What Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Hath Wrought!

Make no doubt about it, the spending reports on the 2010 and 2012 elections are clear; they show that the Democratic Party cannot keep up with the Republicans in raising campaign funds outside of their party organizations. Republican outside spending in 2010 nearly doubled what Democrats could spend and it has more than doubled what Democrats have spent in 2012.
by Charlie Leck

Source: Center for Responsive Politics

What does that opening statement mean? The Democrats do all right against Republicans when campaign spending is left to what can be done by the party organizations themselves, but the Republicans can raise twice as much when it comes to outside organizations like the money given by billionaires to the SUPER PACs.

The following comes from a NY Times article by Thomas B. Edsall (Billionaires Going Rogue):

…”The result has been a stupefying array of PACs, 501(c)4s and 501(c)6s that even professionals can barely keep track of….

“The first chart, provided by the Center for Responsive Politics, shows that outside spending tilted left in every year from 2000 to 2008, but that in 2010 — in the aftermath of deregulation — the balance skewed decisively to the right. In the current 2011-12 election cycle, it shifted overwhelmingly to the right:”

The downside of all this for the Republican Party, according to Edsall in his story, is that the bulk of this funding is come from right-wing elements in the Party that are very disruptive – elements that are “more willing to go to extremes: see the billboards showing Obama bowing down before an Arab Sheik or the ads and DVD claiming that Obama is the bastard son of the African American communist, Frank Marshall Davis.” You can see Jeremy Peters story about that billboard here.

What the Republican Party is very likely to find out, in the long run, is that it is no longer the Republican Party, but some very far right wing organization controlled by a long list of the nut cases and whacko religions in the nation. Edsall carefully explains the dangers in all of this for the Republican Party itself. I think people like Sheldon Adelson and the Koch brothers are destroying the Republican Party and doing a huge disservice to America.

Welcome to the America created for us by the United States Supreme Court!

Be sure to go to this story and read the entire account – especially if you’re concerned about where Citizens v. United is taking us.

…”The displacement of the parties by super rich men determined to flex their financial muscles in another giant step away from democracy.” [Thomas B. Edsall, in the above referenced story.]

Edsall is a professor of journalism at Columbia University and the author of the book “The Age of Austerity: How Scarcity Will Remake American Politics.”

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Clean Windows and Mitt Romney

All the windows in the house were washed and polished yesterday and this morning I see the coming election so much more clearly!
by Charlie Leck

A company was by yesterday to wash all the windows – all 111 of them – inside and out! And now – this morning – they sparkle and everything is clearer to me as I look out through them.

I can see that Mitt Romney is a better man than his campaign is making him out to be. Someone made a bad mistake when they decided that Romney had to kowtow to the Tea Party and the ultra conservatives in the Republic Party. It’s not playing well because Romney is not being himself. Mitt Romney is not a greedy and selfish man. And, he’s a man of strong faith and has a remarkable sense of ethics. Under no circumstance does he believe that 47 percent of the people in the nation are lazy freeloaders. No way!

Yet, we’ve all seen him on the campaign trail and we’ve heard the things he’s said. He’s been terribly unconvincing. Almost like an empty gun, trying to look terrifying. In fact, he’s a softy who is generous and caring.

Yet, he bought into a movement that demanded something else and will not support him if he relents and tries to return to what he really is.

Now, I don’t know if any other politicos in America have described Mitt Romney the way I am this morning. I haven’t read any such ideas. As far as I know, no one else has described him thusly.

It’s just that I sat down this morning, up here in my tree-house office, and I looked out through the newly cleaned, polished and sparkling windows, and there it was as clear as can be. And, I realized the truth of the whole thing.

Mitt Romney was nailed and screwed by those big-timers who now own the Republican National Party – ugly folk who are consumed by hate and filled with loathing for most Americans. These people now in control of the GOP – these tea partiers and Libertarians – don’t understand America and its people. They think government is bad rather than a servant of the people.  And then there are the billionaires who want to buy-out government and own nearly all the shares in it so they can run it like one of their corporations and then sell out when they’ve wrung everything from it that is good, hopeful and promising

And now, Mitt Romney, who is a good and principled man, can’t be our President because we’ve seen him sell himself to these dazzlingly frightening types who want to own the government. Mitt Romney just got caught up in it all and he’d given away too much of himself by the time he realized what he was doing.

And there you have it! Now, seeing more clearly, I can understand why this Mitt Romney – this current, sold-out one – is so different than the kind, respectful and reasonable guy we saw as Governor of Massachusetts.

It is a glorious morning! The sun is shining brightly and the air has an autumn chill about it. The treetops are ablaze with glorious colors – golds, reds, yellows, oranges and browns. Everything fairly sparkles. It is an amazing, fresh day in Minnesota – way out here on the western edge of the metropolitan region.

Fareed Zakaria wrote in Wednesday’s Washington Post (Romney’s tongue-tied eloquence):

“As President Obama has surged in the polls, Republicans have been quick to identify the problem: Mitt Romney. Peggy Noonan eloquently voiced what many conservatives believe when she said that Romney’s campaign has been a “rolling calamity.” Others have been equally critical of his candidacy. And yet, shouldn’t it puzzle us that Romney is so 'incompetent' (also from Noonan), given his deserved reputation for, well, competence? He founded one of this country’s most successful financial firms, turned around the flailing Salt Lake City Olympics and was a successful governor. How did he get so clumsy so fast?

“In fact, the problem is not Romney but the new Republican Party. Given the direction in which it has moved and the pressures from its most extreme — yet most powerful — elements, any nominee would face the same challenge: Can you be a serious candidate for the general election while not outraging the Republican base?”

And, Zakaria concludes his column this way…

“The Republican Party has imposed a new kind of political correctness on its leaders. They cannot speak certain words (taxes) or speculate about certain ideas (immigration amnesty) because these are forbidden. Romney has tried to run a campaign while not running afoul of his party’s strictures. As a result, he has twisted himself into a pretzel, speaking vacuously, avoiding specifics and refusing to provide any serious plans for the most important issues of the day….”

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Olympia Snowe (Republican) will Retire! Dang it!

A sensible, intelligent Republican is stepping down because she doesn’t like the direction of current politics.
by Charlie Leck

“Unfortunately, I do not realistically expect the partisanship of recent years in the Senate to change over the short term. So at this stage of my tenure in public service, I have concluded that I am not prepared to commit myself to an additional six years in the Senate.” [Olympia J. Snowe, U.S. Senator from Maine]

Olympia Snowe is a politician of the sort you’d like them all to be. If you want to know more about Snowe, here’s a good story in this morning’s Washington Post. On the other hand, you all know how to search in Google these days.

As for me, I’m really sorry to see her go. She has always been a voice of reason and one eager to do the right thing rather than the political thing. She is a rare bird among Republicans and, perhaps, among politicians in general. I have immense admiration for her and always enjoyed hearing her speak because she was worth listening to.

There are strong feelings among Democrats that they might be able to win this Senate seat in Maine. I hope so, but that is really beyond the point right now. The nation needs to salute the gentlelady from Maine who served so brilliantly.

The Washington Post summed up the political situation this way.

“Given her continued popularity, her retirement is a rebuke to the partisanship that has come to define the political times in Washington. Snowe’s willingness to compromise and work with the other side has frequently put her out of step with her party, and Democrats have often looked to her as one of the Republicans willing to break ranks with the GOP leadership. Snowe’s reputation as a moderate has grown as fewer and fewer senators on either side of the aisle have been willing to take bipartisan actions.”

A very grateful nation says thank you to Olympia Snowe!

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Will America Vote for Hatred or Hope?

The Republican Party is damaged and now controlled by bullies and hate-mongers!
by Charlie Leck

The Republican National Convention was pure Karl Rove, pure nasty and completely divisive. It tells us a great deal about the once proud Republican Party. It’s been taken over by hate mongers who believe that one should do what it takes to win – whatever it takes.

Jay Rosen, in the Huffington Post, calls the Republican Party “a damaged brand.” The longer it remains damaged, the easier for the mavericks and bullies to control it. It’s amazing how the jerks who control the Grand Old Party can bring Christian conservatives and the spirit of hatred together! Amazing!

As the NY Times, in an editorial, said of the convention, “Mr. McCain allowed the practitioners of the politics of fear and division to run the show.” The Times got it right – probably better than they know.

John McCain is not in charge of this campaign. As a matter of fact, it is out of his control. The big-nasties in the Republican Party believe McCain is not up to the task of organizing and directing a national campaign. They don’t believe he is even up to the task of controlling those who do organize and direct it.

If John McCain is incapable of controlling those who direct his campaign, how can he run a nation as complex as the USA? The simple answer is that he cannot. If McCain is elected President, the job will be done by the powerful, repugnant people who will surround him.

The recent convention was a massive attack on Barack Obama’s patriotism – McCain called it an attitude of “me first and country second!” Mr. McCain should apologize, but he won’t. I think this will be the basic theme of his campaign and that’s why they chose the running mate they did. She’s capable of grasping such a simple concept and she’s mean enough to repeat the mantra over and over again.

The next two months will be a time of vicious and unprecedented attacks by the Republican Party on all the devils they have created in the minds of the America people.

Here is what I hope Americans will vote against! I hope they vote against meanness, divisiveness, negativism, and hatred. I hope they will vote against bullies.

Americans should vote in a spirit of hopefulness. Americans should believe we can be a great nation again.

I remember a day in America when Democrats and Republicans did not fear losing an election. They knew, win or lose, America was going to be governed well and that it would remain a beacon of hope and pride for all the nations of the world. How sad that that day is past and appears irretrievable. How sad!

Sally and George Pillsbury (yes, of the famous doughboy family) are colossal Republicans – as deep-seeded as they can be. They are also great and important Minnesotans who have given massively to the good of this state they love so much. Mrs. Pillsbury speaks of her party being taken over by conservatives and she’s not happy about it. Yet, she still believes a comeback is possible because the people who have left the Party can be lured back if the GOP can return to its roots – “small government, personal freedom and individual responsibility.” And, those great old Republicans believed that government, though small, should be exceedingly effective at what it does. Mrs. Pillsbury hoped the revival would take place right here in Minnesota, at the Republican National Convention. I don’t think she foresaw an ultra conservative like Sarah Palin being put on the ticket. Nor did she foresee John McCain slip/sliding toward the very far right.

I’m afraid the dream that George and Sally Pillsbury have for a reform of their party has been put on hold. If the McCain-Palin ticket wins this fall, I don’t think the couple will see the return of the GOP to its former place of dignity in their lifetimes.

There’s not going to be a return to small government under McCain/Palin. They promise it, but it won’t happen. Just as George W. Bush promised it and then ran up a massive debt that will take generations to pay off. Just as Bush grew government to its largest size in history, so will McCain continue that trend in his attempt to rebuild America’s military might. And, George and Sally Pillsbury won’t see a return to personal freedom either. Under McCain there won’t be the right to choose for women; and neither will gays gain the freedoms for which they dream. And don’t hold your breath for an increase in individual responsibility either. But, here’s what you can look forward to – more and rapidly growing deficits.

Mrs. Pillsbury, bring you family on over to the party of the people. We’ve got much more in common with you than does John McCain and Sarah Palin. I promise! By just speaking up and asking Republicans to vote sensibly, you could put Minnesota on the Obama victory list.

I have two brothers who are loyal Republicans. They’re loyal because they remember the Party of our father – the Grand Old Party of Ike, Tom Dewey and Barry Goldwater – even the Party of Dick Nixon and Ronald Reagan. They can’t admit to themselves that that Party is gone and the Grand Old Party is really out of existence. They are not hateful and mean guys, but they choose to continue their loyalty to a Party that is controlled by such people.

In recent days I’ve stumbled upon an interesting blog that I want to keep checking out for a while, to see where it goes. It’s called ACROSS THE GREAT DIVIDE and it’s written by Charlie Quimby a Minnesota guy who spends a great deal of time in Colorado as well. The purpose of the blog is to investigate “how people can disagree and still build a decent world?” I suggest you spend a week or two looking at the blog with me and we’ll give it a review sometime later this month. Let me hear your reactions to it after you’ve read a few postings.

Come on back, you hear?