A fine piece highlighting exactly what is going on in the Republican party, it also shows why Rove backed down over O'Donnell, the Koch brothers. This is because Karl's little group 'American Crossroads' would lose most of it's funding if it didn't kowtow to the lunatic fringe of the right, without their money he would be crying forgotten in a corner somewhere.
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So basically the Republican constituency is 403 people since all their policies come down to one thing:
Tax cuts.
But not for everyone all talk of flat tax and sales tax effect the poorest disproportionately when compared to the uber-rich.
This is their 'Pledge to America'.
The best way to understand the pledge is as a bid to co-opt the Tea Party by a Republican leadership that wants to sound insurrectionist but is the same old Washington elite. These are the folks who slashed taxes on the rich, turned a surplus into a crushing deficit, and helped unleash the financial crisis that has thrown millions of Americans out of their jobs and their homes.
Not only are the players the same, the policies are the same. Just more tax cuts for the rich and more deficit spending. We find it hard to believe that even the most disaffected voters will be taken in. But again, these are strange and worrying times.
The New York Times really hits it out the ballpark.
Whilst I might have some sympathy for some in the Tea party who for many good reasons are worried about their future, they are not in fact all Glenn Beck clones nor completely insane, they are however completely duped. The movement was born out of the musings and money of a few wealthy and influential extreme right wing billionaires, its not a populist movement it never has been one, its a movement designed to maintain the status quo and not to break it.
Their task was made the easier with the election of the first African American to the White House, this unleashed a whole gamut of possible attack lines aimed to disguise unvarnished racism. The MSM and right wing of the Democratic Party enabled their cause by pandering to these outpourings of mindless rage with some pandering of their own. Watered down legislation resulted; yet it even in its milquetoast format it is deemed to be socialism unleashed.
The power of this propaganda can be seen from this side of the pond and quite frankly most are stunned by its efficiency. It is amazing to watch the most powerful and privileged somehow be regarded as the victim in all of this, and the only way this was possible was to ramp up the hate. All we see from a distance is one man trying to make a difference and help 95% of the population and many in that same group are biting this helping hand. It really is almost incomprehensible as to how this is succeeding, it would be funny if it wasn't giving ideas to our own oligarchy.
The need for campaign finance reform is not a new one
1867 Naval Appropriations Bill First federal effort to regulate campaign finance. Aimed to stop the practice of shaking down naval yard workers of political donations.
Then came the real blockbuster this past year
In a decision that could have a profound impact on future elections, the court overturned a 20-year-old ruling that barred businesses from paying for campaign adverts. The decision in what is known as the Citizens United case will allow big businesses – such those selling arms, drugs or insurance companies – that already wield influence through lobby groups to openly back favoured candidates who support their interests.
Anyone who doesn't see that democracy in the US is under threat really needs to take a better look, the amount of corporate money flowing into this mid-term campaign is beginning to dwarf that of a Presidential year. Actually I don't care who puts the money in as I don't believe it should be available in the first place, the Disclose Act is nothing but a joke as far as reform is concerned.
When cash on hand determines who wins an election then the only winners will be those who can raise the most, and at this time [as for many decades] it is a small group of billionaires and their associated corporations. Our electoral system is becoming more and more skewed with each passing day and we are in danger of being unable to fight back peaceably. History has not been kind to civilizations that have been usurped by small groups; they tend to crash and burn.
My personal view is the battle is lost; but what's the harm in continuing to try and reverse this sale of our democracy?