THE STEALING OF AMERICA

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Money controls elections. Election results provide control of Congress, the decision making process of government. Results even control Presidents.

 

There is an old saying…..He who pays the fiddler calls the tune. How true!

 

Big money controlling the government has resulted in elected politicians becoming feudal serfs of those who have the money. Elected officials no longer represent the people. Major corporations and the rich reap the benefits of laws that make it easier for them to increase their net worth and profitability. To the detriment of the American people.

 

Former President Carter recently said that the United States was an oligarchy. He was correct. He said the United States became that way because of unlimited political bribery. Correct again.

 

Carter claims that large unlimited contributions by the rich are “…..a complete subversion of our political system as a payoff to major contributors.” He observed that elected officials consider “…..unlimited money as a great benefit to themselves.”

 

Our elected representatives are dance house ladies willing to dance with anyone who can pay their way. Major corporations and the rich buy all the tickets.

 

Million dollar contributions are the direct result of Citizen United decided several years ago. Recall, corporations are persons, they have a right to be heard, etc. Called freedom of speech. Citizen United and subsequent decisions paved the way. The modus operendi. Contributions would be to super PACs. The money in turn found its way into candidate’s coffers. All legal.

 

For years, the United States recognized the danger of large amounts of money influencing elected persons. Contributions were limited. Today, unbridled.

 

A perfect example is Hedge-Fund magnate Roger Mercer. He donated $11 million to a super PAC supporting Ted Cruz. If he had donated directly to Cruz’s campaign, his contribution would have been limited to $2,700.

 

Who is screwing who here?

 

Today, there are three ways to make contributions to candidates.

 

The first is the old fashioned method of personal direct payment. Limited by law. The $2,700 thing. The second is the relatively new super PAC indirect way which permits corporations and the rich to give unlimited dollars into the millions. The third involves contributions via non profit groups. Referred to as 501(c) (4) contributions. Disclosure not required.

 

Quite frankly, the nonprofit one confuses me. I cannot figure it out. All I know is that the contributor to the nonprofit fund is not disclosed. Important to those who do not want the public to know who they might be trying to influence or buy.

 

Analyzing which candidate is taking in the most money is difficult. Direct contributions are one item. Super PACs another. Considered separately for accounting and disclosure purposes.

 

Via the direct contribution route Hillary Clinton as of 7/31 had raised. $47.5 million. She had raised twice as much as any other candidate. Jeb Bush raised only $11.4 million re the direct donation route. A far cry from Clinton’s $47.5 million. However, Bush had raised considerably more when super PAC monies were considered. Bush had raised $103 million as opposed to Clinton’s $15.6 million.

 

Scott Walker announced his candidacy on July 13. Within days, Wisconsin billionaire Diane Hendricks contributed $5 million to the Walker Super PAC. In two weeks, Walker took in $20 million total via super PAC contributions. He even announced he was going to finance his candidacy with super PAC dollars rather than direct contributions.

 

Walker appears to be a favorite among super PAC contributors. His Wisconsin governor years have been supported by the Koch brothers. In addition to the $5 million Hendricks contribution, Marlene Ricketts gave $4.9 million. The owners of the Chicago Cubs $2.5 million.

 

Then there are those candidates who have few if any supporters with the big bucks. Bernie Sanders, for example. He raised $15.2 million via direct contributions. Significantly less from super PAC monies. Direct contributions represented 76 percent of the $15.2 million.

 

Ted Cruz has taken in $38 million via super PAC contributions. Glad to receive the money. However, he is right up front condemning the process. An intelligent man. He speaks effectively out of both sides of his mouth. He recently said, “Lobbyists and career politicians today make up what I call the Washington Cartel….. (They) on a daily basis are conspiring against the American people…..career politicians’ ears and wallets are open to the highest bidder.”

 

Joe Biden says that “…..where the money is, there’s almost implicitly some string attached.”

 

John Dingell, the 29 term Democratic Congressman from Michigan, recently stated, “…..our government has largely been put up for sale.”

 

John Kerry in his farewell remarks to the Senate in 2013 said, “…..alliance of money…..is steadily silencing the voice of the vast majority of Americans…..corrosion of money in politics…..muzzles more Americans than it empowers…..an imbalance that can only sow the seeds of unrest.”

 

In 2009, a year after the bank created recession, John Durbin said, “The banks…..are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill…..they frankly own the place.”

 

The America we knew is gone. Do we want it back? If so, we have to work for it. Citizen United must be reversed. Only the Supreme Court can do it. Which means the next member of the Court has to be a Democrat. Get involved. Watch for whom you vote. Party affiliation should not be the guiding force in who to vote for. Make candidates keep promises made. Let them know you are watching.

 

Keep in mind that money talks, bullshit walks. Another reason Citizens United has to go.

 

It is said we have become a 1 percent / 99 percent society. Things are bad. For the people. Not the rich. Some say power still resides with the people. It has only diminished. I say under present circumstances less power is no power.

 

We are supposed to be and once were a government of the people, by the people, for the people. We have become a government of the rich, by the rich, for the rich.

 

Is this what we want?

CORRUPTION OF POLITICS AND BANKS

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Government and banks are corrupt. Indisputable. The reason money. The root of all evil.

 

I am not telling you anything you do not already know. I suggest two remedial solutions.

 

The time has come for public campaign financing. Have the government as the sole source of campaign funds. Prohibit the raising and/or spending of private funds. In situations where a candidate is independently wealthy, limit his or her personal contribution to $50,000.

 

A monstrous task. Perhaps unachievable. Keep in mind, Congress would have to vote for such change.

 

A complex issue. Ergo, I am zeroing in solely on Presidential elections. I am generalizing. The devil will be in the details.

 

The 2016 Presidential race will break every record for fundraising and spending. A disgrace. Most of the monies will be from the very rich and corporations. The minimal $5 or $25 contributions of the 99 percent will mean little. Ironically, several states have tried and some still have some sort of public financing for state and local elections. Most have failed. Blame the Supreme Court. Unconstitutional.

 

For well over 30 years, we have had a voluntary citizen program to enrich the public funding of corporations. There is a box in the upper corner of your tax return. Check it off and automatically $3 of your taxes will be transferred to a special Presidential fund. The program is not working. Its use has fallen steadily since the early 1980s. Presently, less than 8 percent of taxpayers check the box.

 

I am not going to go into the specifics of present Presidential public funding laws. Space does not permit. However, if a Presidential candidate agrees to accept federal funding and agrees not to raise or spend any other monies, assistance is available.

 

Such candidate would receive $91.2 million. Few go down such road these days. Presidential campaigns cost significantly more.

 

There is one government funding program that both the Democrat and Republican parties receive money under. Religiously, every four years. Disgracefully, also. The Presidential nominating conventions. Each is and has been paid for by the government for years. I cannot understand. We are paying for each party’s big bash every four years.

 

The amount to each party is $18.2 million, adjusted every four years based on cost of living increases. At a time when a significant percentage of our school children are homeless and go to school without breakfast. It is projected each political party will spend $1 billion in the 2016 campaign. With those kind of dollars, the political parties can easily afford their own conventions.

 

The purpose of public campaign funding is clean elections. Simply stated.

 

The United States has a Federal Election Commission. The chair is Ann Revel. Revel openly admits that the Federal Election Commission is dysfunctional and has been so for years. She claims various laws prevent her from doing anything about it.

 

The big banks, Wall Street, and major corporations have defecated on the American people long enough. They must be taken in hand. The banks brought our economy down in 2008. It is going to happen again.

 

Two things are clear. Big banks and corporations are parking their profits overseas, with few complaints from Congress. Obama consistently fails to take on corporate power. The power is left to do what it wills.

 

We need another Theodore Roosevelt. He was President from 1901-1909. He took on the big companies. He became known as a trust buster. He felt the big companies had too much power to the detriment of the people. America’s upper crust was not looking after the interests of the working class.

 

Roosevelt had a sense of right and wrong. He went after the out of hand corporations. His philosophy was to “…..speak softly and carry a big stick.” His words. He was of the opinion that a society where businesses profited at the expense of the average American was not right.

 

Roosevelt sued more than 40 major corporations. The first was J.P. Morgan’s Northern Securities Corporation. Sound familiar? A predecessor of today’s J.P. Morgan Chase. A leopard does not change its spots.

 

We need to break up the banks.We need another Theodore Roosevelt in the White House. Senators Bernie Saunders and Elizabeth Warren have the right attitude. Saunders recently said that if the banks are too big to fail, then they are too big to exist. I agree.

 

The United States was faced with a monopolistic situation in the early 1980s. The Bell System. In effect, the national telephone system. Bell at the time was the biggest corporation in American history.

 

Bell was split into separate companies. Such result was possible when it was determined that Bell was violating anti-trust laws.

 

I am not telling you anything you do not already know. We have a problem with campaign financing and the power of big banks and corporations. My solution is public financing of elections and breaking up the big banks.

 

Will either happen? I doubt it. We need Congress and the Supreme Court to pave the way. Something both have been reluctant to do.