Res Publica: Elections 2010: Change!! Really small change---at best…

Monday 4 October 2010 last chance to register to vote in the November General Election!!!

Little surprise that inTexas Red as in the rest of the increasingly compassionate conservative nation, ‘the more things change the more they stay the same”

Perry a debate no-show, but White hits gov over tech funds

White hits Perry over tech-fund allegations
Gubernatorial debate held in Houston without the governor's participation
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7230336.html

…eh…not so much….
Texas Gubernatorial Debate
http://www.hcde-texas.org/default.aspx?name=2010Debate

Time For The Attack Ads!
This is the point in the campaign cycle when candidates go on the offensive. The ads will get warm and fuzzy in the final days of the campaign, but for now, the candidates are highlighting the negatives about their opponents.

The fact-checking for the NPR-PolitiFact Message Machine feature has highlighted a couple of trends. Ads from Republican candidates and groups supporting the GOP often try to link Democratic candidates with Obama and Pelosi. The narrators speak in ominous tones as the unflattering images of Pelosi and Obama are shown. The Democrats' policies are labeled wasteful and "job-killing."

Democratic ads rely on similar techniques, but instead of using Obama and Pelosi as the villains, they often focus on the Republicans' positions on Social Security, alleging that the GOP candidate wants to "privatize" or otherwise wipe out the retirement program.

Independent candidates are also on the attack. In Florida, Republican-turned-independent Charlie Crist is using the same techniques to go after his GOP opponent, Marco Rubio.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130266954&sc=nl&cc=ph-20101003

conservative supremes ruling in practice eroding representative governance
Interest-group spending for midterm up fivefold from 2006; many sources secret
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/03/AR2010100303664.html?wpisrc=nl_headline

Land office rivals sling only humor
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/state/land_office_rivals_sling_only_humor_104223584.html

More handgun permits issued in Texas suburbs
http://www.kens5.com/news/local/More-handgun-permits-issued-in-Texas-suburbs-104237199.html

Wealthier, More-Conservative Texans Have Gun Permits
http://www.texastribune.org/texas-dept-criminal-justice/concealed-handgun-law/wealthier-more-conservative-texans-gun-permits/

Public Citizen:
http://action.citizen.org/t/10315/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=2190

Stunning Statistics of the Week:

• Number of political organizations established since June to raise unlimited amounts of money to elect or defeat candidates: 33

Odd bedfellows call for earmark reform
Public Citizen, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Taxpayers for Common Sense and lobbyists from Holland & Knight and K&L Gates called this week for earmark reform. Campaign contributions from those that receive earmarks should be limited and congressional aides should be forbidden from attending campaign fundraisers, among other things, they said.

$500 million: Maybe this is why climate legislation failed
The oil, coal and energy industries spent $500 million since January 2009 to defeat climate legislation, according to a new analysis by the Center for American Progress Action Fund. The industries' next goal: to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from doing its job and curbing greenhouse gases.

Wealthy Democratic donors are sitting this election out
Many wealthy people who have donated to the Democratic Party in the past are holding back this year, The New York Times reports. George Soros, for instance, who gave more than $20 million in the 2004 election, prefers to give his money to progressive groups that are pushing for specific policies relating to health care, the environment and foreign policy.

Now we have a price tag: Ex-Senate staffers are worth $740,000 a year to firms

Former Senate staffers hired by K Street firms can each pull $740,000 a year into the firm, according to a new study from the London School of Economics. When a senator leaves the Hill? The staffer brings in 24 percent less for the firm.

Fox puts its money on the Republicans
Fox News, which gave a controversial $1 million donation earlier this year to the Republican Governors Association, has given $1 million to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Politico reports. The Chamber is pulling out the stops to elect Republicans to take control of Congress.

Morgan Stanley won't take advantage of Citizens United ruling

Morgan Stanley won't take advantage of the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling and so won't pour unlimited amounts of money into races, the company says. Perhaps the top brass saw what happened when Target got skewered for giving money to a group supporting a right-wing, anti-gay candidate. However, Morgan Stanley still will contribute to political action committee funds, which are subject to caps.

Rove's American Crossroads: 800-pound gorilla of the "Super-PACs"

American Crossroads, created by Republican strategist Karl Rove in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, is emerging as the biggest of the "super-PACs" - groups formed to amass money from corporations and wealthy donors, then use it to defeat or elect candidates, according to an ABC News profile. American Crossroads has raised more than $31.6 million for the upcoming elections and aims to gather $52 million by Nov. 5. The Federal Election Commission doesn't yet have information about most of the donations.

New online poll shows 98 percent think Citizens United ruling hurts democracy

It's far from scientific, but it is interesting: In an online poll by U.S. News & World Report, more than 98 percent of respondents said the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling is harming democracy.

Who are these shadowy, pro-corporate groups?

We know their names but don't know much about them. People for the American Way, however, has put together information about nine pro-corporate organizations that are using the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling to elect candidates that will advance the corporate agenda.

Montana corporate spending limits being challenged

As has happened in many states this year, Montana's rules limiting corporate spending in elections are being challenged as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling. We can't say how this will turn out, but in other states, the spending limits have been struck down. The groups challenging Montana's law are Western Tradition Partnership, Montana Shooting Sports Association and Champion Painting.