Just a year after so-called loony and too-far-out-there Cindy Sheehan was not given a prayer against "good liberal" Nancy Pelosi, we see just why people may want to reconsider their support for incumbents who seem to get re-elected based on knee-jerk loyalty, election after election. Just a day after Rep. Nancy Pelosi for the first time said that her previous support for the public option in health care reform is negotiable, always on-the-spot ace cub reporter David Sirota got his hot little hands on an invitation for a fundraiser by the insurance industry in Pelosi's honor.
From: Steve Elmendorf [mailto:steve@elmendorfstrategies.com]
Sent: Friday, September 11, 2009 8:31 AM
Subject: event with Speaker Pelosi at my home
You are cordially invited to a reception with
Speaker of the House
Nancy Pelosi
Thursday, September 24, 2009
6:30pm ~ 8:00pm
At the home of
Steve Elmendorf
2301 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Apt. 7B
Washington, D.C.
$5,000 PAC
$2,400 Individual
To RSVP or for additional information please contact
Carmela Clendening at (202) 485-3508 (202) 485-3508 or clendening@dccc.org
Elmendorf Strategies is a registered lobbying firm for UnitedHealth, the powerhouse health insurer's group operating Ovations, AmeriChoice, Uniprise, OptumHealth, Ingenix, and Prescription Solutions. In 2008, the company posted a net income of $3 billion.
This is where the rubber hits the road on why there will be no public option, why the wars will go on, why the bail-outs will continue. Now that an average of 80% of campaign contributions comes from outside your district, much of it from companies shopping for influence, congressmen no longer give a damn about what mere constituents think. The answer? Simple. A new reform movement banning money from outside congressional districts. Yes, you won't be able to give your hundred bucks to Al Franken if you are not in Minnesota, but neither will Monsanto be able to spread its millions in bribes to legislators across the country. On balance, the influence of corporate fat-cats will be stifled more than your ability to help old Al will be, and the result will be, well, real representation.
In a recent Truthout.org article I point out that:
Very few people know that on average 80 percent of their Congress members' and senators' campaign funds come from outside the district, and largely from outside the state. They come from industries like defense, telecommunications and financial services. What do they get for these contributions, even in cases when the Congress member votes against those contributors' positions on certain bills?
I guarantee you these companies don't give millions to congressmen for their looks. A reform movement could be successful, because this angle of attack on incumbents by primary challengers is nearly indefensible. I picked up 10 grand from Lockheed-Martin, the war contractor, even though there is not an aircraft plant anywhere near me, because, uh, I like airplanes. And no, I won't be giving any major speeches against the troop escalation in Afghanistan this Fall.
Best of all, it is a novel way around the US Supreme Court's equating money with free speech. From the Truthout piece "Why the Wars Roll on: Ban Campaign Money From Outside the District":
The 1976 US Supreme Court decision, Buckley v. Valeo, which equated money with "free speech," affirmed your right to buy your own congressman. But it did not explicitly affirm your right to buy mine.... If congressmen were not meant to represent geographical constituents, the Founders wouldn't have drawn district maps. Campaign finance is now a frenzy of interests shopping for committee members and chairpersons across the country. The industry determines which committees are targeted. The reason incumbents no longer pay attention to constituents who are overwhelmingly against bailouts, or strongly anti-war, is that their real bosses will always give them enough money to bury any challenger in a blizzard of negative TV ads.
A new wave of primary challenges to incumbents is in order, with challengers asking line-by-line what is all this outside money for? It's time to be asking rude questions at home district community meetings.
Why should Boeing Aircraft (maker of the Apache helicopter,) which doesn't even have a shop or an office in my district, be allowed to give money to my congressman in Boston? (It does.) He shouldn't be worrying about what Boeing thinks. He should be worrying about what I and my neighbors think.
Ban money from outside districts, the new battle cry. It's easier than ever to see where the money is coming from thanks to MAPlight.org. Look up your legislators. Study it. This knowledge is power. The health insurance reform sell-out and fiasco has highlighted to Americans like never before how corrupt our system has become, never pristine to begin with. This is different. They really just don't care what you think anymore. There was never going to be a public option. It was all staged from the start.
Senator Daniel Inouye's contributions from defense contractors across the country. As Chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, all war funding bills must get past Inouye: