As long as money can buy office we the people lose. Elections should not be about who can raise and spend the most money. Raising and spending money doesn’t equal either competence or ability.
The founders were delusional enough. (They were declaring that “All men are created equal” even though by their own definition this only referred to “landed” white males over the age of 21). Everyone else was conveniently excluded. As I like to state it the founders declared “all men were created equal” while holding the chains of slavery in one hand and a musket in the other used to commit genocide on the land’s natives.
Now we compound that unmendable misfortune by making it possible for mainly the rich to run for office. There are many who say that that is simply not true---that anyone can run for office. With that I agree. Anyone can run for office. The other shoe dropping is that they are unlikely to succeed.
A lack of money makes for a failed campaign for at least two reasons. The first reason being that a viable run for office is an expensive endeavor. The other is that unless the individual is ready for canonization some skeleton will sally forth from the closet to topple the effort. The rich can prevent that from happening or in the alternative mitigate the circumstances. Everyone else---not so much.
Public Citizen
http://www.citizen.org/Page.aspx?pid=1326
Stunning Statistics of the Week:
• 149: Number of independent groups that have spent money to influence this year’s elections (according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) reports through Oct. 25)
• $176.1 million: Amount those groups have spent on the midterms
• 10: Number of groups responsible for the bulk of that spending
• 59.9 percent: The percentage of that money that comes from undisclosed sources
Public Citizen calls on electioneering groups to disclose corporate donors
Public Citizen has sent a letter to all groups that are conducting electioneering communications or independent expenditures in the 2010 elections, urging them to disclose to the public the sources and amounts of corporate contributions they use for their campaign spending.
Disclosed corporate funds are a fraction of what is hidden, heavily favor Republicans
Tapping into what few disclosure records exist of campaign spending by outside groups in the 2010 elections, Public Citizen has identified about 200 corporate contributors to a mere 29 independent groups that have reported their funding sources to the Federal Election Commission. These disclosure records account for a very small fraction of the record-breaking campaign spending by outside groups this year, but they confirm a widely suspected trend: Corporate money is heavily favoring Republican candidates by 11-to-1.
http://us.mg2.mail.yahoo.com/dc/launch?.gx=1&.rand=6e1fisl8ok8ee
Total estimated bill for midterms: $4 billion
The latest guesstimate from the Center for Responsive Politics of how much everybody – candidates, political parties and outside groups – will spend on the midterms is $4 billion.
From Texas Red: a cratered landscape of prisons, deplorable apartheid public education, lack of healthcare and politicians and majority population intent on keeping it that way…
Hasta Siempre,
More:
Bexar County Candidates at a glance
http://mysapolitics.com/election.php/2010/01/06/current-election-candidates-list-2010
Bexarly legal
In the race for DA, it may be Reed’s record that’s the real voter issue
Whether she was threatening to arrest and prosecute non-profit employees working to implement a Texas Legislature-approved needle-exchange program that advocates say would have saved lives in San Antonio, or picking up unregistered (illegal) airline tickets for a cheap vacation, or intervening when her son’s friend tried to carry a firearm through San Antonio International Airport, the rules of the game seem to have melted around the veteran prosecutor these past years. But probably the most interesting thing about Reed is her incredibly cautious nature when it comes to anything that doesn’t conclude with a locking cell door. It’s a point LaHood zeroes in on.
http://www.sacurrent.com/news/story.asp?id=71660
Elections 2010/Public Policy: Short of revolution---it’s all we’ve got.
http://www.examiner.com/bexar-county-elections-2010-in-san-antonio/elections-2010-public-policy-short-of-revolution-it-s-all-we-ve-got
Ballot boxing: The problem with electronic voting machines
On Tuesday, one in six voters will be casting their ballots using touch screen technology. Largely in reaction to the Bush-Gore Florida debacle, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act. It was designed in part to mandate new, up-to-date voting machines that would be safe and reliable.
But here’s what you need to know: Ten years and billions of tax dollars later, the way America votes is still something of a mess. It’s vulnerable to human error, hardware and software crashes – and, yes, bad-guy hackers. We asked Need to Know correspondent Rick Karr to investigate.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/video/ballot-boxing-the-problem-with-electronic-voting-machines/4746/
Foreign Money, National Security, And The Midterm Elections
http://baselinescenario.com/2010/10/31/foreign-money-national-security-and-the-midterm-elections/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BaselineScenario+%28The+Baseline+Scenario%29&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail
Stewart knocks media, political class at D.C. rally
Organizers estimated that 250,000 people attended the event, but there is not going to be any official estimate since the parks service no longer does their own tallies. CBS News hired aerial photography experts to do an independent count and reported a crowd size of 215,000. That's quite a bit more than the 87,000 CBS estimate from Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally in August.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20101030/en_yblog_upshot/stewart-knocks-media-political-class-at-d-c-rally
Public Citizen
http://www.citizen.org/Page.aspx?pid=1326
Citing negative ads, New Hampshire Chamber cuts ties with U.S. Chamber
Saying that it was offended by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s political attack ads, a New Hampshire Chamber of Commerce has cut its ties to the national group. The Greater Hudson Chamber of Commerce is not renewing its membership to the U.S. Chamber. The U.S. Chamber plans to spend $75 million to influence midterm races. The U.S. Chamber has spent more than $1.3 million targeting Paul Hodes, the Democratic candidate running for U.S. Senate in the Granite State.
Gold’s Gym franchises leave after owner donates to anti-gay conservative group
Remember the Target controversy? Seems as though political donations have landed another company in hot water. Four Gold’s Gyms franchises in the San Francisco area are leaving the brand because Gold’s owner gave $2 million to American Crossroads, the conservative group created this year by Republican strategist Karl Rove. American Crossroads is helping anti-gay candidates; the San Francisco gyms get a lot of business from the LGBT community.
TARP aided companies make big donations to PACs
Companies that received money from the Troubled Assets Relief Program, some of which still owe the government money, have made large donations to political action committees (PACs), The Washington Post reports. General Motors gave $190,000 to campaigns in the past month, some of which went to support candidates who opposed TARP support for the company.
Business execs say much corporate money being spent on elections
Business executives are concerned about the pressure exerted on them to cough up money to support political campaigns, a new poll shows. What’s more, two-fifths of them say the amount of corporate money being solicited for politics is too high.
National parties open lines of credit only weeks before elections
The National Republican Senatorial Committee has taken out a $10 million line of credit and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee took out a $17 million line of credit less than two weeks before the midterm elections.
Visit www.DontGetRolled.org to learn more!
Public Citizen
http://www.citizen.org/Page.aspx?pid=1326
The Brothers Koch: Rich, Political And Playing To Win
Chances are you've never heard of Charles and David Koch. The brothers own Koch Industries, a Kansas-based conglomerate that operates oil refineries in several states and is the company behind brands including Brawny paper towels, Dixie cups, Georgia-Pacific lumber, Lycra fibers and Stainmaster carpet. Forbes ranks Koch Industries as the second-largest privately held company in the U.S. — and the Koch brothers themselves? They're worth billions.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129425186
Covert Operations
The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer
Nico Lahood for (Bexar County) District Attorney
http://www.facebook.com/NicoLaHoodforDA?ref=ts
Bexar County Candidates at a glance
http://mysapolitics.com/election.php/2010/01/06/current-election-candidates-list-2010
DA Reed launches attack ads against political opponent (Nico Lahood)
http://www.woai.com/content/troubleshooters/story/DA-Reed-launches-attack-ads-against-political/vvcteL6A2kOZCu8r6zwSSA.cspx
…anyway in Texas Red where most Democrats are GOPers in Democrat clothing would it matter?
Police union alone in supporting Reed
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/politics/police_union_alone_in_supporting_reed_104532454.html
From two peas in a pod?Wow, what a surprise…….
Former SA Mayor (Ed Garza) Endorses Perry
http://www.ksat.com/politics/25351176/detail.html
Pelosi, Among Others, Could Exit if Dems Lose House
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/08599202821200
A look at what's at stake on Election Day
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_election_day_what_s_at_stake
Joe Miller: Reporters caught on tape conspiring against me
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20101031/el_yblog_upshot/joe-miller-reporters-caught-on-tape-conspiring-against-me
Slavery by Another Name
Slavery by Another Name (blog)
Illusions of Justice
The Rope, the Chair, and the Needle: Capital Punishment in Texas, 1923-1990
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