Money As Speech

Fighting For A Legitimate Democracy, By And For The People

April 21, 2014 Kevin Zeese & Margaret Flowers, www.alternet.org Resist! Corruption, Money As Speech, Popular Resistance

Two weeks ago in reaction to the McCutcheon decision we touched on an issue that will become central to our movement: Has the democratic legitimacy of the US government been lost? We raised this issue by quoting a Supreme Court Justice, former US president and a sitting US Senator: “The legitimacy of the US government is now in question. By illegitimate we mean it is ruled by the 1%, not a democracy ‘of, by and for the people.’ The US has become a carefully designed plutocracy that creates laws to favor the few. As Stephen Breyer wrote in his dissenting opinion, American law is now ‘incapable of dealing with the grave problems of democratic legitimacy.’ Or, as former president, Jimmy Carter said on July 16, 2013 “America does not at the moment have a functioning democracy.” “Even members of Congress admit there is a problem. Long before the McCutcheon decision Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) described the impact of the big banks on the government saying: ‘They own the place.’ We have moved into an era of a predatory form of capitalism rooted in big finance where profits are more important than people’s needs or protection of the planet.”

The Dubious Authority Of The Supreme Court

April 18, 2014 Rob Hager, www.counterpunch.org Resist! Money As Speech, Supreme Court

Gov. Patrick Deval said in a radio interview on April 15, 2014 that “I respect the authority of the Supreme Court to make those decisions” like McCutcheon. I write the Governor to clarify his position, and to express opposition to his statement. To “respect” authority in the abuse of its power is to align oneself with and further enable that same abuse. Experience shows that contesting that authority, especially in the case of the Supreme Court, has the effect of curbing it. Converting a democracy into a plutocracy is a task of constitutional dimensions. If the Governor does sincerely believe that the Roberts Court legitimately has the power to amend the Constitution, I would like to have him point out to me where precisely the Constitution gives that power to an unelected Court to exercise in a 5-4 vote? Article V seems to have a different, much more difficult, process in mind, involving a 2/3 vote of each house of Congress, and then ratification by ¾ of the states. The elected representatives of both Congress and the states, through their legislative acts, have expressed an entirely different view than five judges on the Supreme Court about the constitutional importance of keeping big money out of politics.

Study: US Is Not A Democracy

April 15, 2014 Eric Zuesse, www.commondreams.org Educate! Corporatism, Money As Speech

A study, to appear in the Fall 2014 issue of the academic journal Perspectives on Politics, finds that the U.S. is no democracy, but instead an oligarchy, meaning profoundly corrupt, so that the answer to the study’s opening question, "Who governs? Who really rules?" in this country, is: "Despite the seemingly strong empirical support in previous studies for theories of majoritarian democracy, our analyses suggest that majorities of the American public actually have little influence over the policies our government adopts. Americans do enjoy many features central to democratic governance, such as regular elections, freedom of speech and association, and a widespread (if still contested) franchise. But, ..." and then they go on to say, it's not true, and that, "America's claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened" by the findings in this, the first-ever comprehensive scientific study of the subject, which shows that there is instead "the nearly total failure of 'median voter' and other Majoritarian Electoral Democracy theories [of America].

The Bitter Truth About Money and Politics

April 14, 2014 Eric Reed, www.mainstreet.com Educate! Corporate Personhood, Money As Speech

By now only five people seem to believe that money doesn't buy influence in politics. Or, more accurately, they just don't care. Recently the Supreme Court addressed the issue of campaign contributions in deciding McCutcheon vs. FEC. In the SCOTUS opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts and four colleagues held that money in politics corrupts, or appears to corrupt, only in cases of quid pro quo bribery. In other words, you can have a politician on retainer just so long as he never itemizes the bill. For everyone to whom that looks wrong, it turns out you actually think it's fine. You must have been looking at some other country where corporations get the same rights as citizens. Of course everyone knows better. The voters know it, the politicians know it, people spending this money know it. And, whether they protest too much or not, the Justices know it.

How We Can Fight Back Against The Supreme Court

April 10, 2014 Cenk Uyger, www.readersupportednews.org Organize! Money As Speech, Protest, Supreme Court

"The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite." -- Thomas Jefferson When asked if his payments to politicians had worked, Charles Keating replied, "I want to say in the most forceful way I can: I certainly hope so." When asked outside of Independence Hall if we have a republic or a monarchy, Benjamin Franklin replied, "A republic, if you can keep it." Well, here we are, aren't we? Right at the point where we are about to find out whether we can keep it or not. The Supreme Court has decided that a small amount of people will get to control our entire political system. Which politician or political party can resist hundreds of millions of dollars put in at once? Maybe one person can resist, maybe one party can resist for a small period of time, but eventually they will succumb.

McCutcheon Decision Is Our Rallying Cry

April 8, 2014 Kevin Zeese & Margaret Flowers, www.alternet.org Educate! Money As Speech, Supreme Court

While some still believe the United States is the greatest democracy on Earth, the US is actually a plutocracy, a government ruled by the wealthiest. The recent Supreme Court decision in McCutcheon will subject us to an even stronger plutocracy that no one will be able to deny. The ‘rule of money’ will become more deeply entrenched at a time of economic and environmental crisis. In the US today, a small group of people rule over hundreds of millions of us through a government corrupted by money; and controls the economy through mega-businesses that receive special treatment from that government, prevent entrepreneurial competition and control tens of millions of people through low wages and high debt. The plutocrats fund the only two parties allowed to run for office and the people are manipulated by fear to vote against their interests in a mirage democracy of rigged elections.

McCutcheon Makes Clear, Ending The Rule Of Money Is Key Challenge

April 4, 2014 Richard Eskow, www.ourfuture.org Organize! Corruption, Democracy, Money As Speech, Supreme Court

Wealthy interests are taking this struggle very seriously. This ruling is the result of a decades-long strategy to repopulate the American judicial system with political partisans willing to act boldly in the interests of corporations and the wealthy. That does not mean that all is lost. There is a national mood of deep dissatisfaction with a status quo based on privilege and inequality. Sometimes all that is needed is a galvanizing moment, after which a mood becomes a movement. With luck, and if we work to make it so, this could be that moment for a movement to restore democracy in the United States. Previous generations rose to the urgency of their moments: to end slavery, to give women the vote, to rebuild after the Great Depression, to establish civil rights and end wars. Today’s ruling points us to the defining struggle of today’s generation – a struggle for democracy itself. This defeat could ultimately lead to victory – if we respond to the urgency of the moment.

«1 2 3 »

Daily movement news and resources