In the recent case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether the FEC had a right to restrict the airing of an anti- Hillary Clinton documentary funded by a private (conservative) source less than 30 days before a primary election. McCain-Feingold and a previous Supreme Court ruling said that the FEC was within its rights. This January, the much more right wing court (with Alito replacing O’Connor) said that special interest groups have a right to spend as much money as they want close to elections on advertising for or against specific candidates.
Sounds bad, but what exactly does it mean?
I. A Return to Feudalism
Recently, I have described how America is becoming a corporate fascist state---one in which all power resides within the hands of a few companies and the common citizens are obliged to give their money, property and services to the rich, in the name of strengthening the country.
Don't believe me? Maybe you would believe Big Business.
Obama’s budget includes the payoff, promising to start a multibillion-dollar greenhouse gas industry by 2012. In a letter this week, GE’S Immelt told shareholders that current events present an "opportunity of a lifetime," because "capitalism will be ‘reset.’"Immelt wrote: "The interaction between government and business will change forever. In a reset economy, the government will be a regulator; and also an industry policy champion, a financier, and a key partner."
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...
Which is basically what Il Duce said:
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." -- Benito Mussolini
Corporate fascism is just a variation of feudalism, the economic system in which a few individuals claimed a divine mandate to own the property, labor and goods of the rest of the people, sometimes called their "serfs". While serfs might be accorded rights---at the whim of their masters---those rights could always be trampled, in the name of upholding the order and God’s will.
If you are an elected political leader in the era of Citizens United v. FEC , you will find yourself in a position much like that of a serf. Your number one task will be selecting a feudal or corporate master who will offer you his protection in your next election. No problem, if you are a Congressman and your voting district has one large employer whose interests you always look out for in Washington. You are already a serf. However, if you have tried to keep from becoming the property of special interests group, out of some antiquated notion that politicians should represent the voters , you will find yourself in big trouble during your next election. Because every group that thinks it needs more power in Washington will see you as a vulnerable target---a peasant without a feudal master to protect him. The special interests do not even have to be located in your district. If Big Oil wants more off shore drilling, it will field a candidate (or make a deal with your Republican opponent) to mount a blitzkrieg in the weeks leading up to your defeat. The ads probably will not have anything to do with Oil. They can attack you for being weak on crime, soft on illegal immigrants, a bad husband----since the Supreme Court has made this all "free speech", pretty much anything goes.
In order to keep your seat----and hold on to the possibility that you can reform the system to help your constituents---you will have to sell your soul to someone. The banking industry, with its $700 billion slush fund is probably buying right now. That means making compromises on issues that affect your voters, like whether or not they will be able to stay in their homes (no) and how high their credit card interest rates can rise (to the heavens).
But wait! Even if you allow yourself to be bought and sold, that will not prevent some other feudal lord----say, the pharmaceutical industry or the weapons industry----from targeting your seat. You hope that your banking masters will value you so much that they will fight their hardest to defend you on the airways. But some pawns are more valuable than others. If the Banksters think that their election forces can be better spent defending another of their serfs in another district, then out of office you go.
The higher up the political chain you go, the worse the problem will become. If you are a senator, your vote will be extremely valuable to special interest groups and so they will fight even harder to steal it from you. You will probably need to find yourself several feudal lords to defend you. Their interests will have to be similar---say Big Pharmacy and the health insurance industry. And, if your Republican opponent does not cut a deal with your corporate masters behind your back, you may be allowed another term in office. Your Medical Industrial Complex bosses may even allow you to vote like a progressive----on issues that do not cost them money. You can attack the tobacco industry. You can champion clean energy technology. You can defend abortion rights. But you will be expected to defeat any effort to rein in the cost of drugs or create a single payer option. Remember, a feudal lord has the right to conscript his serfs to fight in his army at any time.
The presidency is going to be one hell of a job to hang onto. Basically, you will have to be like George W. Bush, handing out favors left and right. Except---- if you favor one industry too much, the way that Bush-Cheney favored Big Oil, you may find that all the other feudal lords get together to knock you out of office. That means a little bit for the Military Industrial Complex here, a little bit for the Clean Energy lobby there, a handout for manufacturing, something for the Medical Industrial Complex----along with promises of much, much more if they help you get re-elected. Since all these special interests will know that your loyalties are divided, each of them will be on the look out for their own, unique candidate, someone who will represent just them, the way that Sarah Palin represents the fossil fuel industry.
II The Rise of the Third Party Splitter
Back in 2000, I watched in dismay as the corporate media, eager for a repeal of legislation that limited their ability to merge, got the Nader 2000 campaign bankrolled. They did this through a series of stories—carried on all the major news networks—which went something like this:
"With the 2000 presidential election too close to call, a third party campaign by Ralph Nader could cost Gore enough votes to throw the election to Bush."
This was a sign to Republicans and special interests to get out their checkbooks and write Nader a $2000 contribution.
In 2012, there will be no need for such stories. In 2012, any industry in the country can select a high profile progressive and buy him 5-10% of the vote with a series of expensive campaign ads. So, for instance, if AT&T believes that the current administration is not taking care of its needs, it can look through all that data it has mined and discover that Movie Idol X likes to surf gay porn sites late at night. AT&T approaches Movie Idol X and says "If you do not want everyone in the country to know that you surf gay porn sites at night, you will run for president as a third party candidate." Movie Idol X will weight the loss of his career versus the potential harm that could result from a change in administration and he will announce his candidacy.
Keep in mind that Cheney and Rove almost certainly have copies of all that warrantless wiretap data, too. I am betting Cheney moved his to Dubai, along with Halliburton’s headquarters. So, Big Oil should be in a great position to find some high profile entertainer or public figure and blackmail him into running. And we all know that Big Oil has the most to gain by installing a Republican in the White House in 2013.
The Democrats’ only hope will be a third party splitter on the right, to neutralize the effect of the left wing splitter. But, in order to bankroll a retired general to run a "The Republican (draft dodger) is a Pussy compared to me" campaign, they will have to have a corporate master who fears the return of Big Oil to the White House. In Obama’s case, that would be General Electric, the manufacturing giant which did not like the high price of oil at all and which stands to make a bundle from cap and trade. One of MSNBC’s military consultants will do the trick. GE can run ads calling Big Oil’s candidate the Harbinger of the Apocalypse and promoting their own general as a true leader in the tradition of President Ike. Election 2012 will become a proxy war between Exxon and GE---
The way that election 2008 was. Except this time, there will be more artillery.