Tag: Citizens United

Does Olympia Snowe really want to be the target of waves of anonymous attack ads in support of some conservative primary challenger? Wouldn’t a retiring George Voinovich prefer to leave some shards of our democracy off-limits to being sold to the highest bidder? Could John McCain remember why McCain-Feingold was once of his proudest legacies and acknowledge how profoundly the Supreme Court’s Citizen’s United decision damaged everything he was trying to do to safeguard American democracy?  

Much as been said and written about “Creative Destruction” lately — including this good Ad by Russ Feingold, which focuses on the fallout of this Economic policy stance, held by his GOP-Tea Party opponent Ron Johnson:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…

Well, in a free-market capitalist system, there are always winners and losers. It’s creative destruction. That just happens. It’s unfortunate. But let’s face it, if it weren’t for that we’d still have buggy whip companies.

— Senate candidate Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.)

“Winners and Losers”, Nice.  

I suppose with his CEO background Mr Johnson feels qualified to pick them?

Check out Front Group American Future Fund’s MO — their Cookie Cutter Ad formula to Buy an Election:

Get flashy graphic, and a menacing announcer;

Cut and Paste in — the Name of the Candidate, your backers dislike and have paid to replace!

Don’t Fact Check anything — make your Opponents waste their Time and Money trying to combat your baseless accusation. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

It helps when the Same Cookie-cutter format can be used over and over again, all across the nation.  That makes their “special” money — go even further, as clearly displayed next:

Corporate Donations Buying U.S. Elections – Countdown — Keith Olbermann



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…

As campaigns and volunteers hone their final electoral messages, the best flier I’ve seen asks a simple question — “Will They Get What They’re Paying For?”  Created by the Washington State Labor Council, and proudly bearing their name, not that of some shadowy front group, it portrays a check from the US Chamber of Commerce to Republican Washington State Senate candidate Dino Rossi. Notes in the memo field remind us of Rossi’s positions: Lower minimum wage, repeal Wall Street reform, offshore U.S. jobs. Below the check is a field of corporate logos: BP, Fox, JPMorganChase, Walmart, AIG, Philip Morris, Citigroup, Pfizer, McDonalds, Comcast, AT&T and more.  The relatively conventional back contrasts Rossi and Senator Patty Murray on key economic issues, stating “Dino Rossi works for them. Senator Patty Murray works for us.”

The U.S. Chamber of Outsourcing

by Dustin Ensinger, EconomyInCrisis.org — Oct 12, 2010

Just last month, the Chamber lobbied vigorously to defeat the Creating American Jobs and End Offshoring Act, which would have given companies a two-year payroll tax holiday, reducing the amount of Social Security taxes they would have to pay, for new employees who replace workers doing similar jobs overseas. The bill would have also ended tax provisions that encourage the outsourcing of jobs.

“Replacing a job that is based in another country with a domestic job does not stimulate economic growth or enhance the competitiveness of American worldwide companies,” Chamber executive vice president Bruce Josten claimed in a letter to senators.

When the $787 billion stimulus bill was passed, the Chamber fought tooth and nail to ensure that a provision requiring that all stimulus projects include only Americans-made products and services was NOT included.

Who’s Looking Out for YOU?

I’ve been going door-to-door canvassing, and it’s not that bad — really. It’s actually kind of fun. But only because I’ve found a way to break through people’s cynicism.

No wonder people are cynical. Crashing from the sky-high hopes of two years ago, people are worried about jobs, the economy and their own uncertain futures, about the wars we’re bogged down in and the threats to our planet. They don’t like where America is headed, don’t like most politicians or candidates, and are often uncertain whether their vote even matters. But when I talked about the takeover of our politics by destructive corporate interests, culminating in the barrage of anonymous attack ads unleashed by the Supreme Court’s ghastly Citizens United decision, they quickly became willing to listen.

Supposedly ‘Uncertainty‘ is the new Corporate buzzword.

‘Uncertainty‘ is the Mantra that keeps them FROZEN with inaction.

Well I guess, a lot depends on what kind of ‘Action’ — were looking at.

America’s Corporate Cash Cushion

Jonathan Cheng, WSJ Market Beat — Sep 17, 2010

The Federal Reserve put out its quarterly report on fund flows today, which shows corporate balance sheets more or less flat at $1.845 trillion, compared to $1.847 trillion in the first quarter of 2010.

[…]

“Companies weren’t stuck like a deer in the headlights because of regulatory or political uncertainty,” he said. Instead, he says corporate directors have been spending on capital expenditures, M&A, and buybacks and dividends.  [ … according to Anthony Carfang, from at Chicago-based corporate treasury consultancy Treasury Strategies.]

Dividends and buybacks, like the ones announced after market close yesterday by Texas Instruments, are on the rise […]

Be afraid, be very afraid, people — Or so the Corporate Speakers are telling us.

I couldn’t believe my ears.  Did Arnold just change from Red to Blue ?

Or maybe it was just a deeper shade of Green.

Schwarzenegger defends climate law, slams Texans

Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer, SFGate — Sep 28, 2010

The governor’s vehement defense of the climate legislation commonly referred to as AB32 comes amid a fierce campaign led by oil interests to win passage in November of Proposition 23, a ballot measure that calls for suspending the climate law until the jobless rate hits 5.5 percent for a year, a level achieved only three times in 40 years.

Schwarzenegger, speaking before several hundred people at the Commonwealth Club in Santa Clara, said the proponents of Prop. 23 are attempting to subvert the democratic process using scare tactics. He likened the campaign to a shell game hiding what he said was the real purpose: “self-serving greed.”

“They are creating a shell argument that they are doing this to protect jobs,” the governor said. “Does anybody really believe they are doing this out of the goodness of their black oil hearts – spending millions and millions of dollars to save jobs?”

Imagine it’s election season in 2020 … you look around the economic and political and media landscape in America — and you’re asking yourself “What Happened?”

VP Paul Ryan is Leading in all the Insta-Polls.

Ryan is considered a shoe-in after spearheading President Pence’s Ultimate Govt Diet Plan for the last 8 years.  Even though Ryan’s only real accomplishment was leading American Prosperity’s many market research programs.

Ryan must be credited with figuring out exactly How to Sell the Dog Food — and making it “palatable to the majority of the people”.   Afterall, the Pundit Class was stunned when Mike Pence eked out that Win in 2012 — given how he insisted on running on the GOP original slogan:  Time to Deconstruct Run-away Government.

With that surprise upset-win, which sent Obama packing, VP Paul Ryan seized the opportunity to get out of the number-crunching business, and move into the world of high-octane Messaging …

Who knew that an Ultra-Conservative — turned Marketing Guru — could actually become the “Leader of the Free-Market World“?

The 2020 Polls are ticking …