2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forum"Billionaires buy Wisconsin recall election for Scott Walker" By David Horsey at LA Times
Billionaires buy Wisconsin recall election for Scott WalkerBy David Horsey at LA Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/topoftheticket/la-na-tt-billionaires-buy-wisconsin-20120606,0,7775507.story
"SNIP.............................................
The governor put together a nationwide fundraising effort and was richly rewarded. Two-thirds of the $31 million Walker raised to fight the recall came from out-of-state donors, mostly rich guys who hate unions. The gush of cash going to Walker overwhelmed Barretts boots-on-the-ground effort and provided more proof, if any more were needed, that the U.S. Supreme Courts Citizens United ruling -- eliminating limits on campaign donations -- has dramatically altered the balance of power in American politics.
The Citizens United decision does not apply to big corporations alone; it also frees unions to give as much as they want. But the fact is unions do not have ready access to money on the scale of the billionaire boys club. When just one man, casino king Sheldon Adelson, can write a couple of checks and fund Newt Gingrichs entire presidential campaign, you know the craps table of electioneering has been tilted in favor of candidates who look after the concerns of the mega-rich.
And guess what? Most of those candidates, just like most billionaires, are Republicans.
Occupy Wall Street enthusiasts can camp out on the sidewalk and conduct their exquisitely egalitarian group discussions. Anarchists can gleefully smash windows at Bank of America and Starbucks. Union members can set up phone banks and carry picket signs. But as long as elections are there to be bought, a handful of billionaires will have a far louder voice in who runs the country than all the activists on the left combined.
................................................SNIP"
freshwest
(53,661 posts)Bellerophon
(50 posts)Need to vote for somebody to win so I call bs. Obama out spent Mccain but that election wasn't bought...
Just saying...
shcrane71
(1,721 posts)Bellerophon
(50 posts)Might vote third part.....
shcrane71
(1,721 posts)and telling them not to vote. You're fine with Republicans running fake candidates in Democratic races. You're fine with oil tycoons like the Koch brothers buying elections. You just don't like it when "union thugs" like teachers and firefighters make campaign contributions to Democrats, right?
Bellerophon
(50 posts)Any of that. You asked who I would vote for in November and I answered. I never indicated any support for any candidate. I just don't think than money translates to votes. I never vote based on how much a particular candidate has...
shcrane71
(1,721 posts)WI both sides had plenty to get the message out. Advertising is only one part of it. There are man other ways to do it like grass roots and going on talk shows.
It is self defeating to attempt to blame a loss due to funding...
shcrane71
(1,721 posts)madrchsod
(58,162 posts)that democratic victory threw a wrench into walkers machine. this election was`t black or white. there were several shades of grey that must writers are to lazy to understand.
although walker won he does`t have the senate and far worse is the fact that more people around him are taking immunity and others are going to jail. the feds and the state are not spending time and money on nothing.
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)The case did not affect the federal ban on contributions from corporations or unions to candidate campaigns or political parties in federal elections.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Citizens_United_v._Federal_Election_Commission