Former Sen. Alan Simpson, a conservative Republican from Wyoming, uses a supply-and-demand market analysis to dissect why governance in Washington is broken. It’s broken because the campaign finance system is a private monopoly controlled by wealthy special interests. Everything favors their private agenda, not the public interest, and as a result the nation is going broke. Simpson says there’s no substitute for providing a new, publicly accountable source of campaign money to undercut the supply-side monopoly of special interests. If you want better government, change the campaign financing system.
1-888-OUR-VOTE|info@democracy-nc.org
Late though it is, when even fusty, rock-ribbed, last-ditch republican Alan Simpson sees the obvious and writes publicly about the lock that big, corporate special-interest money has on our government, then maybe we’re getting someplace, if only because things can’t get much worse. However, his essay does not address how the proposed, bipartisan fix-it legislation will fare in the Supreme Court. For if Roberts, Alito, Scalia, Thomas and one more member of the court can so airily and clumsily dismiss the malignant effects of large corporate donations as they did in Citizens United — as time passes, they are making “Supreme Court justice” seem more and more like an oxymoron — , would it be so surprising if they found another pretext (in the absence of any precedents lying around) for nullifying the corrective campaign legislation?
Why only pick on the corporate donations? Do union donations give you any heartburn? Union contributions on elections are greater than corporate donations.
Wrong, Frank! Union donations are dwarfed by corporate donations and especially by donations from conservative far right political groups:
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2011/03/union-muscle-eclipsed-by-conservative-groups.html
Excuse me Alan, but you are wrong. Please see the attached article.
http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php
The Unions try to be cute and call donations, “voter education” or “issue advocacy” but the bottom line are contributions made to Democrats.
What is very undemocratic, and I’m surprised that Democracy NC does not address it, is where taxpayer funds help pay union dues which then go to Democratic candidates. Who is looking out for the taxpayers?
?? Please describe an instance in which taxpayer funds are used to pay union dues?!
Yolanda,
Do you realize that there is something called a public worker union? You also understand that those salaries and benefits come from taxpayers? There is a clear conflict of interest of public worker unions seeking to continually increase salary and benefits at the expense of the taxpayers. When Democratic politicians grovel to these public worker unions making promises to “take care of them”. It puts a pinch on the taxpayers and as a result states cannot afford the lucrative retirement benefits. The system is broke when a policeman or prison guard can retire in their 40s making as much money in retirement as they were paid while a worker. The dues that they pay to those public worker unions are used to fund politicians who promise the world without regard to who will end up paying those bills. So the poor taxpayer is not only paying those lavish benefits, he is also paying their union dues. It’s a vicious cycle which President Roosevelt warned up about,
“All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service. It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management.
The very nature and purposes of Government make it impossible for administrative officials to represent fully or to bind the employer in mutual discussions with Government employee organizations.
Particularly, I want to emphasize my conviction that militant tactics have no place in the functions of any organization of Government employees. A strike of public employees manifests nothing less than an intent on their part to prevent or obstruct the operations of Government until their demands are satisfied. Such action, looking toward the paralysis of Government by those who have sworn to support it, is unthinkable and intolerable.”
Where is Democracy NC with regards to this issue? Do they even care?