A House Party –
Our elections are now driven by massive spending; this is evident in November’s elections, the first to feel the effect of the Citizens United ruling from the Supreme Court.
Of the 74 party shifting contests, 58 benefited from massive contributions from unidentified organizations, corporations and wealthy individuals.
Expensive, extraordinarily negative attack ads, directed against selected candidates, effectively smeared the opponent and also disgusted and discouraged voter turnout.
Most of the contributions came from a limited number of powerful oil and coal corporations and three extraordinarily rich industrialists (the Koch brothers and Rupert Murdoch).
Arguably, our entire country was turned around by just a few individuals.
This is the antithesis of a democracy based on one man, one vote. Public Citizen predicted that 2012 will be even worse. Let November be a wakeup call.
Public Citizen is a nonprofit organization representing consumer interests in Congress.
It is sponsoring house parties throughout the country this week to organize local groups to join in controlling the influence of corporate money in our elections.
Ours, in Davis, will be on Sunday, November 14 from 12-3 PM. Please RSVP to zbox@dcn.org for location and details. We will connect to Public Citizen via teleconference and the internet.
Some of the strategies to be acted on are public funding of fair campaigns, disclosure of campaign contributions and, ultimately, a constitutional amendment to clarify that the First Amendment is for people, not corporations.
At the house party, you’ll have a chance to meet other local citizens interested in taking action, discuss strategy with the leadership of these national organizations and prioritize local organizing activities. Please join us.
Mary M Zhu: “Most of the contributions came from a limited number of powerful oil and coal corporations and three extraordinarily rich industrialists (the Koch brothers and Rupert Murdoch).”
From “The Week”, Nov 5, 2010 edition, in an article entitled “A tense campaign finale awash in cash”: “…Democrats have outspent Republicans $119 million to $79 million in 109 tossup races. But Republican-allied advocacy groups have spent some $300 million while advocacy groups backing Democrats have spent about $100 million…Never mind the bluster about shadowy “corporate money,” said the Boston Herald. The biggest spender in this year’s campaign is a labor union, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. “Desperate to save the Democratic Congress, which has been so very, very generous” to it, AFSCME is lavishing $87.5 million on Democratic candidates. Campaign spending won’t be the cause of what promises to be Tuesday’s Democratic debacle anyway, said the Washington Times. Congressional spending will be. Alarmed at skyrocketing deficits brought on by Democratic policies, voters are eager to “place Congress in the hands of more fiscally responsible leaders.””
By assuming the election was “bought” by corporate interests, you are insulting the intelligence of the voters. In fact your theory is belied by the fact that Meg Whitman lost, despite spending $140 million on her campaign. Multimillionaire Linda McMahon also lost in Connecticut.
We are taking back our democracy, just look at the last election, the GOP took back the House.