have to "face the music." Public financing based on cost of living and campaigning in particular states and districts would work as well as heavy fines for dark money contributions. It could work!
Strange man. He was a progressive that strongly supported civil rights in his younger years. But then "something happened" and he began a descent into right wing extremism that ended with him becoming a NRA gun nut before dying of dementia. Similar in some ways to what happened to Reagan.
You have to appreciate how people, not to mention the SC justices, can and do RATIONALIZE ANYTHING. Try to think up a rationale for deciding corporations are people. Does that mean that the corporation I set up for my company can donate millions. Super Pacs unlimited, Aggregate limits on how much an individual can donate in total were removed by the Supreme Court's decision in McCutcheon v. FEC (2014). often referred to as "dark money" 501)c4&6 groups, can receive unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations, and unions. They are not required to disclose their donors but cannot spend the majority of their funds on political activities.
We can not have a democracy when politicans are dependent and beholding to donors.
I found independent confirmation of that ratio of 55% to Republicans and 45% to Democrats. That makes sense to me. These corporations are “hedging their bets.” Whether Dems are a minority or majority, the corporations need BOTH parties to support their agenda.
That doesn’t mean that both parties are the same. It takes 10s of millions of dollars to get elected. If you want to stay in office you have to accept corporate donations. It’s easier to get 50 donors to give you $1 million each than to get a million donors to give you $50 each.
The only solution is to get money out of elections, which was Professor Reich’s central point. How we can accomplish that is beyond me.
This is why it is so important that Bernie Sanders and the Squad do not take corporate money. They are demonstrating the feasibility of Not relying on corporate cash...We need to support the Squad NOW, as AIPAC is trying to wipe them out.
Did your research find a tally of the dollar amounts to candidates from the parties? It's common practice for some corporations to donate to candidates from both parties, but the amounts might be greatly different. Also, when there are two Democratic candidates, one might be more pro-corporate than the other and rake in donations. For example, right now Congressman Jamaal Bowman, who skews progressive, is facing primary opposition from George Latimer, a pro-business Democrat.
"kettle of fish": like all expenses paid vacations, meals at fancy restaurants and so on. Yes, they are required to report all of it, but how often do we find out?
Getting rid of Citizens United would be a good first step to putting a stop to some of the crap. Then adding laws that takes away dark money from the PACs and other donors and making everyone show where the money is coming from would help as well.
Yeah, I am thinking that this is why Democrats are so timid about addressing serious issues. Like the press and the Dem campaign is NOT talking about the Plan for 2025...
With the 34:1 corporate to people gift ratio, and the 45:55 corporate dem to pub ratio, how does it all work out? Donations to politicians dem or pub still mostly come from corporate sources. Many if not all corporations contribute to both parties! A big difference might be renewable energy vs fossil fuels. Here we see that the publican side mostly favors fossil fuels. But, it is clear that Biden spends money on both renewable energy and fossil fuels. While he gives tax credits to EV's, he demands that EV's are assembled in the US to qualify. While granting money to EV charging, the money goes to corporations. While giving rebates to solar energy, he also maintains tarriffs on solar panels. And he supports solar by giving away federal land to corporations. All that said, he is still far better than Trump who will do all he can to kill renewable energy.
I think the robber baron class, the Mellons, the Adelsons, Michael Bloomberg, all those who can afford to give many millions to a political candidate are reaching a crucial existential point. There was an article in the New Yorker recently about the destruction of a $56 million dollar house in Malibu by Kanye West. This is not about his severely impaired decisions but about a very telling picture of 3 such mansions. There is not one of us who would ever pay 56 million for a place that is almost common wall with its 2 neighbors. And there is no private beach. In California the beach belongs to the people. Only the access may be limited. We would go up the shore to some gorgeous state beach and camp out. A 56 million dollar home where privacy is almost unheard of ? They are in some weird competitive place where dollars mean nothing and they accumulate toy on toy on toy. I think their entire system is collapsing from the core and they will make worse and worse decisions. A great Corporate example is Boeing - a highly regarded company whose behavior since the introduction of the Max has been nothing short of criminal. Another loss of confidence in federal regulations meant to keep us safe and a widening gap in corporate responsibility. No wonder we hang around in substacks like Professor Reich’s where there are hopeful but anxious people who wonder what went wrong ?
I think people get rich, and then they get stupid about everything but making more money with their money, and then they discover nice places like Malibu and then they wreck them.
The entire wealthy of the world CANNOT all fit into California! Interesting population comparison: State of California, Ukraine, Canada...all have aprroximately THE SAME POPULATION at 40 million! Look it up as I did.
I’m not sure what you mean here! I was just talking aesthetics and used Malibu as an example of a place of natural beauty. Did you see those pictures of that place Kanye bought that Joan used as an example? I agree with her. But I wasn’t talking about the state of California or populations or comparisons to other countries or any of that. This happens all over the world in places of natural beauty and I do think they are getting wrecked. And public seashores being “privatized,” essentially, like Malibu. I guess that must be why Teddy Roosevelt established the National Parks, thank goodness! This must have been going on back then, as well.
You have to lump them together because the principle is wrong . I admire everything that Michael Bloomberg supports but in the voting booth as at the communion rail, all are equal. How many PACs are there today ? How many solicitations did you receive today from candidates not in your area ? This is crazy ! Citizens United made a market place of our elections. Those that pay the price of these obscenely expensive campaigns can expect their demands have precedence and they are not pointed in the direction of the public good.
I even got a text from Lara Trump!!! I have never ever given money to any GOP peeps so how did I get sold on to that list? My husband laughs at the mail I get from everywhere but I try to help where I can. I am sad about the amount of money that is wasted on ads that most people never watch. Money that needs to be put in to places besides the media. Hmm, like maybe our sad education system? Seeing our VP begging for dollars every time I go to watch one of my cooking videos is just wrong.
“Wrong” and mind numbing ! As I cheerfully delete those emails and texts I think about the wasted money given by concerned citizens but then I cheer up because those dollars are not paying Trumps legal expenses.
Don’t you insult her about her reference to faith! She’s paying respect to how people organize their beliefs and can act on them! She’s not revealing her personal beliefs.
Could people please stop nitpicking and bickering here? This is a place for deliberation and discussion! Lively discussion at times, but fair exchange.
No, Victor, I am far from a priest. A woman, a mother and a grandmother. But the communion rail is a great equalizer and I could not think of a better example of neutrality.
Granted there is corruption in SCOTUS, but were it so simple.
Not just the money. The Supreme Court has given Trump six months of immunity,by taking the case and then sitting on it's ass, It is too late for a Jury to render a verdict before Nov 5th and that is the result Trump wanted.
There is solid evidence that six of them are ideologically motivated. I regard religion as a secular ideology. And the secular ideology has prevailed in SCOTUS to move us towards a fascist religious society.
The recent 10 commandments case in Louisiana will make it to the Supreme Court and I expect them to rule in favor of Louisiana. They didn't rule against banning Misefpristone , they just told the plaintiffs (the anti abortion Christian right) that they lacked standing and to go back and find a doctor who had standing.
It is not JUST about the money. Ideology, especially religion, is an even bigger motivator than money.
Excellent Kerry! So how do we little guys get agency? I don’t like living a life of bitterness and resentment and don’t like being submissive to oppressive forces. In the civil rights era there was Martin Luther King and a host of leaders who successfully deployed a nonviolent movement to attack an evil system. Who is there today of such statue and moral grandeur to fight Vulture Capitalism?
I don’t have answers. Except that Robert Reich is my guru. It’s so convenient and gratifying that he happens to agree with everything I think. 🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠
The problem is we have the example of Florida, where Bush won by a 537 vote margin in Florida.
Granted SCOTUS stepped in and stopped the count, regardless that shows how every vote counts.
Florida gave him the electoral votes needed, it takes 271 votes to win the election and Florida gave him 29 electoral votes, which gave him 271 electoral votes.
Jill stein carried enough votes away in the Swing states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania away from Hillary for Hillary to lost the electoral collage to Trump
And those three states are in play again, but by a larger margin because of
Muslims and black males.
If Trump wins those three states it will be because of them, they may be pissed at Biden, but they are really going to be pissed at what Trump is going to do to them and the Palestinians.
I would like to see published and distributed lists of each politician and candidate's donors: who, when, how much. It would be very educational, and if there were a viable third party around - something we are still lacking - many prospective voters would think twice about recycling the same old same old tools of mega donors. Evidently Robert Kennedy is more of a threat than the establishment can ignore, but hearing him in a debate would certainly improve the quality of discourse in this country.
Are you going to blame bots in November or hope for another Steelers Dossier. Maybe you can blame Netanyahu for Biden’s failure. Remember when you lied about the veracity of the Dossier like a brainwashed fool.
RFK jr is a threat because he received a $20 million subsidy from T. Mellon, the same billionaire who contributed $50 million to Trump's campaign. Money speaks loudly, don't you think so?
To follow the money we must have transparency and disclosure requirements. Imagine a Fox News commentator revealing who is paying for his/her comments, a candidate revealing that his/her campaign if being financed by so-and-so. Of course, lots of our voters evidently don't care as long as they are being told what they want to hear, but that is another problem. We must start with something and a demand for transparency is the least we can do.
The Socialist Demon Rats always supporting destructive economic policies : AMERICA LAST
Although The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) of 2002—the McCain-Feingold Act—was presumably about campaign financing, it was clearly designed to permit the government to limit who could speak and when they could speak. Clearly, then, Citizens United was a victory for free speech.
In a free society, individuals, groups, organizations, corporations, and unions would be free say or publish anything at any time about any political candidate. They would also be free to spend any amount of money in whatever way they choose for or against any candidate they choose. There would be no speech restrictions, public financing of elections, spending limits, donation limits, disclosure requirements, distinctions between hard and soft money, or campaign-finance restrictions.
If you want to let corporations speak, then let's have them speak without any human or AI involvement. The fact is that corporations can't speak- only individual humans in the corporation can speak. So, before making any political donation, the corporation or union should poll each and every stakeholder, including workers and stockholders, to see if they are in agreement with the donation. As it now stands, it is only the corporate CEO's who decide where to send donations. We all know the CEO's favor Republicans because they are only interested in lower taxes for the wealthy. But the "corporation" is much more than just the CEO.
The elite which hijacked the Democratic Party are megalomaniacs who will use ANY MEANS to impose their will on us.
The November 2020 election was stolen, and as soon as our candidate announced his nintention to run for re-election Socialist Demon Rats began a LAWFARE in which they used fake criminal indictments as a subterfuge for election interference.
There it is. You are an election denier. My original comment about you living in La La Land (the mental state of someone who is not aware of what is really happening) is accurate. You are typical of a MAGA person who follows the Commie Traitor Trump. The 2016 election (guess what, he won that year) in this county there were 116,694 election locations. There were 917,694 loyal GOP and Dem citizens working many long hours to be sure that the voting is fair, accurate and legal. I'm sure the numbers were similar in 2020. I know that for sure because I have been, along with my GOP and Dem friends, working at the poles to be sure the elections are accurate. By making this claim I would guess that you have never worked at the poles or been an Election Judge in your county. It is easy to do. Just call the county clerks office in the county you reside in and ask to volunteer. Once you go through the training and work an election or two you will find out that cheating is all but impossible. My final suggestion to you MAGA folks is that since you are so unhappy with our already Great USA, pack up your family and move to Russia or Iran or some other country run by a dictator. They almost always have a one party system, sham elections, one national religion that bans or brutalizes other religions and they mostly treat women like dogs. Those three things seems to be what the current GOP, Trump and MAGA folks want. And please take the six Republican members of the Supreme Court with you. They too, don't seem to understand what true freedom for ALL citizens of our country is about. And please buy a one-way ticket and leave your passports at the gate. Cheers... GH
There it is, again. First off you can't prove your accusations and remember that the MAGA Traitor Anti-American states attorneys general in the Red States lost more than 60 court cases trying to prove DJT's claims of election fraud. DUH! By continuing to follow and believe the DJT lies about the election and everything else he blabbers from his diarrhea of the mouth condition and repeated ad nauseam by Fox Fake News you have blinded yourself to the real truth. In addition, with traitors live Steve Bannon, you have you have glued yourself to the millions of other MAGA folks who fall under the definition of STUPID. Meaning..."having or showing great lack of intelligence or common sense." Please use what little, I hope, common sense you may have left and do as I suggested. Sign up to be an election worker in your county for the election this fall and for a few more years after that. You will be in the middle of each election cycle and you can point out to your county election officials just where you have found all of the fake ballots and corruption, if you can. After you do this, then come back and tell us what you learned. If you can't do this small thing to serve your country then anything you have to say has no relevance here... or anywhere in our Already Great USA. Cheers... GH
I have been ranting on this for a good while.I tell people all the time that our representatives in Congress only represent the people who give them the most money.
This is exactly why our food, electric,housing,Etc are so expensive,the corporate stiffs and the billionaire class are LEGALLY ALLOWED to bribe our politicians and our courts,and we have no say in it.And they are the only ones represented by our Congress and SCOTUS,and all we are is ignored and our rights steamrolled.
Damn straight it's time for this bullshit to stop!!
It’s not just that we are ignored. We are manipulated and, worse, used by corporations for low wage labor to make them their profits so the big-wigs can strut around in their billion dollar life-styles. They would be nothing without the workers in those corporations.
The needs of the many are the sins of the few, likewise the need to try our best to protect our climate hence the environment, can never be more urgent, that said, the greed by those like big oil and big AG, along with a bought and paid for Supreme Court, those conservatives have plans, those plans include more for corporate America, further erode environmental regulations, no labor and consumer protections and last but not least, gut the social safety net, so more tax cuts for ultra wealthy billionaires and endless corporate subsides, their mantra is, all for me and none for thee
Disgraceful indeed, someone give me a vomit bag, for their utter greed and distaste for all things of virtue and of democracy itself, all that goes out the window, for more money and of course more power, their greatest aphrodisiac
This strategy may work. Thanks for sharing Steve. Regarding another matter- gun ownership: if the SCOTUS follows an "originalism" interpretation of the Second Amendment, the same strategy could apply: A state enacts a law that forbids ownership of guns with exceptions for some individuals when strict rules are followed. Ownership of automatic weapons are forbidden, except for certain individuals as the State decides. The those who object to the new gun ownership restrictions can appeal eventually to the SCOTUS. Then the SCOTUS can revisit and overturn Scilia's prior ruling in favor of the explicit original language of the Second Amendment: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Does the Amendment provide the right to bear arms ONLY to members of well regulated Militias. For all others, is there no Second Amendment right? If the SCOTUS decides "A well regulated milita" governs the ruling, legislatures, not the SCOTUS may decide who has a right to own automatic weapons, and all other weapons as well.
Or the SCOTUS could apply the following logic: the right to bear arms only applies to muskets, because there were no automatic weapons when the second amendement was originated. This is a weaker argument.
Originalism, is how this most corrupt ever Supreme Court in history of conservatives define it and it is according to their politics, for like I and many have said, all they all are these far righties, is politicians in black robes
Secondly , as the Ninth Amendment makes eminently clear WE THE PEOPLE *** RETAINED*** the right to use firearms to defend our right to life:
Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution 3:§§ 1890--91
1833
§ 1890.
The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them. And yet, though this truth would seem so clear, and the importance of a well regulated militia would seem so undeniable, it cannot be disguised, that among the American people there is a growing indifference to any system of militia discipline, and a strong disposition, from a sense of its burthens, to be rid of all regulations. How it is practicable to keep the people duly armed without some organization, it is difficult to see. There is certainly no small danger, that indifference may lead to disgust, and disgust to contempt; and thus gradually undermine all the protection intended by this clause of our national bill of rights.
Hi Contumacious. I did not intend my comment to reflect a political theory such as Fascism. I do not see the connection. Denmark has strict gun control laws. New Zealand has banned individuals from owning automatic weapons. These countries are not fascistic. The meaning of a well regulated militia in 1787 will be defined by the legislature or the SCOTUS. The key word is "militia". The purpose of the second amendment was to ensure we had a militia in order to secure our free State- which at the time meant to maintain our freedom from Britain. But you make a valid point that if we experience a rise to power of a fascist government, such as Hitler accomplished when he convinced the unhappy German people he would "Make Germany Great Again", many of us, driven by fear, may want to own an assault weapon to protect ourselves from unknown assailants in our midst (like the brown shirts of Germany, the KKK, or the Oath Keepers). Had the Jews of Latvia owned AR 15s in the 1930s, fewer than 220,000 would have murdered by the fascists between 1939-1945. I hope our country maintains its democratic republic and finds a way to eliminate private ownership of automatic weapons. To realize our potential, we must find a way to trust and listen to each other. Thanks for your comment Contumacious.
>>>>>I did not intend my comment to reflect a political theory such as Fascism. I do not see the connection<<<<<<
The CREATOR of Fascism - BENITO MUSSOLINI - meant to adopt a socioeconomic system wherein GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRATS determined what rights , if any, individuals have
...The Fascist State organizes the nation, but leaves a sufficient margin of liberty to the individual; the latter is deprived of all useless and possibly harmful freedom, but retains what is essential; the deciding power in this question cannot be the individual, but the State alone....
Exactly and that's why SCOTUS was losing their shit over the proposed $50.00 limit for gifts. That would help put an end to the Harlan Crow playbook of buying your own personal justice and having the judicial ruling in his favor. This needs to be done across the board and proposing to mandate restrictions on conservative Trump- supporting organizations like Citizens United would be a good place to start.
One election cycle my Rep Ann Wagner got the most money from the people who manage her campaign. And then there are the bankers, the invertment firms. She is on the House financial committee working for their interests. They own her.
How? They make the laws and if 44-45% of the country still don't see the path the country is going down how can it be stopped? I mean if every woman saw the danger we are in right now to losing our rights and medical needs I would say we had a chance, but women who are willing to say they are voting for Trump? I do not understand that!
Elections were intended to be of, for, and by the people (sorry if that’s out of order); now they go to the highest bidder. It’s highly disturbing and corrupt.
Corporations aren't made of flesh and blood. Are not "born of women." The notion that the 14th amendment equates them to "persons" was bases on a "mistake{ in a headnote in a 1886 SCOTUS case.
Not alive! Certainly not a real feeling human woman. Women were put in a no win situation. No matter how virtuous or innocent ; they were damned. No woman could get pregnant and have the impossible, 'saintly and pure' virgin birth. Like a bottle of wine ; If "uncorked" they were ruined, used goods. an expendable consumable. to be bought or stolen. Never free with self determination.
The only way to achieve a pregnancy and still have a "virgin" would be using IVF. I think the "Immaculate" deception is " the greatest story ever told". the "religious" men (like Sam Alito) thought natural intercourse was dirty ; hence a virgin birth was "immaculate". What an evil word. No ordinary woman could possibly be a virgin and a mother.. And these sickos made it impossible for a real woman to be "pure". They projected their own lust onto the women and girls who were often their victims.
Interesting point but it’s not going to change anything. Nothing in Citizens United v FEC relies on that old case. Besides that, this court relies primarily on “originalism” and “textualism” as primary analysis tools, stare decisis be damned! As should be obvious by now, this SCOTUS will get to the answer that big business and the oligarchs want no matter what damage it does to democracy.The court has to be changed to get rid of or at least neutralize Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh. The combination of Calvinism and Catholicism is too much for this democracy to bear!
Yes. Thanks for reminding me. I meant to refer to the ultraconservatives in each…who also seen to be the most vocal. As a liberal Catholic, I’ve been critical of the Catholic church since the 5th grade. As for Calvin, seems that many wealthy Evangelicals have bought in to the idea that people are rich because God has chosen them.
Of course, they all forget that a Camel can pass through the eye of a needle easier than a rich man can reach heaven. So it seems that the number one attribute to being a conservative Christian is….drum roll…hypocrisy!
Yes. Buckley opened the door by removing spending limits.The problem with the first amendment is that it does anticipate mass media, its concentration and its takeover by corporate interests. These “originalists” care little about the purpose of 1A so long as they can twist it to mean what their oligarch puppeteers want.
Daniel ; but would Garland do such a thing? He is a "conservative" , so in the oldest sense of the word, that might seem possible ; But today's 'Conservatism" is a very different point of view: isn't it?
I feel like that person who is crawling into a 55 gal drum, that I knew will be sealed, that the dude standing over me with a pistol will change his mind.
Or that person digging their own grave. Why? In both cases hope is leading to prolonged suffering
Madam Pompadour was dragged resisting to the guillotine, Marie Antoinette walked up on her on accord. She essentially consented to her death, and thus committed suicide. Madam Pompadour made her killers work for it.
Those who climb the steps of the Gallows or walk the long mile are actually willing participants in their own death. or they hope that at the last minute there will be a change and they will live.
Garland didn’t bring charges against Trump for J6 because the actual crimes of that day were committed by the FBI. Fake outrage and charges are setting the stage for you to howl like a baby when genocide Joe gets beat. If the author of the crime bill, friend of Strom Thurmond, that lied about graduating college at the top of his class is your North Star, that may explain why you’re lost.
The evidence is, by his actions and inactions, that Garland is complicit. And proof is his background.
The most right wing of Senators in March 2016 was Orrin Hatch R-UT. Obama had an obstructionist Republican Senate and wanted a win, so he asked Hatch for the name of a Senator that he thought would get the approval of Mitch McConnell, and Hatch gave him the name of a Lawyer that had served as a moderator for the Federalist Society, a true blue, right winger named Merrick Garland.
McConnell wasn't playing the ideological game, he was playing the politics game and was not about to give Obama, an American with a black African father, a win.
He could stir some shit every once in a while…as could Durbin. But both are disinclined. Give me Sheldon Whitehouse or Jamie Raskin v these two milk toast spectators.
I was suggesting some inspiring call to action. I wrote Dick Durbin early in the Biden admin suggesting that the Senate filibuster rules be revised. While it makes sense to ensure that the minority party has a chance to speak and debate, once ample time has been allowed, it’s time to vote. What I got back from Durbin’s was a bunch of history as if he needed to maintain the tradition of, IMHO, unconstitutional inaction in the rule. As it stands today it takes a supermajority to pass anything which is not what the founders intended. Now, people like Tuberville can damage the military by keeping backfill promotions from happening. Paralysis that is self inflicted.
Repubs throw firebombs. Dems threaten to light a match.
Irish Mouse ; Yes, we do have a massive "poll tax", which was once outlawed, but masquerades as "Campaign contributions". Most of US can't even begin to compete with the billionaires. It gets worse every 'election' cycle.
Laurie—I totally agree. Democrats should attempt to forget about conservative right-wing Christians who insist on wearing their MAGA hats to watch their FOX make-believe and focus on the real beneficiaries of the Don’s favors and his Reps in Congress. They’re bought, signed , sealed, and have been delivering for a long while now.
Billionaires and the corporations they built and support are the real puppet masters, here. If enough people wake up to this, maybe for the first time in history sheer numbers can make real inroads to change the power structure.
Today’s moneyed interests are far richer in proportion to average Americans and the American economy as a whole than they were when FDR took them on. Corporate profits are near record levels, and many big corporations are keeping prices high in order to reap even more. CEO pay is through the stratosphere. The stock market is hitting record highs.
The moneyed interests have done wonderfully well under Joe Biden, despite Biden’s support for labor unions and his crackdown on monopolies.
But it’s apparently not enough for them. They want additional tax cuts and regulation rollbacks and are willing to support Trump — and flush democracy down the toilet — in order to get them.
The big money influence indeed is legalised bribery. But the problem is how to change it. The construction is working for the corporations so they will find ways to escape limits to their donations. Can we find out a way to break into the system?
which brings us back to stacking the court. Which brings us to the need to sweep Congress. We have emergencies now and longer term fixes like term limits and age limits don't meet the need. We are truly in a bind.
Citizens United gave extra weight to legacy and oil money at a time we need to deal with climate change. Put simply, and hyperbolically, our SCOTUS, the ones who voted for CU, will be mass murderers on an unprecedented scale. None of them will ever understand this and they will all be dead and gone before climate change gets in full swing. Such are the ways of the world.
Larry Lessig is working to pass a petition in Maine that woud lead to a case before SCOTUS to do away with superpacs. Based on a logic flaw in a lower court which allowed superpacs. I don't think SCOTUS cares a hoot about logic but it's worth a shot.
The messaging of even the Biden campaign is one of an auction not an election. There are multiple emails per day about whether Biden or Trump has raised more money. I am sure the communication is the same on the Trump side. Power groups will always dominate any government but the situation has become a blatant financial game. This is a very destructive pattern, especially when we are starring 3 deg. C warming in the face and will be unable to change course short of extinction.
The question is as climate further deteriorates will governments and the public work together in a WWII level quest for victory or will this be more of a Covid affair that divides the body politic leading to tribal chaos. I'm also thinking at some point the public may panic as they realize what they are up against.. 5, 10 20 years from now. The long hand of legacy oil money still has us in its dieing grasp.
I can recall the very beginning of our March 2020 Covid response, and at that moment, it WAS a WWII response. We were galvanized, and many continued that effort. However, by a couple months in, Trumpworld was polluting the whole country with their crazy, remember they quit the daily reports the day after the bleach incident?
It wasn’t the Covid challenge, it was Trump and his minions and their poison. It was madness.
We’re perfectly capable of a powerful, country-wide response to the climate disaster, it’s a “better late than never” situation, but we entered WWII pretty late, too. We were still pretty darn spectacular! We’re all still here, we can do it again! We just need to vote Blue, disperse the trumpian craziness and roll up our sleeves and get to work!
In Canada, there is a Limit to how much a party can spend on trying to get elected. They might raise way above that dollar amount.. but there is a limit on how much of that money can go towards their election campaign cycle.
Same here in the uk and a few months before Sunak called the election the Tories almost doubled the limit to enable them to use the donations of a particularly rich donor. None of the other parties has any chance of getting anywhere close to that figure. Fortunately they are now so despised and hated that they could spend 10x that amount and it wouldn’t make any difference. They are toast.
Make the Fox and Sinclair networks illegal as propaganda machines that fraudulently represent facts to their viewership. Pull them off the air and refuse to let them back on until they meet the strict standards that factual news reporting requires. That would be a good place to start. Take away the propaganda bottle they’re all sucking on and they will have to consume actual, factual news.
It all benefits both political parties and even helps to eliminate a sitting congressman in the next election with a more pliable one of the same party who suits the AIPAC in this case, but it can happen in a different scenario as well, they give money to both parties, but they give a lot more to the other in a certain district to change the party in that district !
It is all a cutthroat business, but they all like it and they all benefit as long as the PAC gets what it wants - that is Free Speech enforced by a Foreign PAC !
There’s a Monty Python episode that features a terminally obese diner at an upscale restaurant named Mr. Creosote. After overeating, Mr. Creosote explodes, which is what many of us hope as the fate of bloated corporations.
Our economic, monetary, political system is chaotic and repressive. This near quarter of the 21st century has shown that democracy can't function from a class of people so far removed from the realities of the rank and file working class. Our government is in a vacuum sealed off from most people's lives. The capitalist system was shown by Karl Marx back in the 19th century to be more of a liberalization of feudalism than a utopian ideal it's been made out to be. The industrial revolution coincided with it to fuel that idea. There's been tinkering with socialism/communism to offset the disparities of classes capitalism demands. Centralized economies of communism were inefficient, it was realized.
But the Chinese have managed to blend useful aspects of most economic doctrines to serve as a beacon for how we could evolve our own brand of socialism with American characteristics. If the idea of socialism and strong government could replace the worn out notion those words are taboo.
That would take a political party's commitment towards that. A party willing to break with this system we've lived under now that obviously doesn't function well.
We don't have a party yet willing to commit to that. Both our political parties are corrupted.
Dr. Reich, please cite the case of the SCOTUS that decided that money is speech and corporations are people. Then let's discuss on your blog what can do to change the system. For example, assuming our Constitution is silent on this decision, perhaps Congress can write a law instead of the SCOTUS acting out the role of Congress in its vacuum. The details will help us figure out the best path forward.
Although The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) of 2002—the McCain-Feingold Act—was presumably about campaign financing, it was clearly designed to permit the government to limit who could speak and when they could speak. Clearly, then, Citizens United was a victory for free speech.
In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which was decided by the Supreme Court on January 21, 2010, by a 5-4 vote, the Court reversed the ruling of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that upheld the provisions of BCRA prohibiting unions and corporations from broadcasting the abovementioned “electioneering communications.” Unions and corporations no longer have to create political action committees (PACs) to spend money on “electioneering communications.”
In a free society, individuals, groups, organizations, corporations, and unions would be free say or publish anything at any time about any political candidate. They would also be free to spend any amount of money in whatever way they choose for or against any candidate they choose. There would be no speech restrictions, public financing of elections, spending limits, donation limits, disclosure requirements, distinctions between hard and soft money, or campaign-finance restrictions.
Republic literally means rule by the people, and the US Constitution states that We the people are the rulers. We presumably rule by electing our representatives, but Trump and fascists like you have a problem with democracy, hence the "stolen election."
Like his chosen handle implies, C person is anxious to 1) label anyone who says “democracy” as uninformed or evil 2) get into semantics so as to hide his ideological deficiencies. I.e. he is either a troll or an a poorly educated gullible toady who finds solace in pot shots of no consequence. Ignore him.
So more money for speech means more power fir those who have it. Thats just fine with you, even though you certainly do not have that kind of money or power. You are yapping like a little dog for your owners who cant even be bothered to feed or notice you.
Thank you for the information Contumacious. Yes, the Citizens United ruling seems to be the issue Dr. Reich referenced. Dr. Reich, what practical steps to you recommend? Fretting, worrying, and ranting must give way to effective action.
>>>>>>Dr. Reich, what practical steps to you recommend? Fretting, worrying, and ranting must give way to effective action.<<<<<
The Socialist Demon Rats decided to circumvent Citizens United by using LAWFARE against Preident Trump disguised as faked indictments thereby INTERFERING WITH THE ELECTION.
Hi Contumacious. I do not know who are the "Socialist Demon Rats", the meaning of "LAWFARE" or evidence of "faked indictments". Your comments are not leading to a meaningful dialogue. Meaningful dialogues on blogs such as this are more likely when one refrains from demeaning comments such as "Socialist Demon Rats". But you know this, correct?
Follow the money. Always. It always leads us to oil, the military, banking, drugs, insurance, etc., etc.. Them who has it make the rules. And when their greed crashes the whole game - most recently in 2008 - then, we get a little soon-to-be-reversed-correction and we bail them out. Lather, rinse, repeat. Republican voodoo bullshit, followed by responsible Democratic governance, followed by Republican voodoo bullshit. Except we keep moving right...until we get the Richter-scale collapse. Stay tuned.
It's a wonder how Democrats can ever win an election at all with a 34:1 ratio of donors to the GOP.
Could it be that all the money in the world cannot buy enough lipstick for a pig?
The following link states that 45 percent of corporate donations go to the Democrats and 55 percent to the GOP. https://www.quorum.us/blog/corporate-donations/. IMHO, corporations should be prohibited from donating to any political party or cause.
Good point Tim but, me thinks they do not donate equally because that doesn’t make any sense but, it creates a false narrative of impartiality. I have long believed that unlimited anonymous donations is an abomination. What honorable purpose do anonymous donations serve? I contend that if you can’t vote for them you should not be able to donate to their campaign. Think of the savings and maybe we would have actual voters deciding the issue. I know too radical.
Mike, The PACs are a real problem as are the 503c programs. It seems to me that first of all, there must be a very low, upper limit to what people can contribute to any candidate, say, $2500.00 from any person, no donations from any public service agencies like utilities, prisons, etc. No corporations should be able to give more than say $5,000.00 to a candidate and every single penny that goes to any candidate or PAC or any other agent must be accounted for and assigned to the specific person who gave it, and that person must have donated under their actual name. I think that would help cut down on the extreme donations like Adleman's today (I think that's the name) of $500 million to Trump. That's like buying a candidate and that should never be legal.
Ruth, how about publicly funded elections, and a strick time limit for campaigning as in Britain.
Harvey, I like it! It would be hard on the businesses that depend on all that dark money, the guys who dip into contributions to pay Trump's legal fees, for example. There should be a law against that, but Trump doesn't care since he has been regularly breaking all kinds of laws and the judges who "happen to" get his cases are coddling their Baby Donnie so he does not have to "face the music." Public financing based on cost of living and campaigning in particular states and districts would work as well as heavy fines for dark money contributions. It could work!
Yes, and like buying SCOTUS!
"IT'S PEOPLE!!! CORPORATIONS IS *PEOPLE*!!!!!"
-- Charlton Heston
Strange man. He was a progressive that strongly supported civil rights in his younger years. But then "something happened" and he began a descent into right wing extremism that ended with him becoming a NRA gun nut before dying of dementia. Similar in some ways to what happened to Reagan.
You have to appreciate how people, not to mention the SC justices, can and do RATIONALIZE ANYTHING. Try to think up a rationale for deciding corporations are people. Does that mean that the corporation I set up for my company can donate millions. Super Pacs unlimited, Aggregate limits on how much an individual can donate in total were removed by the Supreme Court's decision in McCutcheon v. FEC (2014). often referred to as "dark money" 501)c4&6 groups, can receive unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations, and unions. They are not required to disclose their donors but cannot spend the majority of their funds on political activities.
We can not have a democracy when politicans are dependent and beholding to donors.
I found independent confirmation of that ratio of 55% to Republicans and 45% to Democrats. That makes sense to me. These corporations are “hedging their bets.” Whether Dems are a minority or majority, the corporations need BOTH parties to support their agenda.
That doesn’t mean that both parties are the same. It takes 10s of millions of dollars to get elected. If you want to stay in office you have to accept corporate donations. It’s easier to get 50 donors to give you $1 million each than to get a million donors to give you $50 each.
The only solution is to get money out of elections, which was Professor Reich’s central point. How we can accomplish that is beyond me.
This is why it is so important that Bernie Sanders and the Squad do not take corporate money. They are demonstrating the feasibility of Not relying on corporate cash...We need to support the Squad NOW, as AIPAC is trying to wipe them out.
Transparency, disclosure requirements--and a free press are a must. Unfortunately, money also controls news sources.
Did your research find a tally of the dollar amounts to candidates from the parties? It's common practice for some corporations to donate to candidates from both parties, but the amounts might be greatly different. Also, when there are two Democratic candidates, one might be more pro-corporate than the other and rake in donations. For example, right now Congressman Jamaal Bowman, who skews progressive, is facing primary opposition from George Latimer, a pro-business Democrat.
I am doubtful one could find honest number that you request.
Do these figures include money spent on lobbying?
It is my understanding that these figures refer only to campaign contributions. Lobbyists do not give money to politicians (directly).
That’s a whole other “kettle of fish.”
"kettle of fish": like all expenses paid vacations, meals at fancy restaurants and so on. Yes, they are required to report all of it, but how often do we find out?
Getting rid of Citizens United would be a good first step to putting a stop to some of the crap. Then adding laws that takes away dark money from the PACs and other donors and making everyone show where the money is coming from would help as well.
Yeah, I am thinking that this is why Democrats are so timid about addressing serious issues. Like the press and the Dem campaign is NOT talking about the Plan for 2025...
Quorum/blog. Don't think so.
With the 34:1 corporate to people gift ratio, and the 45:55 corporate dem to pub ratio, how does it all work out? Donations to politicians dem or pub still mostly come from corporate sources. Many if not all corporations contribute to both parties! A big difference might be renewable energy vs fossil fuels. Here we see that the publican side mostly favors fossil fuels. But, it is clear that Biden spends money on both renewable energy and fossil fuels. While he gives tax credits to EV's, he demands that EV's are assembled in the US to qualify. While granting money to EV charging, the money goes to corporations. While giving rebates to solar energy, he also maintains tarriffs on solar panels. And he supports solar by giving away federal land to corporations. All that said, he is still far better than Trump who will do all he can to kill renewable energy.
Maybe if we’re lucky, the butcher will come for this pig before the election.
Lol
Well, you excusing the union donations to the Dems which are the largest contributors.
I think the robber baron class, the Mellons, the Adelsons, Michael Bloomberg, all those who can afford to give many millions to a political candidate are reaching a crucial existential point. There was an article in the New Yorker recently about the destruction of a $56 million dollar house in Malibu by Kanye West. This is not about his severely impaired decisions but about a very telling picture of 3 such mansions. There is not one of us who would ever pay 56 million for a place that is almost common wall with its 2 neighbors. And there is no private beach. In California the beach belongs to the people. Only the access may be limited. We would go up the shore to some gorgeous state beach and camp out. A 56 million dollar home where privacy is almost unheard of ? They are in some weird competitive place where dollars mean nothing and they accumulate toy on toy on toy. I think their entire system is collapsing from the core and they will make worse and worse decisions. A great Corporate example is Boeing - a highly regarded company whose behavior since the introduction of the Max has been nothing short of criminal. Another loss of confidence in federal regulations meant to keep us safe and a widening gap in corporate responsibility. No wonder we hang around in substacks like Professor Reich’s where there are hopeful but anxious people who wonder what went wrong ?
I think people get rich, and then they get stupid about everything but making more money with their money, and then they discover nice places like Malibu and then they wreck them.
The entire wealthy of the world CANNOT all fit into California! Interesting population comparison: State of California, Ukraine, Canada...all have aprroximately THE SAME POPULATION at 40 million! Look it up as I did.
I’m not sure what you mean here! I was just talking aesthetics and used Malibu as an example of a place of natural beauty. Did you see those pictures of that place Kanye bought that Joan used as an example? I agree with her. But I wasn’t talking about the state of California or populations or comparisons to other countries or any of that. This happens all over the world in places of natural beauty and I do think they are getting wrecked. And public seashores being “privatized,” essentially, like Malibu. I guess that must be why Teddy Roosevelt established the National Parks, thank goodness! This must have been going on back then, as well.
Don't lump them together--some of them might be your allies on some issues. Case in point: Bloomberg and Mellon, one rational, the other besotted.
You have to lump them together because the principle is wrong . I admire everything that Michael Bloomberg supports but in the voting booth as at the communion rail, all are equal. How many PACs are there today ? How many solicitations did you receive today from candidates not in your area ? This is crazy ! Citizens United made a market place of our elections. Those that pay the price of these obscenely expensive campaigns can expect their demands have precedence and they are not pointed in the direction of the public good.
I even got a text from Lara Trump!!! I have never ever given money to any GOP peeps so how did I get sold on to that list? My husband laughs at the mail I get from everywhere but I try to help where I can. I am sad about the amount of money that is wasted on ads that most people never watch. Money that needs to be put in to places besides the media. Hmm, like maybe our sad education system? Seeing our VP begging for dollars every time I go to watch one of my cooking videos is just wrong.
“Wrong” and mind numbing ! As I cheerfully delete those emails and texts I think about the wasted money given by concerned citizens but then I cheer up because those dollars are not paying Trumps legal expenses.
"At the communion rail"? Are you a priest?
Don’t you insult her about her reference to faith! She’s paying respect to how people organize their beliefs and can act on them! She’s not revealing her personal beliefs.
Could people please stop nitpicking and bickering here? This is a place for deliberation and discussion! Lively discussion at times, but fair exchange.
Thank you !
No, Victor, I am far from a priest. A woman, a mother and a grandmother. But the communion rail is a great equalizer and I could not think of a better example of neutrality.
Doesn't the communion rail exclude non-Catholics, and, if so, how can it be a "great equalizer"?
Granted there is corruption in SCOTUS, but were it so simple.
Not just the money. The Supreme Court has given Trump six months of immunity,by taking the case and then sitting on it's ass, It is too late for a Jury to render a verdict before Nov 5th and that is the result Trump wanted.
There is solid evidence that six of them are ideologically motivated. I regard religion as a secular ideology. And the secular ideology has prevailed in SCOTUS to move us towards a fascist religious society.
The recent 10 commandments case in Louisiana will make it to the Supreme Court and I expect them to rule in favor of Louisiana. They didn't rule against banning Misefpristone , they just told the plaintiffs (the anti abortion Christian right) that they lacked standing and to go back and find a doctor who had standing.
It is not JUST about the money. Ideology, especially religion, is an even bigger motivator than money.
Well said. I call it Democratic profit sharing (by all) followed by Republican profit taking (by the rich).
Excellent Kerry! So how do we little guys get agency? I don’t like living a life of bitterness and resentment and don’t like being submissive to oppressive forces. In the civil rights era there was Martin Luther King and a host of leaders who successfully deployed a nonviolent movement to attack an evil system. Who is there today of such statue and moral grandeur to fight Vulture Capitalism?
I don’t have answers. Except that Robert Reich is my guru. It’s so convenient and gratifying that he happens to agree with everything I think. 🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠
Bernie Sanders
in one word -> CornelWest.
Cornell West? What about him? Other than a vote for West is, by default, a vote for Trump.
A vote for any 3rd party candidae is unfortunately a vote for trum. Seems like RFK is fading???
The problem is we have the example of Florida, where Bush won by a 537 vote margin in Florida.
Granted SCOTUS stepped in and stopped the count, regardless that shows how every vote counts.
Florida gave him the electoral votes needed, it takes 271 votes to win the election and Florida gave him 29 electoral votes, which gave him 271 electoral votes.
Jill stein carried enough votes away in the Swing states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania away from Hillary for Hillary to lost the electoral collage to Trump
And those three states are in play again, but by a larger margin because of
Muslims and black males.
If Trump wins those three states it will be because of them, they may be pissed at Biden, but they are really going to be pissed at what Trump is going to do to them and the Palestinians.
Talk of cutting off one's nose to spite the face.
If you have the right words - you will stand out
I would like to see published and distributed lists of each politician and candidate's donors: who, when, how much. It would be very educational, and if there were a viable third party around - something we are still lacking - many prospective voters would think twice about recycling the same old same old tools of mega donors. Evidently Robert Kennedy is more of a threat than the establishment can ignore, but hearing him in a debate would certainly improve the quality of discourse in this country.
I’m afraid hearing RFK Jr in a debate would be injurious to the mental health of this country, but hey, we elected a basket case in 2016.
Proof of that Kerry is that there are at least three RFK jr voters or trolls that comment on RR's threads. that are death wish anti vaxxers.
Did you get your 10 booster shots bootlicker?
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-.-- --- ..- / .- .-. . / .- / -.-. ..- -. - .-.-.-
Billy!
Are you going to blame bots in November or hope for another Steelers Dossier. Maybe you can blame Netanyahu for Biden’s failure. Remember when you lied about the veracity of the Dossier like a brainwashed fool.
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/11/politics/steele-dossier-fbi-durham-danchenko/index.html
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RFK jr is a threat because he received a $20 million subsidy from T. Mellon, the same billionaire who contributed $50 million to Trump's campaign. Money speaks loudly, don't you think so?
To follow the money we must have transparency and disclosure requirements. Imagine a Fox News commentator revealing who is paying for his/her comments, a candidate revealing that his/her campaign if being financed by so-and-so. Of course, lots of our voters evidently don't care as long as they are being told what they want to hear, but that is another problem. We must start with something and a demand for transparency is the least we can do.
The Socialist Demon Rats always supporting destructive economic policies : AMERICA LAST
Although The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) of 2002—the McCain-Feingold Act—was presumably about campaign financing, it was clearly designed to permit the government to limit who could speak and when they could speak. Clearly, then, Citizens United was a victory for free speech.
In a free society, individuals, groups, organizations, corporations, and unions would be free say or publish anything at any time about any political candidate. They would also be free to spend any amount of money in whatever way they choose for or against any candidate they choose. There would be no speech restrictions, public financing of elections, spending limits, donation limits, disclosure requirements, distinctions between hard and soft money, or campaign-finance restrictions.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2020/02/laurence-m-vance/citizens-united-revisited/
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If you want to let corporations speak, then let's have them speak without any human or AI involvement. The fact is that corporations can't speak- only individual humans in the corporation can speak. So, before making any political donation, the corporation or union should poll each and every stakeholder, including workers and stockholders, to see if they are in agreement with the donation. As it now stands, it is only the corporate CEO's who decide where to send donations. We all know the CEO's favor Republicans because they are only interested in lower taxes for the wealthy. But the "corporation" is much more than just the CEO.
Spare me the details.
The elite which hijacked the Democratic Party are megalomaniacs who will use ANY MEANS to impose their will on us.
The November 2020 election was stolen, and as soon as our candidate announced his nintention to run for re-election Socialist Demon Rats began a LAWFARE in which they used fake criminal indictments as a subterfuge for election interference.
Write something about Trump's extramarital affairs or his phony Trump University.
HUH?
Be that as it may , it is relevant WHY ?!?!?!?!?!?
Might I remind you of the former governor of New York? Seems his personal life was relevant but then he wasn't GOP was he?
There it is. You are an election denier. My original comment about you living in La La Land (the mental state of someone who is not aware of what is really happening) is accurate. You are typical of a MAGA person who follows the Commie Traitor Trump. The 2016 election (guess what, he won that year) in this county there were 116,694 election locations. There were 917,694 loyal GOP and Dem citizens working many long hours to be sure that the voting is fair, accurate and legal. I'm sure the numbers were similar in 2020. I know that for sure because I have been, along with my GOP and Dem friends, working at the poles to be sure the elections are accurate. By making this claim I would guess that you have never worked at the poles or been an Election Judge in your county. It is easy to do. Just call the county clerks office in the county you reside in and ask to volunteer. Once you go through the training and work an election or two you will find out that cheating is all but impossible. My final suggestion to you MAGA folks is that since you are so unhappy with our already Great USA, pack up your family and move to Russia or Iran or some other country run by a dictator. They almost always have a one party system, sham elections, one national religion that bans or brutalizes other religions and they mostly treat women like dogs. Those three things seems to be what the current GOP, Trump and MAGA folks want. And please take the six Republican members of the Supreme Court with you. They too, don't seem to understand what true freedom for ALL citizens of our country is about. And please buy a one-way ticket and leave your passports at the gate. Cheers... GH
>>>>>>There it is. You are an election denier.<<<<<<
WHAT ?!?!?!?!?!?!?
I have recognized since day one that the November 3rd, 2020 ELECTIONS WERE STOLEN - I did not stutter, I did not waffle .
The National Security Apparatchick STOLE the election because president Trump "insulted" the CIA and he would NOT support the Uranian Proxy War.
,
There it is, again. First off you can't prove your accusations and remember that the MAGA Traitor Anti-American states attorneys general in the Red States lost more than 60 court cases trying to prove DJT's claims of election fraud. DUH! By continuing to follow and believe the DJT lies about the election and everything else he blabbers from his diarrhea of the mouth condition and repeated ad nauseam by Fox Fake News you have blinded yourself to the real truth. In addition, with traitors live Steve Bannon, you have you have glued yourself to the millions of other MAGA folks who fall under the definition of STUPID. Meaning..."having or showing great lack of intelligence or common sense." Please use what little, I hope, common sense you may have left and do as I suggested. Sign up to be an election worker in your county for the election this fall and for a few more years after that. You will be in the middle of each election cycle and you can point out to your county election officials just where you have found all of the fake ballots and corruption, if you can. After you do this, then come back and tell us what you learned. If you can't do this small thing to serve your country then anything you have to say has no relevance here... or anywhere in our Already Great USA. Cheers... GH
You're living in La La Land Mr. Afraid to put your name on your comments.
You'll never get a straight answer here.. True Maga!!
Yo Gary , and you came to that "conclusion" HOW?
I have been ranting on this for a good while.I tell people all the time that our representatives in Congress only represent the people who give them the most money.
This is exactly why our food, electric,housing,Etc are so expensive,the corporate stiffs and the billionaire class are LEGALLY ALLOWED to bribe our politicians and our courts,and we have no say in it.And they are the only ones represented by our Congress and SCOTUS,and all we are is ignored and our rights steamrolled.
Damn straight it's time for this bullshit to stop!!
It’s not just that we are ignored. We are manipulated and, worse, used by corporations for low wage labor to make them their profits so the big-wigs can strut around in their billion dollar life-styles. They would be nothing without the workers in those corporations.
The needs of the many are the sins of the few, likewise the need to try our best to protect our climate hence the environment, can never be more urgent, that said, the greed by those like big oil and big AG, along with a bought and paid for Supreme Court, those conservatives have plans, those plans include more for corporate America, further erode environmental regulations, no labor and consumer protections and last but not least, gut the social safety net, so more tax cuts for ultra wealthy billionaires and endless corporate subsides, their mantra is, all for me and none for thee
Ironically they and those they care about will suffer the terrible consequences.
Truly a ship of fools. The march of folly.
Indeed, truly a ship of fools and a ship that will eventually sink!
Jon:
You've been reading the Project 2025 manifesto!
\Vince S
Yes, and is scary as hell
its disgraceful !
Disgraceful indeed, someone give me a vomit bag, for their utter greed and distaste for all things of virtue and of democracy itself, all that goes out the window, for more money and of course more power, their greatest aphrodisiac
Hi Melissa. I understand ranting. It shows your passion and perhaps ineffectiveness. We need a plan to change the rules. See my comment about this.
She’s not ineffective! She has 41 likes so far! She’s inspiring the cavalry to come over the hill! Her kind of mind is just what we need!
OK. 41 likes will help move the needle. Every bit helps. Write to your elected official too.
https://equalcitizens.us/against-super-pacs/
This strategy may work. Thanks for sharing Steve. Regarding another matter- gun ownership: if the SCOTUS follows an "originalism" interpretation of the Second Amendment, the same strategy could apply: A state enacts a law that forbids ownership of guns with exceptions for some individuals when strict rules are followed. Ownership of automatic weapons are forbidden, except for certain individuals as the State decides. The those who object to the new gun ownership restrictions can appeal eventually to the SCOTUS. Then the SCOTUS can revisit and overturn Scilia's prior ruling in favor of the explicit original language of the Second Amendment: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Does the Amendment provide the right to bear arms ONLY to members of well regulated Militias. For all others, is there no Second Amendment right? If the SCOTUS decides "A well regulated milita" governs the ruling, legislatures, not the SCOTUS may decide who has a right to own automatic weapons, and all other weapons as well.
Or the SCOTUS could apply the following logic: the right to bear arms only applies to muskets, because there were no automatic weapons when the second amendement was originated. This is a weaker argument.
Originalism, is how this most corrupt ever Supreme Court in history of conservatives define it and it is according to their politics, for like I and many have said, all they all are these far righties, is politicians in black robes
Can one leverage "originalism" to eliminate the right to bear assault weapons that are designed to kill as many people as possible?
>>>>>>>>Does the Amendment provide the right to bear arms ONLY to members of well regulated Militias<<<<<<
Firstly, the words "well regulated" did not have the FASCISTIC connotation you implied.
What did “well-regulated” mean circa 1787?
It meant, simply, well-trained and equipped.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2013/11/eric-peters/what-is-a-well-regulated-militia/
Secondly , as the Ninth Amendment makes eminently clear WE THE PEOPLE *** RETAINED*** the right to use firearms to defend our right to life:
Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution 3:§§ 1890--91
1833
§ 1890.
The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them. And yet, though this truth would seem so clear, and the importance of a well regulated militia would seem so undeniable, it cannot be disguised, that among the American people there is a growing indifference to any system of militia discipline, and a strong disposition, from a sense of its burthens, to be rid of all regulations. How it is practicable to keep the people duly armed without some organization, it is difficult to see. There is certainly no small danger, that indifference may lead to disgust, and disgust to contempt; and thus gradually undermine all the protection intended by this clause of our national bill of rights.
https://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/amendIIs10.html
Hi Contumacious. I did not intend my comment to reflect a political theory such as Fascism. I do not see the connection. Denmark has strict gun control laws. New Zealand has banned individuals from owning automatic weapons. These countries are not fascistic. The meaning of a well regulated militia in 1787 will be defined by the legislature or the SCOTUS. The key word is "militia". The purpose of the second amendment was to ensure we had a militia in order to secure our free State- which at the time meant to maintain our freedom from Britain. But you make a valid point that if we experience a rise to power of a fascist government, such as Hitler accomplished when he convinced the unhappy German people he would "Make Germany Great Again", many of us, driven by fear, may want to own an assault weapon to protect ourselves from unknown assailants in our midst (like the brown shirts of Germany, the KKK, or the Oath Keepers). Had the Jews of Latvia owned AR 15s in the 1930s, fewer than 220,000 would have murdered by the fascists between 1939-1945. I hope our country maintains its democratic republic and finds a way to eliminate private ownership of automatic weapons. To realize our potential, we must find a way to trust and listen to each other. Thanks for your comment Contumacious.
>>>>>I did not intend my comment to reflect a political theory such as Fascism. I do not see the connection<<<<<<
The CREATOR of Fascism - BENITO MUSSOLINI - meant to adopt a socioeconomic system wherein GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRATS determined what rights , if any, individuals have
...The Fascist State organizes the nation, but leaves a sufficient margin of liberty to the individual; the latter is deprived of all useless and possibly harmful freedom, but retains what is essential; the deciding power in this question cannot be the individual, but the State alone....
https://sourcebooks.web.fordham.edu/mod/mussolini-fascism.asp
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Exactly and that's why SCOTUS was losing their shit over the proposed $50.00 limit for gifts. That would help put an end to the Harlan Crow playbook of buying your own personal justice and having the judicial ruling in his favor. This needs to be done across the board and proposing to mandate restrictions on conservative Trump- supporting organizations like Citizens United would be a good place to start.
One election cycle my Rep Ann Wagner got the most money from the people who manage her campaign. And then there are the bankers, the invertment firms. She is on the House financial committee working for their interests. They own her.
How? They make the laws and if 44-45% of the country still don't see the path the country is going down how can it be stopped? I mean if every woman saw the danger we are in right now to losing our rights and medical needs I would say we had a chance, but women who are willing to say they are voting for Trump? I do not understand that!
Melissa, and that is why there are key issues that have vast public support and no legislation passed to enact what the public wants.
Elections were intended to be of, for, and by the people (sorry if that’s out of order); now they go to the highest bidder. It’s highly disturbing and corrupt.
“Free” speech should be free.
Corporations aren't made of flesh and blood. Are not "born of women." The notion that the 14th amendment equates them to "persons" was bases on a "mistake{ in a headnote in a 1886 SCOTUS case.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Clara_County_v._Southern_Pacific_Railroad_Co.
Garland could file a petition to correct the error.
The concept that money = speech is based on that mistake,
Alito would argue that corporations are the product of immaculate conception.
They are! Of course, it depends on what you mean by "immaculate," a dirty word it has proved to be.
Yes ; an ugly word, condemning every female who would have sex, as not a virgin, and therefore ; used goods. truly sick.
Not alive! Certainly not a real feeling human woman. Women were put in a no win situation. No matter how virtuous or innocent ; they were damned. No woman could get pregnant and have the impossible, 'saintly and pure' virgin birth. Like a bottle of wine ; If "uncorked" they were ruined, used goods. an expendable consumable. to be bought or stolen. Never free with self determination.
The only way to achieve a pregnancy and still have a "virgin" would be using IVF. I think the "Immaculate" deception is " the greatest story ever told". the "religious" men (like Sam Alito) thought natural intercourse was dirty ; hence a virgin birth was "immaculate". What an evil word. No ordinary woman could possibly be a virgin and a mother.. And these sickos made it impossible for a real woman to be "pure". They projected their own lust onto the women and girls who were often their victims.
Interesting point but it’s not going to change anything. Nothing in Citizens United v FEC relies on that old case. Besides that, this court relies primarily on “originalism” and “textualism” as primary analysis tools, stare decisis be damned! As should be obvious by now, this SCOTUS will get to the answer that big business and the oligarchs want no matter what damage it does to democracy.The court has to be changed to get rid of or at least neutralize Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh. The combination of Calvinism and Catholicism is too much for this democracy to bear!
Calvinists and Catholics have their own deep class divisions, and it is something worth keeping in mind.
Yes. Thanks for reminding me. I meant to refer to the ultraconservatives in each…who also seen to be the most vocal. As a liberal Catholic, I’ve been critical of the Catholic church since the 5th grade. As for Calvin, seems that many wealthy Evangelicals have bought in to the idea that people are rich because God has chosen them.
Of course, they all forget that a Camel can pass through the eye of a needle easier than a rich man can reach heaven. So it seems that the number one attribute to being a conservative Christian is….drum roll…hypocrisy!
>>>>>>>no matter what damage it does to democracy.<<<<
Johnny , HOW do you define democracy?
Explain clearly and succintly how that "democracy" is adversely affected ?
Knock yourself out
I’m not going to mince words. I should have said “our democracy”.
>>>>>I should have said “our democracy”.<<<<<<
"OUR" like affecting only the SOCIALIST DEMON RATS "democracy"
Good bye
"Nothing in Citizens United v FEC relies on that old case." Actually Buckley v Valeo and the "speech" BS is the basis of Citizens' United.
Yes. Buckley opened the door by removing spending limits.The problem with the first amendment is that it does anticipate mass media, its concentration and its takeover by corporate interests. These “originalists” care little about the purpose of 1A so long as they can twist it to mean what their oligarch puppeteers want.
Daniel ; but would Garland do such a thing? He is a "conservative" , so in the oldest sense of the word, that might seem possible ; But today's 'Conservatism" is a very different point of view: isn't it?
Daniel ; If only Garland would do that.
Thanks for the reference.
Not an innocent mistake, hence uncorrected to this day.
Garland file a petition to correct the error Daniel? Garland the coup enabler?
Hope springs eternal.
That is all that is left is hope. Daniel.
I feel like that person who is crawling into a 55 gal drum, that I knew will be sealed, that the dude standing over me with a pistol will change his mind.
Or that person digging their own grave. Why? In both cases hope is leading to prolonged suffering
Madam Pompadour was dragged resisting to the guillotine, Marie Antoinette walked up on her on accord. She essentially consented to her death, and thus committed suicide. Madam Pompadour made her killers work for it.
Those who climb the steps of the Gallows or walk the long mile are actually willing participants in their own death. or they hope that at the last minute there will be a change and they will live.
Fight, fight, fight to the very end.
Garland didn’t bring charges against Trump for J6 because the actual crimes of that day were committed by the FBI. Fake outrage and charges are setting the stage for you to howl like a baby when genocide Joe gets beat. If the author of the crime bill, friend of Strom Thurmond, that lied about graduating college at the top of his class is your North Star, that may explain why you’re lost.
.-- . .-.. .-.. ..--..
Corporations are not people - neither is a one day conceived embryo
I don't think there is anything Garland can do that will make a difference. But maybe you can provide contrary evidence..
The evidence is, by his actions and inactions, that Garland is complicit. And proof is his background.
The most right wing of Senators in March 2016 was Orrin Hatch R-UT. Obama had an obstructionist Republican Senate and wanted a win, so he asked Hatch for the name of a Senator that he thought would get the approval of Mitch McConnell, and Hatch gave him the name of a Lawyer that had served as a moderator for the Federalist Society, a true blue, right winger named Merrick Garland.
McConnell wasn't playing the ideological game, he was playing the politics game and was not about to give Obama, an American with a black African father, a win.
Garland is tainted goods.
He could stir some shit every once in a while…as could Durbin. But both are disinclined. Give me Sheldon Whitehouse or Jamie Raskin v these two milk toast spectators.
Because of internal rules, i.e. filibuster and cloture, until Congress enters an appearance in a case before the court, they have no standing.
I was suggesting some inspiring call to action. I wrote Dick Durbin early in the Biden admin suggesting that the Senate filibuster rules be revised. While it makes sense to ensure that the minority party has a chance to speak and debate, once ample time has been allowed, it’s time to vote. What I got back from Durbin’s was a bunch of history as if he needed to maintain the tradition of, IMHO, unconstitutional inaction in the rule. As it stands today it takes a supermajority to pass anything which is not what the founders intended. Now, people like Tuberville can damage the military by keeping backfill promotions from happening. Paralysis that is self inflicted.
Repubs throw firebombs. Dems threaten to light a match.
Never up, never in.
Irish Mouse ; Yes, we do have a massive "poll tax", which was once outlawed, but masquerades as "Campaign contributions". Most of US can't even begin to compete with the billionaires. It gets worse every 'election' cycle.
Laurie—I totally agree. Democrats should attempt to forget about conservative right-wing Christians who insist on wearing their MAGA hats to watch their FOX make-believe and focus on the real beneficiaries of the Don’s favors and his Reps in Congress. They’re bought, signed , sealed, and have been delivering for a long while now.
Billionaires and the corporations they built and support are the real puppet masters, here. If enough people wake up to this, maybe for the first time in history sheer numbers can make real inroads to change the power structure.
If political advertising were restricted to Public Radio and TV, then a huge campaign budget funded by the moneyed elite wouldn’t be needed.
TO QUOTE ROBERT REICH.......
Today’s moneyed interests are far richer in proportion to average Americans and the American economy as a whole than they were when FDR took them on. Corporate profits are near record levels, and many big corporations are keeping prices high in order to reap even more. CEO pay is through the stratosphere. The stock market is hitting record highs.
The moneyed interests have done wonderfully well under Joe Biden, despite Biden’s support for labor unions and his crackdown on monopolies.
But it’s apparently not enough for them. They want additional tax cuts and regulation rollbacks and are willing to support Trump — and flush democracy down the toilet — in order to get them.
The big money influence indeed is legalised bribery. But the problem is how to change it. The construction is working for the corporations so they will find ways to escape limits to their donations. Can we find out a way to break into the system?
Not with the current SCOTUS, no.
The use of debunking is that it has practical consequences. So lets try...
which brings us back to stacking the court. Which brings us to the need to sweep Congress. We have emergencies now and longer term fixes like term limits and age limits don't meet the need. We are truly in a bind.
Citizens United gave extra weight to legacy and oil money at a time we need to deal with climate change. Put simply, and hyperbolically, our SCOTUS, the ones who voted for CU, will be mass murderers on an unprecedented scale. None of them will ever understand this and they will all be dead and gone before climate change gets in full swing. Such are the ways of the world.
Kennedy, John Roberts, Scalia, Alito, Thomas
Larry Lessig is working to pass a petition in Maine that woud lead to a case before SCOTUS to do away with superpacs. Based on a logic flaw in a lower court which allowed superpacs. I don't think SCOTUS cares a hoot about logic but it's worth a shot.
How we shut down superpacs here:
https://equalcitizensus.medium.com/an-update-on-maine-f26f58452ed4
see my reply
https ://www.cornelwest2024.com/
Vote for Cornel West, that is how to bring positive change
..........voting for the duopoly - Trump or Biden - will maintain all the inequities and loss of liberties all the huge wealth disparities in America
The messaging of even the Biden campaign is one of an auction not an election. There are multiple emails per day about whether Biden or Trump has raised more money. I am sure the communication is the same on the Trump side. Power groups will always dominate any government but the situation has become a blatant financial game. This is a very destructive pattern, especially when we are starring 3 deg. C warming in the face and will be unable to change course short of extinction.
The question is as climate further deteriorates will governments and the public work together in a WWII level quest for victory or will this be more of a Covid affair that divides the body politic leading to tribal chaos. I'm also thinking at some point the public may panic as they realize what they are up against.. 5, 10 20 years from now. The long hand of legacy oil money still has us in its dieing grasp.
I can recall the very beginning of our March 2020 Covid response, and at that moment, it WAS a WWII response. We were galvanized, and many continued that effort. However, by a couple months in, Trumpworld was polluting the whole country with their crazy, remember they quit the daily reports the day after the bleach incident?
It wasn’t the Covid challenge, it was Trump and his minions and their poison. It was madness.
We’re perfectly capable of a powerful, country-wide response to the climate disaster, it’s a “better late than never” situation, but we entered WWII pretty late, too. We were still pretty darn spectacular! We’re all still here, we can do it again! We just need to vote Blue, disperse the trumpian craziness and roll up our sleeves and get to work!
In Canada, there is a Limit to how much a party can spend on trying to get elected. They might raise way above that dollar amount.. but there is a limit on how much of that money can go towards their election campaign cycle.
Same here in the uk and a few months before Sunak called the election the Tories almost doubled the limit to enable them to use the donations of a particularly rich donor. None of the other parties has any chance of getting anywhere close to that figure. Fortunately they are now so despised and hated that they could spend 10x that amount and it wouldn’t make any difference. They are toast.
now how can we make that happen here for the Republicans.
Make the Fox and Sinclair networks illegal as propaganda machines that fraudulently represent facts to their viewership. Pull them off the air and refuse to let them back on until they meet the strict standards that factual news reporting requires. That would be a good place to start. Take away the propaganda bottle they’re all sucking on and they will have to consume actual, factual news.
Personally I don't think networks that preach sedition should be allowed to be on the air. But that's just me.
Mr. Reich, I am learning more than I ever thought I would by reading what you have been sharing. I hope I can continue learning from you.
The supreme court voted for corruption. What is the difference with prostitution?
You mean the SC are pimping the polliticians?
It all benefits both political parties and even helps to eliminate a sitting congressman in the next election with a more pliable one of the same party who suits the AIPAC in this case, but it can happen in a different scenario as well, they give money to both parties, but they give a lot more to the other in a certain district to change the party in that district !
It is all a cutthroat business, but they all like it and they all benefit as long as the PAC gets what it wants - that is Free Speech enforced by a Foreign PAC !
Professor, have fun !
I know you are a good guy,
but things are overtaking
and overwhelming !
Please, stay cool !
Positive comments are not always helpful !
Here's the Tour to Save Democracy video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eTsdi_gmnk
The tour is partnering with Field Team 6.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/
Corporations are people. They go to the bathroom and shit money for politicians to clean up.
No, first they go to an expensive restaurant and eat money, then they go to bathroom to do else !
They are Mr. Creosote.
I guess it is a joke ? I know the what the word means, but I am not sure how it applies in this context ? Please, pardon my ignorance.
There’s a Monty Python episode that features a terminally obese diner at an upscale restaurant named Mr. Creosote. After overeating, Mr. Creosote explodes, which is what many of us hope as the fate of bloated corporations.
we the people and our planet are being plundered by the Commandment, He who has the gold rules.
And so are the antics of a mime. But somehow, I feel we can do better.
Our economic, monetary, political system is chaotic and repressive. This near quarter of the 21st century has shown that democracy can't function from a class of people so far removed from the realities of the rank and file working class. Our government is in a vacuum sealed off from most people's lives. The capitalist system was shown by Karl Marx back in the 19th century to be more of a liberalization of feudalism than a utopian ideal it's been made out to be. The industrial revolution coincided with it to fuel that idea. There's been tinkering with socialism/communism to offset the disparities of classes capitalism demands. Centralized economies of communism were inefficient, it was realized.
But the Chinese have managed to blend useful aspects of most economic doctrines to serve as a beacon for how we could evolve our own brand of socialism with American characteristics. If the idea of socialism and strong government could replace the worn out notion those words are taboo.
That would take a political party's commitment towards that. A party willing to break with this system we've lived under now that obviously doesn't function well.
We don't have a party yet willing to commit to that. Both our political parties are corrupted.
Dr. Reich, please cite the case of the SCOTUS that decided that money is speech and corporations are people. Then let's discuss on your blog what can do to change the system. For example, assuming our Constitution is silent on this decision, perhaps Congress can write a law instead of the SCOTUS acting out the role of Congress in its vacuum. The details will help us figure out the best path forward.
Although The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) of 2002—the McCain-Feingold Act—was presumably about campaign financing, it was clearly designed to permit the government to limit who could speak and when they could speak. Clearly, then, Citizens United was a victory for free speech.
In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which was decided by the Supreme Court on January 21, 2010, by a 5-4 vote, the Court reversed the ruling of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that upheld the provisions of BCRA prohibiting unions and corporations from broadcasting the abovementioned “electioneering communications.” Unions and corporations no longer have to create political action committees (PACs) to spend money on “electioneering communications.”
In a free society, individuals, groups, organizations, corporations, and unions would be free say or publish anything at any time about any political candidate. They would also be free to spend any amount of money in whatever way they choose for or against any candidate they choose. There would be no speech restrictions, public financing of elections, spending limits, donation limits, disclosure requirements, distinctions between hard and soft money, or campaign-finance restrictions.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2020/02/laurence-m-vance/citizens-united-revisited/
Money is power, and when used to amplify speech it drowns the speech of those who lack money--hence plutocracy instead of democracy.
Victor Go To NIGHT SCHOOL
And Learn the reason the Founding Fathers adopted a >>>CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC<<<<< NOT A DEMOCRACY
Republic literally means rule by the people, and the US Constitution states that We the people are the rulers. We presumably rule by electing our representatives, but Trump and fascists like you have a problem with democracy, hence the "stolen election."
Like his chosen handle implies, C person is anxious to 1) label anyone who says “democracy” as uninformed or evil 2) get into semantics so as to hide his ideological deficiencies. I.e. he is either a troll or an a poorly educated gullible toady who finds solace in pot shots of no consequence. Ignore him.
So more money for speech means more power fir those who have it. Thats just fine with you, even though you certainly do not have that kind of money or power. You are yapping like a little dog for your owners who cant even be bothered to feed or notice you.
Thank you for the information Contumacious. Yes, the Citizens United ruling seems to be the issue Dr. Reich referenced. Dr. Reich, what practical steps to you recommend? Fretting, worrying, and ranting must give way to effective action.
>>>>>>Dr. Reich, what practical steps to you recommend? Fretting, worrying, and ranting must give way to effective action.<<<<<
The Socialist Demon Rats decided to circumvent Citizens United by using LAWFARE against Preident Trump disguised as faked indictments thereby INTERFERING WITH THE ELECTION.
Hi Contumacious. I do not know who are the "Socialist Demon Rats", the meaning of "LAWFARE" or evidence of "faked indictments". Your comments are not leading to a meaningful dialogue. Meaningful dialogues on blogs such as this are more likely when one refrains from demeaning comments such as "Socialist Demon Rats". But you know this, correct?
The Socialist Demon Rats have populated the GLOBALIST ELITE which has hijacjed the Democratic Party.:
1- The Traditional Democrats would have never open the borders to over 15,000,000 unvetted illegals
2- They would have never taken upon themselves to ban gasoline, coal and LPG - not mandate EVs
3- They would be in Ukraine seeking to start a nuclear WW3 against Russia because the same is anti-Globalist
Guy, propaganda isn't very effective when it's too blatant. You should leave it to the professionals in the Kremlin. You're not good at it.
Contumacious is afflicted with verbal diarrhea.