If you have yet to hear the words "Super PAC" this year, plan on hearing them a great deal between now and the November General Election. Sadly, they're the effects of something we've been telling you about for quite a while now.
We've written about it extensively before, so we'll only summarize it here.
Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission first came before the Supreme Court in 2008, and it was decided two years ago this month. In short, the Supreme Court decision eliminated most major regulations on campaign financing, and left the door open for a special type of Political Action Committee to develop - the Super PAC. That type of PAC has truly altered the entire political landscape - and not for the better.
Unlike candidates, who have a limit on how much money they can take from individual donors, corporations, and unions, Super PACs have NO limit on how much money they can take in - or what candidate or cause they can support. What's more, Super PACs don't have to disclose who is giving them money in a timely fashion, and to a large degree, even how much money they've received, until long after the election is over. From casino magnates to former employees, and from major religious officials to members of a candidate's family, almost any American can be a Super PAC donor or operator.
That lack of timely reporting is a major loophole. While U.S. election law says that foreign interests, individuals, and corporations aren't supposed to donate money to American political campaigns, since Super PACs don't legally have to tell the FEC - the Federal Election Commission - who their donors are before the election, if a Super PAC is taking foreign money, who can tell? By the time it's known they've broken a rule, they can get away with paying a relatively small fine - with the candidate they helped sitting safely in office.
Of course, Super PACs can't directly coordinate with the candidate or the cause they nominally support. But other than that one major rule, Super PACs can do pretty much anything they want. They can even do what candidates say publicly that they don't want the Super PAC to do.
Of course, what those behind the Super PACs want to do is to collect vast sums of money.
So far this year, the numerous Super PACs that already exist have spent - not collected, but SPENT - $27.5 million dollars, according to a report by the Center for Responsive Politics. The final figure you've likely heard bounced around - as we have - for the final cost of all this political deregulation looks to be more than two billion dollars, for just this year's Presidential race. That's more than a billion dollars apiece spent by or for both the President and whoever the GOP nominee ends up being (likely Mitt Romney) by the finish of the Presidential election this year. The total tally looks to be closer to $6 billion dollars.
All because there are very few election rules with any kinds of teeth right now, mostly thanks to the Citizens United decision by our activist Supreme Court.
This ridiculous farce of swiss-cheesed pseudo-rules has become the primary focus of comedians Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart of Comedy Central, over the course of the last couple of weeks. Colbert has created a legitimate and fully legal Super PAC of his own, and using our currently worthless laws, has already run political ads on TV and online that have jokingly called Mitt Romney a serial killer and told South Carolina voters to vote for "Herman Cain" - while a picture of Colbert fills the screen.
The point that Colbert and Stewart make - and the point of a growing number of media figures from across the political spectrum, including us - is that having a system where these kinds of entities are allowed is a farce and an insult to our democratic republic.
For those idealists who somehow believe money doesn't rule our political system, this fact should make things crystal clear - right now, 94% of all federal offices go to the candidate who raises the most money.
What we have is no longer a system of politics and justice. It's the world's most expensive puppet show. As long as we allow it to continue, only the richest individuals and corporations will get a real say in how our government is run. The rest of us will simply be bystanders, while our politicians remain puppets controlled by the whims of the wealthiest idiots on Earth.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
A Distinct Lack Of Enthusiasm
While we're definitely not planning on using the new delivery service by Burger King that's being tested in the D.C. metro area, like most people, we're a bit sapped of energy after hard work. This year is an election year, and we're running harder than ever, so tired has almost become a normal state of mind for us.
That said, as we're looking at how the 2012 political landscape is beginning to shape up, one side of the standard political divide seems not only a bit more lacking in energy, but frankly disheartened. Both poll numbers and political action across the country are beginning to make it clear which side of the political ledger may be more ramped up this year - and it may not be who you expect.
Take the latest GOP debate on Monday in South Carolina.
The crowd at the event was obviously riled up, and some of the moments they cheered and jeered were actually pretty inappropriate. Yet it was clear that those people attending the debate were conservative, leaning extremist, and they were fired up - especially on the idea of cutting taxes.
Yet, new data from the Pew Research Center says the majority of Americans think they currently pay the right amount of taxes, and that a near majority think the total tax revenues the federal government are taking in are LESS than they should be. In fact, another recent study also made clear that Americans see significant and rising inequality between rich and poor - including majorities of persons in all three major political designations (Republicans, Democrats, and Independents). In short, Americans know the government needs more tax dollars - and they think it's high time the rich actually pay at least as much as the rest of us.
Looking at political actions, the enthusiasm seems to point even more strongly to a political left that's far more fired up and ready to go than their counterparts on the right.
Yesterday, in Wisconsin, Democrats gathered more than one million signatures to recall extremist Republican Governor Scott Walker. That number is almost double what was necessary to recall tthe governor, and represents nearly a quarter of all the votes cast in Wisconsin in 2010. Democrats got all those signatures in just sixty days, in one of the most difficult states in the nation to collect signatures.
Left-leaning Wisconsinites weren't the only ones cheering their own efforts on Tuesday.
Just next door in Michigan, a group collecting signatures to repeal the anti-democratic and highly draconian "Emergency Manager" law only needs to collect 161,000 signatures - and they say they already have nearly 200,000. They're temporarily delaying turning in their paperwork, however. They just want to make sure the number of signatures they have is so overwhelming, like in Wisconsin, that there will be NO question as to the will of the people.
This says nothing regarding the embarrassingly low Republican voter turnout numbers in both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primaries, along with a GOP nomination process that is all but over (even though the 24-hour news media continues valiantly stringing the process along).
All that, and in the first official poll of the 2012 season, taken by Public Policy Polling, President Obama is already posting a five-point lead on Mitt Romney, before the President has even begun seriously campaigning. Meanwhile, the President's re-election committee - the group with far and away the most money so far of ANY campaign in 2012 - is just BEGINNING to secure its media buys.
We're with most of you - certain that this year, many of the most important elections at all levels will be fought by impassioned groups on many sides of different issues.
Even so, there is an increasing amount of evidence that no matter how hard Republicans and sane conservatives cheer this year, their hearts just may not be in it to win it.
That said, as we're looking at how the 2012 political landscape is beginning to shape up, one side of the standard political divide seems not only a bit more lacking in energy, but frankly disheartened. Both poll numbers and political action across the country are beginning to make it clear which side of the political ledger may be more ramped up this year - and it may not be who you expect.
Take the latest GOP debate on Monday in South Carolina.
The crowd at the event was obviously riled up, and some of the moments they cheered and jeered were actually pretty inappropriate. Yet it was clear that those people attending the debate were conservative, leaning extremist, and they were fired up - especially on the idea of cutting taxes.
Yet, new data from the Pew Research Center says the majority of Americans think they currently pay the right amount of taxes, and that a near majority think the total tax revenues the federal government are taking in are LESS than they should be. In fact, another recent study also made clear that Americans see significant and rising inequality between rich and poor - including majorities of persons in all three major political designations (Republicans, Democrats, and Independents). In short, Americans know the government needs more tax dollars - and they think it's high time the rich actually pay at least as much as the rest of us.
Looking at political actions, the enthusiasm seems to point even more strongly to a political left that's far more fired up and ready to go than their counterparts on the right.
Yesterday, in Wisconsin, Democrats gathered more than one million signatures to recall extremist Republican Governor Scott Walker. That number is almost double what was necessary to recall tthe governor, and represents nearly a quarter of all the votes cast in Wisconsin in 2010. Democrats got all those signatures in just sixty days, in one of the most difficult states in the nation to collect signatures.
Left-leaning Wisconsinites weren't the only ones cheering their own efforts on Tuesday.
Just next door in Michigan, a group collecting signatures to repeal the anti-democratic and highly draconian "Emergency Manager" law only needs to collect 161,000 signatures - and they say they already have nearly 200,000. They're temporarily delaying turning in their paperwork, however. They just want to make sure the number of signatures they have is so overwhelming, like in Wisconsin, that there will be NO question as to the will of the people.
This says nothing regarding the embarrassingly low Republican voter turnout numbers in both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primaries, along with a GOP nomination process that is all but over (even though the 24-hour news media continues valiantly stringing the process along).
All that, and in the first official poll of the 2012 season, taken by Public Policy Polling, President Obama is already posting a five-point lead on Mitt Romney, before the President has even begun seriously campaigning. Meanwhile, the President's re-election committee - the group with far and away the most money so far of ANY campaign in 2012 - is just BEGINNING to secure its media buys.
We're with most of you - certain that this year, many of the most important elections at all levels will be fought by impassioned groups on many sides of different issues.
Even so, there is an increasing amount of evidence that no matter how hard Republicans and sane conservatives cheer this year, their hearts just may not be in it to win it.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Showboating & Complacency
As people who enjoy traveling and do a good bit of it for business - and especially since at least one member of our staff has worked for a travel agency in the past - we often keep an eye out for stories of both positive and negative travel experiences. The most recent travel horror story didn't take an eagle eye to spot in the media - though its similarities to another voyage that also ended in disaster this week may not be readily apparent.
Over the weekend, off the coast of Italy, a massive passenger cruise ship, the Costa Concordia, one of the many ships of the Carnival cruise line, ran aground and had to be abandoned by over 4200 passengers and crew. It now appears that the Captain wanted to show off his ship to some people on the ship, as well as those watching from the shoreline.
To say that the Captain was stupid, immature, and criminally selfish isn't far from the truth, since at least six people died because of his literal showboating. Sixteen souls - including two Americans - remain missing. The captain is facing manslaughter charges, and his career is effectively over. The problem here isn't just the Captain's actions, but the entire shipping and sea travel industry - as well as multiple governments, including that of the U.S. and Italy.
In a similar way, this week, as the 2012 GOP Presidential race steered its way toward South Carolina, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman took a quick trip to the state, brought nearly his entire family and campaign staff with him to begin the next leg of his presidential campaign - and then proceeded to run his campaign aground, in front of all of them, ending his adventure after just one caucus and one primary election.
After Huntsman's announcement, and the now nearly certain verdict that Mitt Romney will be the GOP's nominee, one Republican party official we know commented, "What the hell is up with that? One caucus, one primary, and the nominee is already decided?!"
With politics in the United States right now, everyone involved, from campaign staffers and party personnel, to members of the media who cover politics know; the problem is Citizens United, and there doesn't appear to be a rescue likely to come anytime soon. With a campaign finance system that has very few regulations, and gaping holes in the regulations it does have, money continues to capsize the opportunities of great candidates who simply can't raise the enormous sums needed to stay afloat in today's political jungle. The only way to currently win an election is to have at least as much money in your campaign coffers - if not more - than your next closest challenger.
As solid a candidate as Jon Huntsman was for the GOP - and he was truly the candidate with the broadest potential that the GOP had running - when his campaign ship ran out of money, his race to the finish line was sunk.
What many don't realize about the cruise business, is how closely its problems mirror those of the U.S. electoral system. There is very little oversight in much of the sea travel industry. As a New York Times story about the crash points out, "While airline pilots are directed and guided by controllers on the ground, sea captains are considered to be in complete control." Company directors - some of whom have little or no experience captaining ships at all - determine ocean travel routes for cruise liners, and sometimes shipping routes these days. On passenger ships, many times safety lessons are treated the same way pre-flight safety instruction is treated on planes - as a nuisance, something that if the passengers miss, they won't miss much.
In short, what few regulations they have for navigational safety amount to complete trust in their leader, that he would never run their ship aground.
As moderate Republicans and former Huntsman backers - and now the last passengers on the Costa Concordia - can tell you, simply trusting your leader not to capsize your vessel is a very poor safety system indeed.
Over the weekend, off the coast of Italy, a massive passenger cruise ship, the Costa Concordia, one of the many ships of the Carnival cruise line, ran aground and had to be abandoned by over 4200 passengers and crew. It now appears that the Captain wanted to show off his ship to some people on the ship, as well as those watching from the shoreline.
To say that the Captain was stupid, immature, and criminally selfish isn't far from the truth, since at least six people died because of his literal showboating. Sixteen souls - including two Americans - remain missing. The captain is facing manslaughter charges, and his career is effectively over. The problem here isn't just the Captain's actions, but the entire shipping and sea travel industry - as well as multiple governments, including that of the U.S. and Italy.
In a similar way, this week, as the 2012 GOP Presidential race steered its way toward South Carolina, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman took a quick trip to the state, brought nearly his entire family and campaign staff with him to begin the next leg of his presidential campaign - and then proceeded to run his campaign aground, in front of all of them, ending his adventure after just one caucus and one primary election.
After Huntsman's announcement, and the now nearly certain verdict that Mitt Romney will be the GOP's nominee, one Republican party official we know commented, "What the hell is up with that? One caucus, one primary, and the nominee is already decided?!"
With politics in the United States right now, everyone involved, from campaign staffers and party personnel, to members of the media who cover politics know; the problem is Citizens United, and there doesn't appear to be a rescue likely to come anytime soon. With a campaign finance system that has very few regulations, and gaping holes in the regulations it does have, money continues to capsize the opportunities of great candidates who simply can't raise the enormous sums needed to stay afloat in today's political jungle. The only way to currently win an election is to have at least as much money in your campaign coffers - if not more - than your next closest challenger.
As solid a candidate as Jon Huntsman was for the GOP - and he was truly the candidate with the broadest potential that the GOP had running - when his campaign ship ran out of money, his race to the finish line was sunk.
What many don't realize about the cruise business, is how closely its problems mirror those of the U.S. electoral system. There is very little oversight in much of the sea travel industry. As a New York Times story about the crash points out, "While airline pilots are directed and guided by controllers on the ground, sea captains are considered to be in complete control." Company directors - some of whom have little or no experience captaining ships at all - determine ocean travel routes for cruise liners, and sometimes shipping routes these days. On passenger ships, many times safety lessons are treated the same way pre-flight safety instruction is treated on planes - as a nuisance, something that if the passengers miss, they won't miss much.
In short, what few regulations they have for navigational safety amount to complete trust in their leader, that he would never run their ship aground.
As moderate Republicans and former Huntsman backers - and now the last passengers on the Costa Concordia - can tell you, simply trusting your leader not to capsize your vessel is a very poor safety system indeed.
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