gerrymandering at its worst
1
More evidence of the obvious: America is breaking down.
1
Our elections are a travesty, totally corrupted by money. And by the way, if you look at where this money comes from, it is from a remarkably small group of people. Reuters, in reporting on campaign donors in 2012 wrote:
"The Public Campaign study showed that 1,219 individual donors gave at least $105,300 - within 10 percent of the $117,000 aggregate limit - to candidates, party committees, and political action committees in 2012."
The vast majority of people in this country cannot afford to give over $100,000 to anything, let alone a political campaign. Political campaigns in the U.S. have become a plaything for the rich. In this context, the F.E.C. has become largely irrelevant. No wonder it is rare to see political candidates pay serious attention to many issues of concern to ordinary people. It is simply not in their financial interest to do so.
"The Public Campaign study showed that 1,219 individual donors gave at least $105,300 - within 10 percent of the $117,000 aggregate limit - to candidates, party committees, and political action committees in 2012."
The vast majority of people in this country cannot afford to give over $100,000 to anything, let alone a political campaign. Political campaigns in the U.S. have become a plaything for the rich. In this context, the F.E.C. has become largely irrelevant. No wonder it is rare to see political candidates pay serious attention to many issues of concern to ordinary people. It is simply not in their financial interest to do so.
1
When a political party says that it doesn't believe in government what, exactly, do the voters expect once these people are in office? There is no justice, political or economic, to be had from such a group. Why is there such surprise?
3
all the more reason to lend your support and small donation to Bernie Sanders, the only candidate who's not participating in this corruption, and who you can trust to fight to end it
1
I think we are all waiting here with bated breath to see how Justice handles the unfolding story of the Clinton Foundation and its link to wealthy donors and the clinton campaign.
When it comes to voters, Republicans see and assume fraud everywhere. Even money spent to register voters, without regard to party, is considered deeply suspicious, as if participation in a democracy alone were reason enough to cast a gimlet eye and a reason to monetize it.
But when it comes to money donations to campaigns, by definition partisan and very easily given to at least an appearance of corruption, Republicans know no bounds or limits. Money is milk, honey, and goodness, in all respects and aspects and situations, for Republicans.
For Republicans, there is no concept of participation in government or society without a dollar sign attached. There's no dark money, there's no bad money, therefore there's no such thing as fraud or corruption unless it isn't Republican fraud and corruption. Then its held up as a sign of how 'evil' non-Republicans are.
Its a wonder children are even allowed to belong to a Republican family without some form of sponsorship validating its existence.
But when it comes to money donations to campaigns, by definition partisan and very easily given to at least an appearance of corruption, Republicans know no bounds or limits. Money is milk, honey, and goodness, in all respects and aspects and situations, for Republicans.
For Republicans, there is no concept of participation in government or society without a dollar sign attached. There's no dark money, there's no bad money, therefore there's no such thing as fraud or corruption unless it isn't Republican fraud and corruption. Then its held up as a sign of how 'evil' non-Republicans are.
Its a wonder children are even allowed to belong to a Republican family without some form of sponsorship validating its existence.
3
What could be useful is for pressure to be
exerted from outside with FEC meetings
conducted with thousands, if not tens of thousands, surrounding the meeting room demanding very
loudly and not very politely, since the time for politeness has
long since passed, that either you do something or you disband and
stop the farce. Indeed, "stop the farce" would be a pretty
accurate expression of what justifies such protest.
I really don't see why such expressions of public
contempt and outrage could not be organized
and maintained until either the commission cease
existence since it no longer serves any purpose,
or it actually decides that it is a public body in
a functioning democratic system and needs
to respond accordingly.
But this limbo state of futilie farcical
spinning of administrative wheels is not
something that really deserves any further
public funding. So, if you can't change,
then cease existence, acknowledge your
dysfunction, and get off the public payroll.
exerted from outside with FEC meetings
conducted with thousands, if not tens of thousands, surrounding the meeting room demanding very
loudly and not very politely, since the time for politeness has
long since passed, that either you do something or you disband and
stop the farce. Indeed, "stop the farce" would be a pretty
accurate expression of what justifies such protest.
I really don't see why such expressions of public
contempt and outrage could not be organized
and maintained until either the commission cease
existence since it no longer serves any purpose,
or it actually decides that it is a public body in
a functioning democratic system and needs
to respond accordingly.
But this limbo state of futilie farcical
spinning of administrative wheels is not
something that really deserves any further
public funding. So, if you can't change,
then cease existence, acknowledge your
dysfunction, and get off the public payroll.
2
I think we ought to go to a system like maybe run for any office but you can only run for six, count them boys and girls 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 weeks. After that, no more TV ads, no more pole signs no more public electioneering at ALL, PERIOD. That way, the candidates from all parties have only 6 weeks of spending and generally annoying the small 10% of swing voters that are the ones who really decide the elections. After 6 weeks, all political signs must come down by law and fine any party whose sign is left up after week seven, $10,000 per sign. Use the same people who put them to take them down. H. Clinton has been running for the last 8 years and I don't think I can take another year and a half of what has become a constant presidential campaign by all parties. Stop running for reelection and start working for the American people for crying out loud. If you can't get your message across in 6 weeks, you don't deserve to be elected or reelected.
2
Great, "Ms. Ravel, who led California’s state ethics panel before her appointment as a Democratic member of the commission in 2013..."
California ethics agency relaxes rules on gifts to politicians http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/08/local/la-me-gifts-20111209
California ethics agency relaxes rules on gifts to politicians http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/08/local/la-me-gifts-20111209
Congress holds the purse strings.
Congressmen are not interested in making elections fair, but in their favor.
Welcome to 'Democracy'.
Congressmen are not interested in making elections fair, but in their favor.
Welcome to 'Democracy'.
2
Just one more way Republicans plan on stealing another election. Gerrymandering, voter suppression, ridiculous draconian laws and now this. This is not the only government entity that was packed with conservatives and industry insiders whose only goal are their party's objectives. It will passed off (by them) as more evidence of an inefficient government at work. The same playbook they have used for their five years of Congressional obstructionism in the name of party loyalty. With the zeal of a convert, they continually throw the country under the bus in their efforts to prove their conservative bona fides.
2
@joe: "This is not the only government entity that was packed with conservatives and industry insiders ..."
The FEC has three Republican and three Democratic commissioners *by law*, so it is not "packed". The Times could have made that point more clearly than it did: "They [Republicans] say they are comfortable with how things are working under the structure that gives each party three votes."
The FEC has three Republican and three Democratic commissioners *by law*, so it is not "packed". The Times could have made that point more clearly than it did: "They [Republicans] say they are comfortable with how things are working under the structure that gives each party three votes."
Since when have we equated money with speech? It's a huge mistake. We already live in an oligarchy...it will only get worse. Welcome to the new American Fascism.
3
This is the stuff that makes me want to vote for Bernie Sanders, but I fear we may be soon reaping a whirlwind bigger than anyone can handle.
3
Game on. It's been that way for a while, but good to have the head of the FEC validate it for all to see. Anything goes now.
"The victor will never be asked if he told the truth." - Adolf Hitler
"The victor will never be asked if he told the truth." - Adolf Hitler
3
Much of these problems would go away if the Justice Department brought lawsuits challenging widespread gerrymandering. It is not an accident that Democrats are getting the popular vote but not controlling either the state legislatures or Congress.
3
Congress could change the law. Just like the Supreme Court could rein-in Citizens United (what a misnomer). But these farces are in the best interest of the ruling party.
http://thetruthoncommonsense.com
http://thetruthoncommonsense.com
1
Simple if they can't agree - do away the federal commission and hire McKinsey & company to develop procedures and practices and an independent audit firm to count votes, etc
So.....time to disband the FEC and spend whatever $ millions they are wasting each year. Put our efforts into a constitutional amendment to do away with Citizens United and limit the total every candidate's campaign can spend.
1
@onthecoast: "So.....time to disband the FEC and spend whatever $ millions they are wasting each year."
FYI, the 2015 FEC budget request is about $68 million. About 70% of that is for personnel compensation and benefits. See Table 2 here:
http://www.fec.gov/pages/budget/fy2015/fy_2015_congressional_budget.pdf
FYI, the 2015 FEC budget request is about $68 million. About 70% of that is for personnel compensation and benefits. See Table 2 here:
http://www.fec.gov/pages/budget/fy2015/fy_2015_congressional_budget.pdf
The average American has simply given up on governance. They know the nation really is becoming increasingly dysfunctional The New Republican Party is thrilled. The goal has been to destroy the Federal Government and the new party is accomplishing it. Listening to Liz Warren shout with the old white haired union guys makes me chuckle. It is so off the mark. You want jobs? A treaty with Asia ain't gonna stop outflow and it ain't gonna bring new business. Infrastructure, education, adult worker re-training will. Republicans will not pay for that. That's socialism. "Everyone must find their bootstraps and pull them up."
I think back to Mitt and his put down of the lower middle class and poor. The oligarch mask came off for a moment and I Tiny Tim for a moment. At the end of this election cycle Americans should be pretty clear that we no longer live in a working democracy. Voting outcomes are controlled by local gerrymandering and big money. That is where the Kochs put their bucks. It is not a matter of liberal or conservative. It is caring about the future of your country. I pray for the millennials to finally get fed up but so far they seem to have kept silent and uninvolved.
I think back to Mitt and his put down of the lower middle class and poor. The oligarch mask came off for a moment and I Tiny Tim for a moment. At the end of this election cycle Americans should be pretty clear that we no longer live in a working democracy. Voting outcomes are controlled by local gerrymandering and big money. That is where the Kochs put their bucks. It is not a matter of liberal or conservative. It is caring about the future of your country. I pray for the millennials to finally get fed up but so far they seem to have kept silent and uninvolved.
4
We've got to get the big-money guys, like Tom Steyer and George Soros, out of the system. They're buying politicians, to press an agenda that puts money in their pockets. President Obama set a poor example when he refused to limit his campaign's financing in 2008 and 2012. Hopefully Hillary will choose to do the right thing.
@Ray : "We've got to get the big-money guys, like Tom Steyer and George Soros, out of the system."
Why did you choose those two "guys" for your examples?
Why did you choose those two "guys" for your examples?
For those who believe that money = free speech it is clear you have no interest in democracy.
US corruption of the election process, including laws equating money with free speech have taken us over a cliff which we have been teetering on the edge of for many decades.
The only way to change anything in America is to have a constitutional amendment which clearly removes money from political campaigns.
The campaigning needs to be publicly funded, and limited to a more reasonable time frame.
We need uniform election standards across the US and oversight of all elections by a non-partisan committee.
Redistricting can only occur with real data & non partisan oversight.
At present, we do not live in a democracy.
Money has corrupted Republicans and Democrats alike creating grotesque systems from war machines, to mass surveillance, an unjust criminal justice system, trade deals which harm workers & environments and a Health Care System which is incredibly complicated and driven by the big players and not by real health care needs for people.
We do not need to re-invent the wheel, there are many nations we can look to for assistance in creating a more fair, just election system which represents people and not moneyed interests and corporations.
This will take a lot of work and determination to overthrow these regimes, but we can do this if we have the will. Get involved with local groups who are fighting this most important of causes > Election Reform!
US corruption of the election process, including laws equating money with free speech have taken us over a cliff which we have been teetering on the edge of for many decades.
The only way to change anything in America is to have a constitutional amendment which clearly removes money from political campaigns.
The campaigning needs to be publicly funded, and limited to a more reasonable time frame.
We need uniform election standards across the US and oversight of all elections by a non-partisan committee.
Redistricting can only occur with real data & non partisan oversight.
At present, we do not live in a democracy.
Money has corrupted Republicans and Democrats alike creating grotesque systems from war machines, to mass surveillance, an unjust criminal justice system, trade deals which harm workers & environments and a Health Care System which is incredibly complicated and driven by the big players and not by real health care needs for people.
We do not need to re-invent the wheel, there are many nations we can look to for assistance in creating a more fair, just election system which represents people and not moneyed interests and corporations.
This will take a lot of work and determination to overthrow these regimes, but we can do this if we have the will. Get involved with local groups who are fighting this most important of causes > Election Reform!
11
Government regulation of elections is dangerous to free speech and precious First Amendment freedoms. But not to the Party of Government, the Democrats....
The Obama zealots want to rig the FEC to muzzle their political opposition, just as they have done with the IRS...
The Obama zealots want to rig the FEC to muzzle their political opposition, just as they have done with the IRS...
1
Sorry. I see ZERO difference between the GOP and the Democratic Party, when it comes to the idea of "less government intrusion". Everytime I have to deal with TSA 'agents' (glorified mall cops), I am reminded of George Bush's decision to make these Barney Fifes a government agency. Moreover, most of what I have witnessed in the last 15 years has proven to me that the GOP is only interested in 'unrestricted self-indulgence', and the financial equivalent of "foxhole theology".
2
This is why Bernie Sanders should be elected our President...he's not beholden to the billionaires and their lobbyists ! We have a corrupt Supreme Court, they ruled corporations are people .... except you can't execute them for murder ! And what's with an even number, when you create a governing body of even numbers of voters you guarantee gridlock.
3
I can see two roads the U.S. polity can choose from. The first and current choice seems to be - denial that we have a serious problem. Ms. Ravel at least is not in that camp. There is blame enough to swing at members of the Supreme Court, but both our campaign and electoral system were in less than honest democratic shape before the Citizens United decision.
The Congress, and by extension, the people of this country have sat on their laurels for at least the last 1/2 century, relying on a revered but shortsighted constitution and a once adequate, but now dated electoral system. If we maintain the denial road for much longer a breakdown is eminent.
A second choice for America is to acknowledge that our system is marginally democratic and unresponsive at best. Campaign financing is perhaps the worst flaw but limited choice in the voting booth and the potential for corruption in districting are long also overdue for reform.
Elected officials who have managed to negotiate the expensive, complicated system and "win" have little presonal interest in changing the rules. Their supporters are understandibly happy with their "well spent" investment, but the country as a whole suffers.
The electoral system in this country needs to be rebuilt. It ought to resemble an honest democracy that responds to the peoples needs and allows good leadership to arise from any corner of society. There are plenty of altrernative examples operating in other countries. Let's get to work...
The Congress, and by extension, the people of this country have sat on their laurels for at least the last 1/2 century, relying on a revered but shortsighted constitution and a once adequate, but now dated electoral system. If we maintain the denial road for much longer a breakdown is eminent.
A second choice for America is to acknowledge that our system is marginally democratic and unresponsive at best. Campaign financing is perhaps the worst flaw but limited choice in the voting booth and the potential for corruption in districting are long also overdue for reform.
Elected officials who have managed to negotiate the expensive, complicated system and "win" have little presonal interest in changing the rules. Their supporters are understandibly happy with their "well spent" investment, but the country as a whole suffers.
The electoral system in this country needs to be rebuilt. It ought to resemble an honest democracy that responds to the peoples needs and allows good leadership to arise from any corner of society. There are plenty of altrernative examples operating in other countries. Let's get to work...
4
The FCC's dysfunction is related to Congress's dysfunction partisanship has become a crutch that results in do nothing. Our nation has many problems that need resolution but if we can not do that our nation will crumble.
3
An injured economy, our voter's economic hands tied behind our backs, forced into a situation where the economic barons can drive us at will, how they will, despite our efforts to resist. And in the end I should be grateful I am alive at all. Sounds familiar.
3
Corporations are LEGAL FICTIONS. Check the Constitution. Not a single mention. What was the premier corporation at the Founders' time? The East India Tea Company (a British corporation). What did American colonists think of the East India Tea Company? They DETESTED it.
To create a corporation in the early days of the US, a state legislature had to debate and vote on whether to grant one. It required ALL the exact same debate and legislative complexity any other law required. Why? Because early Americans recognized corporations were DANGEROUS if not property controlled. Why? Because, by granting unique legal protection privileges, they remove a large degree of "personal responsibility" from owners and operators.
State legislatures ALWAYS imposed very strong restrictions upon the activities in which a corporation could engaged. Typically they were created to perform a very specific public good (such as build a hospital). They were almost always established with a time limit, typically 3-5 years, after which the corporate charter was AUTOMATICALLY discontinued.
Over the last 100+ years, without any recognition of corporations in the Constitution, the Court has consistently expanded their rights beyond those ever intended by legislatures.The Court has issued a series of fallacious rulings, each built upon previous fallacious rulings, which have increasingly taken control of corporations out of the hands of the very legislatures that created them.
To create a corporation in the early days of the US, a state legislature had to debate and vote on whether to grant one. It required ALL the exact same debate and legislative complexity any other law required. Why? Because early Americans recognized corporations were DANGEROUS if not property controlled. Why? Because, by granting unique legal protection privileges, they remove a large degree of "personal responsibility" from owners and operators.
State legislatures ALWAYS imposed very strong restrictions upon the activities in which a corporation could engaged. Typically they were created to perform a very specific public good (such as build a hospital). They were almost always established with a time limit, typically 3-5 years, after which the corporate charter was AUTOMATICALLY discontinued.
Over the last 100+ years, without any recognition of corporations in the Constitution, the Court has consistently expanded their rights beyond those ever intended by legislatures.The Court has issued a series of fallacious rulings, each built upon previous fallacious rulings, which have increasingly taken control of corporations out of the hands of the very legislatures that created them.
5
Thank you for this 'on point' historical analysis. This should be on the front page of EVERY newspaper in the US.
1
Obama and Democrats outspent Republicans in 2012 and won. Democrats outspent Republicans in 2014 and lost. Hillary has been planning to raise $2.5 billion based on the assumption she would be unopposed in the primary.
If the Democrats were successful in expanding the FEC's control to encompass non-profit advocacy organizations, Planned Parenthood, unions, Emily's list, Greenpeace, Organizing for Action, would have to be silent for 60 days before a primary or election. Be careful what you wish for.
Try to remember that Hillary is responsible for Citizens United. She wanted to suppress the distribution of a factual but unflattering documentary about herself. Although there are other countries that value the suppression of free speech, the US is not one of them.
The law that Ms Ravel is attempting to enforce does not exist. The FEC lacks jurisdiction over non-profit advocacy organizations.
If the Democrats were successful in expanding the FEC's control to encompass non-profit advocacy organizations, Planned Parenthood, unions, Emily's list, Greenpeace, Organizing for Action, would have to be silent for 60 days before a primary or election. Be careful what you wish for.
Try to remember that Hillary is responsible for Citizens United. She wanted to suppress the distribution of a factual but unflattering documentary about herself. Although there are other countries that value the suppression of free speech, the US is not one of them.
The law that Ms Ravel is attempting to enforce does not exist. The FEC lacks jurisdiction over non-profit advocacy organizations.
1
@ebmem: "Try to remember that Hillary is responsible for Citizens United. She wanted to suppress the distribution of a factual but unflattering documentary about herself."
"Hillary: The Movie" is political propaganda, but how is Ms. Clinton "responsible for Citizens United"[1]? Are you claiming she improperly influenced the FEC or the US Supreme Court? Please clarify your point and cite reliable sources.
[1] Presumably, you mean the court case:
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
"Hillary: The Movie" is political propaganda, but how is Ms. Clinton "responsible for Citizens United"[1]? Are you claiming she improperly influenced the FEC or the US Supreme Court? Please clarify your point and cite reliable sources.
[1] Presumably, you mean the court case:
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
“Congress set this place up to gridlock,” Lee E. Goodman, a Republican commissioner, said in an interview. “This agency is functioning as Congress intended. The democracy isn’t collapsing around us.”
______Correct. Democracy isn't collapsing, it's being torn down.
Almost $1 billion from two brothers? If you've lived under a dictatorship, like I did in Franco's Spain, you see portraits of the dictator everywhere: coins, bills, billboards, statues, buses,
Can you imagine David Koch on one side of the coin and Charles on the other? And you under their feet?
Rove is still front and center too. This goes back to Watergate.
______Correct. Democracy isn't collapsing, it's being torn down.
Almost $1 billion from two brothers? If you've lived under a dictatorship, like I did in Franco's Spain, you see portraits of the dictator everywhere: coins, bills, billboards, statues, buses,
Can you imagine David Koch on one side of the coin and Charles on the other? And you under their feet?
Rove is still front and center too. This goes back to Watergate.
10
If they can do nothing about election abuse now, they they should explain why not, suggest structural changes, then resign.
5
Democrats spend more than Republicans in elections. Why doesn't this article mention that fact? The Kochs are NOT the biggest spenders. Why doesn't this article mention that, or mention the larger donors, all of whom are Democrats??? Where is truth in media?
3
The article didn't mention that "fact" because it's not a fact. Simple.
3
Bugs me that the Koch's are so often mentioned but not the Union or Soros money that supports the left!. The media needs to report news not biases!
2
I think that most 'Red States' maintain control by a simple and criminal procedure: Discard the votes for the opposition. I have received that kind of treatment with proof when using an absentee ballot. The repugs are so arrogant they did not even hide the discarding procedure. Where is the DOJ?
6
Yes, vote fraud elected the Republican Governor in Texas , he only won by a razor thin 20 points....
As in OHIO last presidential election!
Instead of writing to our elected slobs about certain legislation or causes, maybe we should show up at their offices with TV cameras in tow and ask them "How much will it cost us to get your vote on [insert legislation here]?" We have to outbid their corporate masters. Voting doesn't matter any more.
10
Ancient of Western NY:
Excellent suggestion. But sad, because some of them will name a price.
Excellent suggestion. But sad, because some of them will name a price.
5
Public employee unions openly buy Democrat votes...but of course little is said about this in the liberal ranting about campaign finance and "money and influence"
Bob - are you referring to the unions whose very existence is threatened? And are you suggesting that union vote buying is on par with the massive spending of say, the Koch Brothers? Please!
4
The committee is based on flawed concepts: a 3+3 partisan membership is bound to fail (as is our 2-party system).
It should be redefined with an uneven number and include members of Independents or other parties.
It should be redefined with an uneven number and include members of Independents or other parties.
12
Perhaps, and this is a really big perhaps, as more and more of us gain greater awareness of the failures of our country ( a greater transparency in part technologically enabled) such as in stories of the FEC like this, or the horrible injustice of our justice system, etc, improvements can be made. But change needs causes and caring, not just awareness. There is so much money made from feeding delusion and distraction on a mass scale, can a critical mass of sustained awareness occur ?
4
Those against controls on finances in elections are bereft of ideas and positions to win the support of a majority of the voters. They simply want the easier and surer route to winning, to be able to buy support through various mechanisms such as more and more attack ads, rather than raising issues and proposing substantive, ethical solutions. To them, Free Speech ain't free; the more money in the coffers - however obtained - the more Free Speech one can buy.
1
Yet liberal billionaire Tom Steyer spent $70 million on the 2014 elections, and lost every race...
If the only thing the FEC can settle is the question of bagels or donuts, it's clear our democracy is long gone.
3
Well, there really is no law now. The Supreme Court's far right majority has ruled, and the ruling is to do away with the rule of law so far as elections are concerned. When they made corporations equal to citizens, when they took the limits off fund raising, that was the end of any effective law. Failure to rein in so called non-profits like Rove's has contributed.
So here we are. Some day, an old man like myself will tell his grandchildren about the time when we had a people's democracy. He will recount that there once were elections for president and congress, instead of a meeting of the Corporate Board. But, he will point out, once corporations became citizens, they eventually joined together to create the Corporate Board, and made it in effect the government. It appoints a CEO chosen from among nominees put up by the 5 largest corporations in the country, as measured by net worth.
H.L. Hunt's _Alpaca_ would have been a liberal paradise compared to what is coming about.
So here we are. Some day, an old man like myself will tell his grandchildren about the time when we had a people's democracy. He will recount that there once were elections for president and congress, instead of a meeting of the Corporate Board. But, he will point out, once corporations became citizens, they eventually joined together to create the Corporate Board, and made it in effect the government. It appoints a CEO chosen from among nominees put up by the 5 largest corporations in the country, as measured by net worth.
H.L. Hunt's _Alpaca_ would have been a liberal paradise compared to what is coming about.
3
Yes, I'm sure Congress set up the FEC to be a mirror of itself - completely dysfunctional. How long before people realize that the so-called world's greatest democracy is no longer that? Maybe we are the world's greatest military power, maybe the world's biggest economy, but democracy - not so much.
9
Unfortunately the founding fathers did not want a democracy and that is why they created a Republic.We may encourage other countries to have democracy but, not US:-)
2
Citizens United is false advertising, it's corporations united, republicans united, koch united.
Where's the FTC on this
Where's the FCC on Fox news. FCC used to censor offensive TV material. Nothing is more offensive the fox news, republican bought and paid for, and their lies.
And the supreme court is crazy to call corporations persons. They are entities that pay corporate tax, not person tax. Email or tweet those judges and tell them they are taking down democracy
Where's the FTC on this
Where's the FCC on Fox news. FCC used to censor offensive TV material. Nothing is more offensive the fox news, republican bought and paid for, and their lies.
And the supreme court is crazy to call corporations persons. They are entities that pay corporate tax, not person tax. Email or tweet those judges and tell them they are taking down democracy
4
Any. Head. Of. Fed. Agency. Would. Be. Just. As. Correct, accurate, and, ultimately, inept.
Admission is good for the soul and might even lead to improved (read less) govermental oversight.
Admission is good for the soul and might even lead to improved (read less) govermental oversight.
Process this: THE SYSTEM isn't broken, it's FIXED.
10
We don't need a commission that protects the parties. We need a commission that protects the election process.
9
There really is no problem that is unsolvable. The only reason that the F.E.C. can't fix anything is simple it is called Republican Obfuscation. The Republicans are totally unwilling to fix anything that will help the American people.
10
I just need to know which party favored doughnuts (fried sugar), and which favored bagels (massive carbs). The prognosis for national health is not favorable.
3
Let's not pretend anymore - get rid of the commission and all of it's staffers etc… Also, name all the commissioners so we know who is not doing the job and ban them from any other government job.
3
Though it seems the R party is the bad guy here, just look up the ever-growing amount of money taken in by this administration by large banks and corporations. Regardless which party ends up in the White House they are beholden to those companies. Same for unions. We may not have such problems in the urban cities as we had in Baltimore if we had charter schools which produce higher achieving students. One of the first things Obama did was put his kids in private school and take away charters for the population of D.C. Both parties are in someone's pockets and we little guys and our one vote can't battle Goliath.
Pathetic . . . speaks volumes about a country in sharp demise:
“Congress set this place up to gridlock,” Lee E. Goodman, a Republican commissioner, said in an interview. “This agency is functioning as Congress intended. The democracy isn’t collapsing around us.”
On the positive side, I guess there's no doubting Mr. Goodman's motives and intent!
“Congress set this place up to gridlock,” Lee E. Goodman, a Republican commissioner, said in an interview. “This agency is functioning as Congress intended. The democracy isn’t collapsing around us.”
On the positive side, I guess there's no doubting Mr. Goodman's motives and intent!
2
All Americans need to take responsibility for the present state of affairs. The endless worship of the almighty $$$, the uninformed belief that capitalism and growth is good, has all contributed to the mess that we have today. Our investment portfolios support companies and their philosophies that put money before morals and profits before people. Until the voters get actively engaged, demand term limits and campaign finance reform, the end of the USA is inevitable.
1
First the Conservative dominated SCOTUS and now the Conservative obstructed FEC is depriving Americans of a functioning democracy. There is apparently no curbs whatever on the purchase of our government by billionaires.
Added to this is the unregulated spending going on at the local level extending even to county offices and school boards, and the running of State legislatures by the national ultra-conservative, corporate funded behemoth, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which has become the de facto author of local legislation in the majority of States.
All of this amounts to severe corruption that only serves to perpetuate the power of the ultra rich. First they buy the government, then they pay their legislator-minions to enact laws that preserve their monstrous wealth, which enables them to purchase an even larger share of the government.
And so the death-spiral of our our American democracy continues.
Added to this is the unregulated spending going on at the local level extending even to county offices and school boards, and the running of State legislatures by the national ultra-conservative, corporate funded behemoth, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which has become the de facto author of local legislation in the majority of States.
All of this amounts to severe corruption that only serves to perpetuate the power of the ultra rich. First they buy the government, then they pay their legislator-minions to enact laws that preserve their monstrous wealth, which enables them to purchase an even larger share of the government.
And so the death-spiral of our our American democracy continues.
4
Paid speech is more common that free speech. No one is heard without paying for it. America is becoming more like the rest of the world. We are no longer a beacon of freedom and equality, but rather a bastion of corruption and fee for service politics. But so are most of the other countries of the world.
4
Suggest all read Katie's comment in the NYT picks, a good summation of this article. I wish the writers of this column had explained the 4 to 2 vote Ms. Ravel took part in that eased rules growing out of Citizens United, voting with the Republican members. It would help to know specifics there. Regardless, the next sentence says it all "But she (Ann M. ravel) has had little success in persuading Republicans to vote with her or enforcement measures." For those who don't follow the shenanigans in politics closely, as I tend to do, compromising is done occasionally by Democrats and NEVER by Republicans. This is why Ms. Ravel needs to go public with the dysfunction at the FEC. Another quote is informative from Lee E. Goodman, a Republican commissioner, "Congress set this place up to gridlock, This agency is functioning as Congress intended." So to interpret, the FEC is a farce and exists only to give the appearance of regulating the way political money is raised and spent.
The 2016 campaign will be the most corrupted by big money event in our history. Dispairingly, too many voters will not understand that to elect a Republican is to hand over the entire government to powerful forces that will decimate Social Security, Medicare, one man, one vote, empower defense contractors leading to more war, halt any attempt to curb Climate change and more. So when Mr. Goodman states "The democracy isn't collapsing around us", he couldn't be more wrong.
The 2016 campaign will be the most corrupted by big money event in our history. Dispairingly, too many voters will not understand that to elect a Republican is to hand over the entire government to powerful forces that will decimate Social Security, Medicare, one man, one vote, empower defense contractors leading to more war, halt any attempt to curb Climate change and more. So when Mr. Goodman states "The democracy isn't collapsing around us", he couldn't be more wrong.
4
The 2016 campaign has already been corrupted by corporate money flowing to the Clinton slush fund....
So the Republican take on the Federal Election Commission is "Let's keep the lights off and let all the rats run around the floor."
5
Next time the Democrats hold the power of congress, reforming the FEC should be one of the first things they take on. Write the language more clearly, and make sure the Dems hold the majority on the council while they are in power. Re write the rules so that the FEC becomes, after a few years, a NON partisan council with teeth.
Stop playing by rules the republicans are laying down. We know they don't play fair, so stop to trying to play the rigged game. Unrig the FEC for the good of the nation.
Stop playing by rules the republicans are laying down. We know they don't play fair, so stop to trying to play the rigged game. Unrig the FEC for the good of the nation.
4
They could do that NOW. Why wait?
Let's face the sad and simple truth: this country has evolved to meet the needs of the few rather than the needs of the many. Just look at who has kept all the income gains of the last decade. This isn't because they worked harder or are "worth it", but because of laws that give tax preference to capital gains and reduced the marginal tax rate. A high marginal tax rate brought us a large middle class and prevented the current obscene divergence in salaries. With Citizen's United, the 1% have been handed the means to ensure that they maintain and expand their privileges.
The "third-worldization" of the US is continuing at a shocking pace: political corruption, vote buying, union busting, impotent electoral oversight, increasing poverty, crumbling infrastructure, high costs for quality education, declining social mobility, high rate of imprisonment, environmental degradation, etc. This is where the extreme concentration of wealth takes us.
The "third-worldization" of the US is continuing at a shocking pace: political corruption, vote buying, union busting, impotent electoral oversight, increasing poverty, crumbling infrastructure, high costs for quality education, declining social mobility, high rate of imprisonment, environmental degradation, etc. This is where the extreme concentration of wealth takes us.
7
Disgusting. Let's just do away with the commission, end the farce and save the money.
1
These three are largely responsible for our oligarchy!
2
The conservative wing of the Supreme Court can take full credit for giving the last blow to a fair and sensible election procedure in the US. While always tilted towards the legal bribery that goes on, Citizens United gave it the last stroke. Now the oligarchic plutocracy has full reign over most legislative bodies, and even contributes to the fright filled stands of the primaries, whee moderates are virtually blackmailed into taking stronger right wing stands. We are a Democracy in name only, while ideology reigns and divides the nation.
It is the way the great nations of history started their descent to oblivion.
It is the way the great nations of history started their descent to oblivion.
17
If the people were to first, get out and vote in significant numbers, and second, base their votes on the factual record of what a candidate has done in the past; then all the money in the world would not decide an election. As long as a 30% turnout in an election is considered a major increase, as it was in Ferguson recently, and most voters are sheep who decide their vote on the basis of who had the most ads, or whose ad they say most recently, or who came up with the cleverest slogan; well then cash will be king and we will have the best government money can buy.
In the end, the decision is on each of us as to whether we vote or not, and if we do, who we vote for. As it currently stands, the voters have sold their birthright for a mess of verbal pottage, and we are reaping the fruits of that sale.
In the end, the decision is on each of us as to whether we vote or not, and if we do, who we vote for. As it currently stands, the voters have sold their birthright for a mess of verbal pottage, and we are reaping the fruits of that sale.
if our FEC is indeed useless, how doe we monitor the campaign spending? - assign a special unit of the IRS, FBI or NSA?
4
It is not even half way through 2015, yer we know that there is 2016 election abuse? With psychic powers like that, the headline writers should be able to clean up at the tracks.
Another legacy of this obscenely political Supreme Court.
25
Question: Why did the Democrats allow Roberts and Alito and Thomas and Scalia to end up on the Supreme Court? Couldn't those appointments have been blocked?
@ SLLaster - It will be so much better, and certainly not political, when the Supreme Court is solely composed of Democratic liberal progressives, right? :-)
maybe the most troubling element of this article is what's not in it - a solution.
the most expedient end to the problem needs to come from the supreme court in the form of an admission of wrongful interpretation of the the 1st amendment.
'it has become obvious, over the last 3 election cycles, that unlimited, anonymous donations to political campaigns do indeed, at the very least, contribute to the appearance of corruption.'
the most expedient end to the problem needs to come from the supreme court in the form of an admission of wrongful interpretation of the the 1st amendment.
'it has become obvious, over the last 3 election cycles, that unlimited, anonymous donations to political campaigns do indeed, at the very least, contribute to the appearance of corruption.'
18
Dream on...the 5 conservative justices would not do that. But that would be a wonderful thing.
Perhaps the various watchdog groups could band together and sue the FEC for non-enforcement of the law. Choose a high-profile organization, like Crossroads GPS, and take the case to court. As citizens, we cannot afford to stand by and watch our elections being stolen.
30
It would be more credible if they sued Organizing for Action rather than Crossroads. Why is the FEC and the IRS not examining the actions of the Clinton Foundation?
Liberals resent it when anyone else takes a page out of their book and utilizes their financing strategies. Silence everybody but me.
Liberals resent it when anyone else takes a page out of their book and utilizes their financing strategies. Silence everybody but me.
As reported elsewhere today by The Times:
"LONDON — There is no political advertising on television or radio in Britain. Fund-raising and spending are strictly limited. Tight elections can turn on a relative handful of votes in a small number of competitive parliamentary constituencies."
I daresay the British are no less free and have no less free speech than us except theirs is truly free while ours costs tens and hundreds of millions of dollars to spread lies across radio and television.
"LONDON — There is no political advertising on television or radio in Britain. Fund-raising and spending are strictly limited. Tight elections can turn on a relative handful of votes in a small number of competitive parliamentary constituencies."
I daresay the British are no less free and have no less free speech than us except theirs is truly free while ours costs tens and hundreds of millions of dollars to spread lies across radio and television.
29
"The democracy isn’t collapsing around us.”
Where is he referring to, surely not the USA.
It's not just collapsing, it has collapsed. The oligarchy has won.
Resistance if futile.
Where is he referring to, surely not the USA.
It's not just collapsing, it has collapsed. The oligarchy has won.
Resistance if futile.
19
The Soviet Union, in a similar manner to the USA, practiced 'Democratic Centralism' where all decision-making was centralised. Their Oligarchs were members of the Nomenklatura. They were eventually brought down by ordinary people who refused to give up and who, through passive resistance, brought about the collapse of the Soviet System. It can happen in the USA even though the CIA is much more powerful than the KGB and even though the USA is effectively a police state.
Perhaps those commissioner seats should be filled with people who have no particular political leanings whatsoever. Yes, it is true: some folks vote for the best candidate, regardless of affiliation. Sorta makes sense.
8
First the Tea Party attacked and demolished our traditional town hall meetings, the bedrock of democracy. Now the only way of meeting face to face with your representative is with a boatload of $$$. Free speech? Not hardly.
26
The FEC looks like Barney Fife regulating shrewd, stiff-arming, cynical, self-entitled wise guys with great attorneys. If the issue is "free speech", it should be speech unfettered by golden chains. Don't the polls say most Americans want a) transparency, b) limits on campaign donations, and perhaps someday in Oz, the people will c) limit election campaigns to a palpable six months.
To quote Justice Stevens, money isn't speech. No, it's money. If I have a dollar, and compared to the very rich on the right and the left, if they have $100 to spend on campaigns then they get to say 100 times what I do.
Why the reactionaries on the Supreme Court can't do simple math you would have to ask them.
But that's what this is about, simple math that says creatures like the Kochs get to say 100 million times as much as you can say or I can say when every citizen of the United States should have the same say.
Unless and until we do, we in fact have been deprived of, robbed of our free speech because the Supreme Court says speech is not free, it has a cost and the more you can pay, the more you get of it, the more you get to say and the more those of us without that kind of money do not get to say.
Free speech is equal speech. Speech that costs some $100 million because they can buy it is not free and comes at a high price to the rest of us.
Why the reactionaries on the Supreme Court can't do simple math you would have to ask them.
But that's what this is about, simple math that says creatures like the Kochs get to say 100 million times as much as you can say or I can say when every citizen of the United States should have the same say.
Unless and until we do, we in fact have been deprived of, robbed of our free speech because the Supreme Court says speech is not free, it has a cost and the more you can pay, the more you get of it, the more you get to say and the more those of us without that kind of money do not get to say.
Free speech is equal speech. Speech that costs some $100 million because they can buy it is not free and comes at a high price to the rest of us.
81
@ Notafan - "But that's what this is about, simple math that says creatures like the Kochs get to say 100 million times..."
Do you not believe that there are "creatures" on the other side of the aisle that spend the same type of money if not more for their "free speech"? Why is it always the Kochs? You do know about George Soros and Tom Steyer, don't you? Are you really concerned with free speech or partisan politics?
Do you not believe that there are "creatures" on the other side of the aisle that spend the same type of money if not more for their "free speech"? Why is it always the Kochs? You do know about George Soros and Tom Steyer, don't you? Are you really concerned with free speech or partisan politics?
1
Good opportunity to make elections ads informing the ill to un informed american voter just how corrupt and un democratic our US elections really are.
"Republican members of the commission see no such crisis. They say they are comfortable with how things are working under the structure that gives each party three votes. No action at all, they say, is better than overly aggressive steps that could chill political speech."
If the democrats from the FEC want to reign in these laws the public should know who is opposing.
"Republican members of the commission see no such crisis. They say they are comfortable with how things are working under the structure that gives each party three votes. No action at all, they say, is better than overly aggressive steps that could chill political speech."
If the democrats from the FEC want to reign in these laws the public should know who is opposing.
3
And in today's news, how Britons DO have campaign spending limit and NO TV or radio spots to sell.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/03/world/europe/with-campaign-spending-li...?
We have the nerve to call ourselves a democracy!
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/03/world/europe/with-campaign-spending-li...?
We have the nerve to call ourselves a democracy!
14
Justice isn't blind she wept..
6
I wonder what $10 billion could do to help in Baltimore? The juxtaposition of the two articles clearly shows how screwed up our country is.
7
If we are going to give away $10 billion in taxpayers money shouldn't it be divided equally among all citizens rather than going to a democratic stronghold like Baltimore?
Conflict of interest much?
7
View from a distance, the American constitutional system, that intricate 18th-century contraption of checks and balances, seems to have been reduced solely to checks. When John Corzine ran for the Senate in 2006, he spent more on his campaign than was spent in an entire British general election -- and that was before things really started going downhill. I have to ask what it it will take for the American people to reclaim their democracy. The FEC seems to be the mirror image of the Supreme Court, in which the law is seen entirely through partisan eyes. Sad.
13
I'm sure this will fall on deaf ears, but the FEC is eternally deadlocked because the Rs and Ds like it that way.
Both parties take gobs of corporate money and misuse the heck out of it.
Nobody wants to upset the apple cart.
No difference.
Both parties take gobs of corporate money and misuse the heck out of it.
Nobody wants to upset the apple cart.
No difference.
13
Let's think about this. If the Dems, say, did not "like it that way", what are their options? They could put three extremely conservative Democrats (= Republicans) on the Commission , and there would be a 6-0 vote to do nothing and not enforce the laws. THAT'S worse than dysfunctional. In other words, the situation vis-a-vis the F.E.C. is not symmetric for Republicans and Democrats, because one group wants to accomplish something and the other group wants to undermine the very purpose of the Commission.
3
You missed his point. Supposedly, the Dems want to "watch dog" things. In reality, they can mouth reform while still taking huge $$ from the rich. And I'm a democrat. I've just lost my illusions about what that party really represents since the Clintons took over. Sanders and Warren are probably the only two left who still represent "Democratic" values.
1
I'm not a Democrat, Rob. I don't think the parties are dysfunctional, so much as a system that promotes psychopaths who analyze things along the lines you suggested. I am happy to miss your points.
This needs to be fixed in a hurry. All members should resign and be re-appointed only after taking an oath to protect the election system in this country. Refusal to take the oath should mean forfeiture of the position and expeditious replacement. Failure to enforce existing laws should mean immediate dismissal and the person(s) should face charges for not abiding by their oath to "protect and defend" the constitution of the United States. If there was ever time we need to be assured of fair and just elections, its now.
20
Money talks, democracy walks...
6
Capitalism insists that everything be for sale, including the political process itself. I'm not sure which is worse, an oligarchy of financial titans or a democracy. America was meant to be neither of these but a representative constitutional republic. Only "we the people" can change it back and I don't have much hope of that happening. Citizens United will be viewed by history as another significant failure of the Supreme Court on a par with Dred Scott. Saudis and Russian oligarchs and Mexican drug cartels will be deciding the outcomes of our future elections as corruption metastasizes through our political system.
10
The article quotes Ann Ravel as saying, “What’s really going on is that the Republican commissioners don’t want to enforce the law, except in the most obvious cases." Maybe, what is really going on is that Ms. Ravel is being overly zealous or wants to chill political activity she does not like or both. If we are going to err, I would rather err on the side of allowing political activity than restricting it.
2
jpduffy3, please re-read the article. It's not about "allowing or restricting political activity." It's about whether or not to allow people/groups to break the law.
1
Instant Run-off Voting is the only solution.
A constitutional amendment clarifying that a dollar is in fact not a person would also be helpful since it seems never to have occurred to our founding fathers that future generations might not be clear on this distinction.
A constitutional amendment clarifying that a dollar is in fact not a person would also be helpful since it seems never to have occurred to our founding fathers that future generations might not be clear on this distinction.
4
Mr. Goodman may think U.S. Democracy is fine but it is dead at the foot of the Golden Calf. I hope Roberts, Alito et al. can sleep at night.
9
The Commission might as well be abolished. It is clearly not doing anything of value to the republic that it was established to support. The FEC is clearly a colossal waste of taxpayer dollars. This agency is a classic example of the corruption that has taken over our politics since the Citizens United decision.
6
Work for an amendment to undo Citizens United. Democracy is dead in the water otherwise.
54
or the SCOTUS could come to their senses and admit they wrong about 'citizen's united'.
2
THIS small minded Supreme Court? There ruling is accomplishing exactly what they hoped it would.
This is from the FEC's own website: "In 1975, Congress created the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to administer and enforce the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) - the statute that governs the financing of federal elections. The duties of the FEC, which is an independent regulatory agency, are to disclose campaign finance information, to enforce the provisions of the law such as the limits and prohibitions on contributions, and to oversee the public funding of Presidential elections."
If they are failing to enforce the Presidential election campaign finance laws, then perhaps the US Attorney General's Office needs conduct an investigation into the failure of the Commission and its Commissioners.
Currently there are four Commissioners whose terms have expired. The President needs to name four new ones and the Senate needs to confirm the candidates posthaste.
If they are failing to enforce the Presidential election campaign finance laws, then perhaps the US Attorney General's Office needs conduct an investigation into the failure of the Commission and its Commissioners.
Currently there are four Commissioners whose terms have expired. The President needs to name four new ones and the Senate needs to confirm the candidates posthaste.
8
Good luck on the Senate confirming new commissioners, unless a litmus test is applied. The test that would satisfy republicans in the Senate? "Will you or will you not enforce campaign laws regardless of what party membership or affiliation is involved, and regardless of the candidate's ideology?" If the answer is "yes," that nominee will be blocked.
Ms Ravel is attempting to enforce election laws beyond their scope. She wants to investigate Planned Parenthood fundraising and Greenpeace fundraising. The Republicans are resisting the regulatory overreach.
She is not being prevented from investigating the funding of individual campaigns.
She is not being prevented from investigating the funding of individual campaigns.
Where is the leadership that would compel cooperation, set goals, make sure procedures followed and investigations completed?
Should that be the White House?
Frankly, where is the professionalism that should be present in this sort of commission? From this article, the entire commission should just step down. Maybe we could save some money.
Should that be the White House?
Frankly, where is the professionalism that should be present in this sort of commission? From this article, the entire commission should just step down. Maybe we could save some money.
So much for respect for the rule of law. Our aspiring candidates are shouting that it's only power that matters. We need one candidate (party) to step forward and declare that the first order of business after election will be to get money out of politics and that nothing else will get done until that legislative work is complete. It would induce a remarkable change in Congress if chasing money didn't matter.
2
...done-Bernie Sanders...
1
Thankfully Ms. Ravel has the integrity to acknowledge the failure of the FEC and is willing to try to do something about it by releasing information publicly. Will freedom of the press prove to be the lifeblood of democracy? Will these abuses get the media attention they deserve? And will the people take note?
I've seen mentions of Bush's abuses here and there, but nothing close to the coverage the specious Clinton Cash accusations got. Does someone need to run a smear campaign to get the public to care that he's violating the law by fundraising for many months without declaring? Or that he's allowing a super-PAC to be his campaign committee, brazenly flouting the law so it receives unlimited donations?
And the Republican FEC members say the committee is working just fine, wouldn't want to infringe on free speech. These people should be in prison not in office.
I've seen mentions of Bush's abuses here and there, but nothing close to the coverage the specious Clinton Cash accusations got. Does someone need to run a smear campaign to get the public to care that he's violating the law by fundraising for many months without declaring? Or that he's allowing a super-PAC to be his campaign committee, brazenly flouting the law so it receives unlimited donations?
And the Republican FEC members say the committee is working just fine, wouldn't want to infringe on free speech. These people should be in prison not in office.
6
Remember that now very non-PC TV classic, 'All In The Family'? In one episode, Michael (aka 'Meathead') Stivic takes his father-in-law, Archie Bunker, to task for not having voted for more years than he could remember. 'Why bother to vote?", asks Archie. "All you get is a cherce [sic] between Tweedledum and Tweedledumber."
So now we have our typical contest between a corporate-financed Republicrat and a corporate-financed Demopublican. Take your 'cherce'.
So now we have our typical contest between a corporate-financed Republicrat and a corporate-financed Demopublican. Take your 'cherce'.
3
" Lee E. Goodman, a Republican commissioner, said in an interview. “This agency is functioning as Congress intended. The democracy isn’t collapsing around us.”"
Please, Mr Goodman, look again. The signs of collapse are prevalent.
Please, Mr Goodman, look again. The signs of collapse are prevalent.
8
Democracy is damaged when Obama decides to create new laws unilaterally and to enforce laws in a way that was never authorized by the legislature.
Democracy is not damaged when the legislature does not write new laws.
You are correct, in that Democrats are causing a collapse of democracy. Ms Ravel is attempting to write new laws and then enforce them, which is contrary to what happens in a democracy.
Democracy is not damaged when the legislature does not write new laws.
You are correct, in that Democrats are causing a collapse of democracy. Ms Ravel is attempting to write new laws and then enforce them, which is contrary to what happens in a democracy.
The USA needs a FEC staffed by people who hate politicians then the regulations such as they are could be enforced.
3
Here's an old-fashioned idea: if the lady thinks she is not up to the job, resign it, give up the title, perks, and paycheck to someone who knows how important it is and that it must be done, and soon. None of us benefit by having this vital office filled by somebody who doesn't believe it can be done.
2
Thank you Mr. Jryder for pointing out what should have been obvious to all of us. The lady obviously does not have enough speech to make a difference so we should appoint a new chair with more money. Since the Kochs come in brothers they could register as a Republican and a Democrat and we could then name which ever one was politically correct at the instant as Chairman FEC. With a planned $900M war chest they would have lots of speech to address this insidious problem.
Note that in the interest of being speech/money neutral I have attempted to use these the modern synonyms interchangeable and alternately.
Note that in the interest of being speech/money neutral I have attempted to use these the modern synonyms interchangeable and alternately.
I would propose ending the FEC. They do nothing, they make nothing, and their system is designed to enforce nothing. As to the “Congress set this place up to gridlock,” Lee E. Goodman, a Republican commissioner, said in an interview. “This agency is functioning as Congress intended. The democracy isn’t collapsing around us.” is living in a dream world. Democracy is for sale to the highest bidder. Why are conservatives afraid of speech that does not agree with them? Why do Republican candidates want to amend the first amendment to favor religious groups? Why should there be any restrictions on speech? Those conservatives that agree that no one should be denies the opportunity to spread their message, then why are they opposed to those who would propose Sharia law, support terrorism, and LGBT rights etc. ? Conservatives don't seem to have any lines in the sand as what constitutes free speech unless it is free speech they don't agree with.
5
One just has to ask the question, why are "progressives" are afraid of speech that does not agree with them? I mean really, the money is spent to spread messages - if the message of the "progressives" was so persuasive it wouldn't be a problem right? Why are all dictatorships afraid of speech? Why does Hillary want to amend the first amendment? Why should anyone be denied the opportunity to spread their message, folk have the capacity to agree with the message or not.
5
You cannot be serious. When the Supreme Court decides that a corporation is a "person" can oligarchy be far behind? Next , we will have corporations vote (according to their net worth)!
sounds like you've bought the line that money equals speech. Speech is about the exchange of ideas. When one person is capable of monopolizing "air time" so that the only ideas that voters hear (valid or not) are the ones the richest among us pay for, is it any longer "free speech"?
3
Progressives are much less concerned about the type of speech than the access that undisclosed campaign contributions may buy. Some of the candidates that progressives support---notably, Obama in 2008 and 2012---have raised more money than their opponents.
Off with their heads! An agency tasked with a particular job, which refuses to perform it's job, is a DEAD agency and should be vacated immediately.
14
Getting rid of Citizens United would be much more effective.
1
You don't think that anything needs to take its place? We're just to roll over and accept the sale, lock, stock, and barrel, of our elections? What this commissioner seems to be trying to do is to get US, the citizens who have authority, to do something about a situation where her hands are effectively tied - she is directly asking for our help in a matter that she knows is of the utmost importance to our nation. We'd best not "vacate" our own responsibility to do so.
1
And why is it dead. (My question mark seems to have failed.) It wasn't dead for decades, it is dead because three of the people charged with a job refuse to do it. They hold the door open for the election abusers. Don't blame the commission, blame those who refuse to look into allegations. Funny how it's just a certain three commissioners.
2
And why can't the FEC work to make elections verifiable? It seems to me this is the most important aspect of any constitutional Republic.
3
Political free speech is now little more than a shibboleth for corporate ideology and greed, aka branding paradoxically embracing a mantle of anonymity and non disclosure. Our nation of laws is a ruse for dark money pandering legitimized under the rubric of entrepreneur worship cheapened by a politely brutal contempt for the glimmering vestiges of democracy and blessed by the evangelical fervor of moralizing windbags and their massive war chests. Say goodnight, America. Hail Caesar.
28
Republican favor election corruption? Not exactly new is it?
21
But democrats in Chicago urge everyone to "vote early and often".
Maybe our democracy has failed. Maybe it's the Chinese form of government that is the successor in global power. Voters here certainly are willing to give China their money, and the political campaigns their money as well. But here it looks like we are heading to chaos. Enter China.
18
@Charles: "Maybe our democracy has failed."
This article is about the FEC, not "our democracy". And if you read the article carefully, you will see that there are three Republican and three Democratic commissioners *by law*. See 2 U.S. Code § 437c - Federal Election Commission:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/2/437c
This article is about the FEC, not "our democracy". And if you read the article carefully, you will see that there are three Republican and three Democratic commissioners *by law*. See 2 U.S. Code § 437c - Federal Election Commission:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/2/437c
There is no "maybe" about it. Our democracy has, indeed, failed. The evidence of that reality is all around you: in the near-total reelection of incumbents to Congress, the grossly unfair drawing of district boundaries, the widespread efforts to suppress voter participation, the overwhelming influence of lobbyists in Congress and the statehouses, the partisan Supreme Court majority, the gridlocked F.E.C., and, above all, the flood of billionaire and corporate money that will inevitably corrupt politicians.
Americans are powerless to change it. They know it, too, which is why there is so much apathy and anger. The politicians who think it's okay that they are bribed and bought and the F.E.C. obstructionists like Caroline Hunter and Matthew Petersen who think money is the be-all of politics are killing our democracy.
It won't last another generation unless things radically change very soon.
Americans are powerless to change it. They know it, too, which is why there is so much apathy and anger. The politicians who think it's okay that they are bribed and bought and the F.E.C. obstructionists like Caroline Hunter and Matthew Petersen who think money is the be-all of politics are killing our democracy.
It won't last another generation unless things radically change very soon.
2
The story most certainly is about democracy - can it work in a realm given over to dark money and corporate free speech when the commission formed to regulate the sanctity of the election process cannot inhibit the overwhelming power of unaccountable wealth in influencing the outcome of elections. That is at the heart of what is usurping democracy as conceived in the founding of our democratic republic not of the United States of Koch, adelson, et. al.
1
If they can't do anything about elections, get rid of the committee! Why waste m,ore taxpayer money on GOP-DEM ineffectiveness?
22
Commissioner Goodman, a republican, said 'Congress set this place up to gridlock. This agency is functioning as Congress intended'. He's saying that the FEC was intended to do NOTHING! I find this preposterous. In the first place, it should not have an even number of commissioners. Like SCOTUS, it should have a deal breaker.
1
If firemen can't stop fires, get rid of the firemen. Is that your
opinion, judging with closed eyes?
opinion, judging with closed eyes?
1
...you have arrived at the conclusion anti-government (no "transparency, oversight, accountability") tools of wealth desire..
Please stop with the Dem vs GOP nonsense. The only real difference between the two are the silly social issues that they want us all to bicker about. Race, abortion, gun control blah blah. The only acceptable presidential candidates will be those who will play ball with the plutocrats. The issue outlined in this article is actually important, but it gets 184 comments. Unlike an article about women's pay which gets hundreds. C'mon people! Pay attention to what is important!! THE MONEY that keeps the plutocrats in power!!
24
As a matter of fact, Mr. Goodman, democracy is collapsing around us. It is so sad that such corruption is acknowledged and allowed to flourish. At least there's one candidate we can vote for in 2016 who refuses to launch a SuperPAC. Bernie Sanders is funded by the people and represents the people, not anonymous corporations and plutocrats who are too cowardly to own up to their "free speech".
58
We have a republic and not a democracy. A democracy cannot exist with more than 150 participants (the Dunbar number), the limit for the number of participants we can know to a sufficient degree; their strengths and weaknesses, their capabilities, can they be counted on? Anthropologists and behavioral scientists know this and Jefferson grasped it with his ward and precinct system. Using the scientific method, a number of insular communities, primarily Amish and Mennonite, were observed. The takeaway from those studies was a tendency for those pacifist sects to splinter into new communities once their ranks were +/- 75 to avoid the early signs of friction and misunderstanding. In theory, a democracy can be a 1-vote majority dictatorship with no assurance that those who don't agree with the
majority can be safe with their person and their property.
"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." - Churchill
"Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it." - Sowell
Socialism has been universally unsuccessful with a success rate of 0%. Bernie Sanders is a 19th century idea and a 21st century cartoon.
majority can be safe with their person and their property.
"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." - Churchill
"Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it." - Sowell
Socialism has been universally unsuccessful with a success rate of 0%. Bernie Sanders is a 19th century idea and a 21st century cartoon.
...Internet disinformation technique #4: "kill the messenger"-rather than Socratic method=examination, issue by issue. As some of us warned Bernie, we see early arrival of the Henry Wallaceing of Bernie Sanders..(but then, who remembers FDR's VP-chosen successor-who attempted carry out "Big 4" FDR deals, which would have eliminated "cold war", Vietnam, Korea-Pax Americana...)
To willfully flout the letter and spirit of the election laws, is nothing short of treason...
22
The trouble with Democrats is they keep sending women to fight Republican men. Think about it.
There are six commissioners -- three women and three men. More significantly, four commissioners have already served their six-year term, but they have not been replaced. The Times should have pointed that out.
http://www.fec.gov/members/members.shtml
http://www.fec.gov/members/members.shtml
8
They - like the political process itself - are corrupt. Period.
8
This article is fundamentally baised from its first sentence:
"The leader of the Federal Election Commission, the agency charged with regulating the way political money is raised and spent, says she has largely given up hope of reining in abuses in the 2016 presidential campaign, which could generate a record $10 billion in spending."
It's only one side which believes they are abuses. Sadly this newspaper is no longer about informing people. It's about telling them what to think.
"The leader of the Federal Election Commission, the agency charged with regulating the way political money is raised and spent, says she has largely given up hope of reining in abuses in the 2016 presidential campaign, which could generate a record $10 billion in spending."
It's only one side which believes they are abuses. Sadly this newspaper is no longer about informing people. It's about telling them what to think.
3
Oh, good grief, the fact that the Republicans on the commission don't think abuse will occur doesn't mean it won't.
I am so sick of the Fox echo chamber complaining about the MSM telling others what to think. Honestly, could the irony be ANY thicker?
I am so sick of the Fox echo chamber complaining about the MSM telling others what to think. Honestly, could the irony be ANY thicker?
76
@Amy: "This article is fundamentally baised from its first sentence ..."
"It's only one side which believes they are abuses."
Did you read beyond the first sentence? The Times interviewed several commissioners, including Lee E. Goodman and Caroline C. Hunter, who are both *Republican* commissioners.
"It's only one side which believes they are abuses."
Did you read beyond the first sentence? The Times interviewed several commissioners, including Lee E. Goodman and Caroline C. Hunter, who are both *Republican* commissioners.
17
So do you think there should be no laws governing campaign finance? Do you think rich people and organizations should be able to give unlimited amounts of money to candidates and that candidates should be free to use the money for whatever they want? Vacation homes? Limousines? Hiring arsonists? Should foreign governments be able to give huge amounts to candidate campaigns? Should candidates be required to let us know where their campaign money comes from, or should they be allowed to keep that information secret?
17
The title says the Political Statement that someone wants to make...
"F.E.C. Can’t Curb 2016 Election Abuse, Commission Chief Says"
...and the election commission is a figment put in place to what (?) curb free speech?
I tend to believe we are all smart enough to not be sheep that can be subjectabed by speech, even incessant speech...as incessant speech gets responded to...incessantly, when allowed.
But that is just my view.
"F.E.C. Can’t Curb 2016 Election Abuse, Commission Chief Says"
...and the election commission is a figment put in place to what (?) curb free speech?
I tend to believe we are all smart enough to not be sheep that can be subjectabed by speech, even incessant speech...as incessant speech gets responded to...incessantly, when allowed.
But that is just my view.
2
The research on campaign finance shows that campaign spending affects election outcomes, especially for candidates who are not well known (other things do too, though). Political money also influences who runs for office, who has better access to public officials, and which issues receive governmental attention.
5
It's not the speech you hear that's the problem but the speech you don't hear. The bought and paid for process now selects even the candidates who will allowed to be heard in the campaign process. We are now only one step from Putin's process where undesirable candidates meet with unfortunate accidents.
1
It only takes 10% or less to be susceptible to swing an election. The money does not target 100%, just swing voters. Are you telling us that a small minority of voters cannot be swayed by lies and half truths repeated over and over for a small group who don't bother to check the claims or don't trust the media enough to fact check accurately, which is true of most people these days. With nowhere to turn, low information voters often are forced to accept whatever they hear over and over and over and over and over and over ...
1
It's obvious that this commission is a front used to pacify the American electorate. Democracy in this country is dead! But don't blame this on the F.E.C instead blame the SCOTUS and Republicans for Citizens United!
34
Lee E. Goodman is very wrong: With accelerating speed, our democracy is indeed collapsing around us, if we can still claim to have one.
27
Somehow the “smartest” supreme court judge in the land did not foresee that letting anyone buy political favor with unlimited dark spending would lead to this. If we ever get out of this students of the future will be stunned at the blatant legalization of political bribery. Judge Roberts will go down as leading one of the worst Supreme Courts of all time. He is a true embarrassment to the institution.
66
I'll give Antonin Scalia this: he has made "originalism" into the thinnest of veils for his unabashed, unapologetic, proudly brazen partisanship in hewing to the far right political agenda under the self righteous guise of his arrogantly self proclaimed infallibility in interpreting the constitution. And apart from that veneer of "original intent," he makes no bones about it.
1
Agreed. I have no doubt that the majority in Citizens United knew exactly what they were unleashing upon us.
2
Actually I think the smartest justice saw exactly where it (and the Hobby Lobby decision, and the decision to vacate the Voting Rights law) would lead. Read Justice Ginsberg's dissents. Roberts?! IMHO Roberts can't hold a candle to her.
1
Notice that conservative millionaires have endless piles of money to donate to campaigns but none with which to properly reward those who build their wealth for them.
Sickening.
Thanks, SCOTUS.
Sickening.
Thanks, SCOTUS.
60
There is no bigger issue facing the country. Money has bought the constitution .....http://lstrn.us/10DGJIW
28
It is now beyond comprehension that the SCOTUS allowed Citizens United to become the law of the land.
51
The SCOTUS has a majority of justices who consider writing a political donation check, regardless of the number of digits before the decimal point, to be protected written expression.
11
You might notice that the correlation between the number of Catholics in the SCOTUS and the fact that the founding members of the Heritage Foundation were Catholic. You might also note that the ALEC is an organization set forth by one of the members of the Heritage Foundation. You might want to take a look at the oath the rebupublican congressional members of the ALEC took to put the ALEC before the needs of this country. You could also take a look at how the Koch Brothers are intetwined in all of this. It is a well organized, deceiptful, rich, powerful web of influence that effects every American.
24
"It's a right wing conspiracy."
HRC
HRC
1
While we all know that Washington's "go-nowhere" attitude comes from being strangled by partisan gridlock - the obscene amount of unaccounted campaign money - the very uneven playing field - makes me sick.
And so - what? - are we, as Citizens AND Taxpayers "stuck" with these six "Commisioners" who are not doing their job, and "barely on speaking terms". Oh boy. Who is paying their salary (we are!) and, how much is it?
Fire all 6 of them, pronto, and get an Independent Judge to appoint 6 new Commisioners, and on the double!! There IS no time to waste. For these Commisoners to dawdle and dither and do NOTHING is absurd AND obscene. The Mega-Rich get richer, and the "average" American is never heard from.
Maybe I care too much. Like the NRC, or the EPA, "not" doing your job is pretty normal in the Beltway of our Capitol, if you can pass the buck .... speaking of which (!), where - oh where - was the GAO when Halliburton was looting the Federal Treasury during Cheney & Bush 2's phony War in Iraq?
Thomas Jefferson is rolling over in his grave.
And so - what? - are we, as Citizens AND Taxpayers "stuck" with these six "Commisioners" who are not doing their job, and "barely on speaking terms". Oh boy. Who is paying their salary (we are!) and, how much is it?
Fire all 6 of them, pronto, and get an Independent Judge to appoint 6 new Commisioners, and on the double!! There IS no time to waste. For these Commisoners to dawdle and dither and do NOTHING is absurd AND obscene. The Mega-Rich get richer, and the "average" American is never heard from.
Maybe I care too much. Like the NRC, or the EPA, "not" doing your job is pretty normal in the Beltway of our Capitol, if you can pass the buck .... speaking of which (!), where - oh where - was the GAO when Halliburton was looting the Federal Treasury during Cheney & Bush 2's phony War in Iraq?
Thomas Jefferson is rolling over in his grave.
24
Democrats and ethics? Like trying to push two magnets together of the same polarity, it just doesn't work. IRS anyone?
3
Ethics is a non-partisan word. There are plenty of examples to go around.
16
Republicans pointing fingers about ethics?
Iraq, anyone?
Iraq, anyone?
26
First off you need a democratic system. You don't have one right now. You need at least one more political party. You need one less branch of government. No more executive branch. Whoever wins the popular vote in congress forms the government. You must create a Federal Elections board entirely detached from political parties. (You guys will never manage that one). You need a Federal voter's list, again you will never manage that either. Your biased county voter's list will prevail.
5
In politics, I live by one simple rule: never trust a Republican.
24
And the other half of the US feels the same way about Democrats.
3
I believe you mean the other 1%--most people I know don't have the liquidity to buy off 3 of the 6 members of the FEC.
15
Cheney was very honest with us about Afghanistan and Iraq. Both have turned out to be very successful wars. But true, we had Vietnam. But all of these wars were backed unequivocally by Republicans. At least a handful of Democrats protested. It did no good because the public wanted to have those wars.
We are a fractured nation. It's because we are not an educated nation, but we have the egos to believe that we are educated. Let's pour as much money as we can into the electoral process. Elections are for sale, and we belivee that anything can be sold.
According to the Citizens United decision, why can't the Chinese back a presidential candidate? It's a modern day "Manchurian Candidate", but far less dramatic. Voters just succumb to the influence of the vast wealth. Elsa Lanchesters's character has her day.
We are a fractured nation. It's because we are not an educated nation, but we have the egos to believe that we are educated. Let's pour as much money as we can into the electoral process. Elections are for sale, and we belivee that anything can be sold.
According to the Citizens United decision, why can't the Chinese back a presidential candidate? It's a modern day "Manchurian Candidate", but far less dramatic. Voters just succumb to the influence of the vast wealth. Elsa Lanchesters's character has her day.
1
The Republican Tea Party is obsessed by the concept endorsed by the Roberts Majority that the electoral process is up for sale to the highest corporate bidder. Democracy is a farce as long as there is no control over election spending.
18
This is absolutely crazy. Why even have an agency that is in a permanent state of gridlock!!
4
Historians will look back on Ms. Ravel's comments as documentation of the unraveling of the American "Democratic" System.
15
"Republican members of the commission see no such crisis"
Of course not...the GOP has (had) a huge advantage in fund raising and "dark money", particularly since Citizens v United decision, why would they see a problem? They ( the GOP) also understand their biggest problem is Hillary Clinton though I dont think they understand the sheer magnitude of the fund raising machine gathering momentum and heading in their direction
Mrs Clinton is under no compulsion to obey the rules ( perhaps rightly so considering the GOPs activities since 2010) and will bring her considerable fund raising resources, namely Bill Clinto and friends to bear. In the past conservatives recited the tired, old and patently ridiculous " George Soros and Unions contributions" talking points to claim they were not raising more money than the Democrats. This election, unencumbered by any credible candidates, and meaningful FEC fund raising oversight Mrs Clinton will amass a huge war chest.
Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war.
Of course not...the GOP has (had) a huge advantage in fund raising and "dark money", particularly since Citizens v United decision, why would they see a problem? They ( the GOP) also understand their biggest problem is Hillary Clinton though I dont think they understand the sheer magnitude of the fund raising machine gathering momentum and heading in their direction
Mrs Clinton is under no compulsion to obey the rules ( perhaps rightly so considering the GOPs activities since 2010) and will bring her considerable fund raising resources, namely Bill Clinto and friends to bear. In the past conservatives recited the tired, old and patently ridiculous " George Soros and Unions contributions" talking points to claim they were not raising more money than the Democrats. This election, unencumbered by any credible candidates, and meaningful FEC fund raising oversight Mrs Clinton will amass a huge war chest.
Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war.
9
The Repubs ought to see a problem. The fact that they can stand in the face of the nation and deny something is wrong is a disgrace. But typical for that group.
15
Unions spends much more 100% on Democrats hundreds of millions of dollars. Together all Corporations contribute about 50% to Republicans and 50% to Democrats and less money than union bosses.
Http://www.periodictablet.com
Http://www.periodictablet.com
1
Every nonpartisan report or analysis of political money I have ever seen finds that corporate political action committees, professional political action committees, and private individuals at the upper levels of the income scale contribute far more money than do labor unions. I have never seen a nonpartisan analysis that found union contributions exceeded corporate PAC contributions.
Cats and rats are chasing their tails while big bribes will flow through the campaigns into the Television industry coffers.
The crooks win, the Television industry becomes an empire overflowing with money that in turn gives free air time to the winners.
Nixon was a crook and so are all politicians as they accept bribes to get elected then serve those financiers. Keystone XL was the best most recent example.
The crooks win, the Television industry becomes an empire overflowing with money that in turn gives free air time to the winners.
Nixon was a crook and so are all politicians as they accept bribes to get elected then serve those financiers. Keystone XL was the best most recent example.
6
How about the statement 2 hours before the election: "My opponent has withdrawn"
If the FEC is broken, Democrats should work hard to fix it any way they can. In the meantime, they should work overtime to amass as large a political war chest as possible using all legal and quasi-legal means available to crush Republicans' cynical attempts to buy their way to unilateral power. Fight fire with fire to outlast the ultra conservative plague that has debilitated this country for the past 30 years.
6
The comment of the Republican commissioners of the FEC that they are happy with the current situation pretty much openly declares the entire purpose of their party. It clearly shows that the SCOTUS decision have been manipulated to achieve a specific and intentional result: to override the one man, one vote foundation of the American democratic system by declaring that dollars are the equivalent of votes and that legal constructs are the equivalent of flesh and blood human beings.
29
Is there any way to hold the three Republican commissioners to account for dereliction of duty? They should not only be removed from office but prosecuted for corruption.
11
@c. Seattle: "... the three Republican commissioners ... [should be] ... prosecuted for corruption."
Prosecution requires evidence. What evidence of "corruption" do you have?
Prosecution requires evidence. What evidence of "corruption" do you have?
3
The fact that this has only 144 comments versus the hundreds any article on race, women's rights, abortion, gun control etc. has is proof that we are never going to get anywhere. This article is important. This is the kind of thing the plutocracy doesn't want people to get enflamed about. Having people bicker and argue about race and abortion is exactly what they want us to do. They are distractions to the real problems. Tax code, labor law, campaign finances, banking regulations, international trade agreements. These are issues that the plutocracy cares about. They are also issues that most people will not engage in.
Get real people Keep your eye on what is important. Do not engage in stupid distractions like race, abortion etc. They are canards designed to keep us divided.
Get real people Keep your eye on what is important. Do not engage in stupid distractions like race, abortion etc. They are canards designed to keep us divided.
19
So, are we are shocked at the stalemate, when we set the foxes to guard the henhouse. The problem isn't just fraud, the problem is the death grip the Democrats and Republicans have on the presidency, our congress, our state governments, the primary system, our election process, fundraising, etc. If there is one thing that the parties hate more than each other, are interlopers, like moderates and independents, who ruin the rhetoric and game for them. How about this crazy idea - the commission should be drawn from people who are neither party members or in politics at all? Trust me, the parties would never let that happen.
4
I went over to my local Unemployment Office the other day, looking for assistance --
While there, I met with an Employment Counselor - who suggested some options and employment possibilities I might consider...
We went down the list - eliminating each one for any number of reasons (no experience, lacking specific skills, etc.) - until we ran out of options --
I was looking very downtrodden, when suddenly the counselor suggested --
"Well - you could always run for public office as a Republican, you know. -- The job may be temporary...but I hear it's a sure-fire way to get your hands on some cash pretty quickly."
Don't laugh -- I'm thinking about it...
While there, I met with an Employment Counselor - who suggested some options and employment possibilities I might consider...
We went down the list - eliminating each one for any number of reasons (no experience, lacking specific skills, etc.) - until we ran out of options --
I was looking very downtrodden, when suddenly the counselor suggested --
"Well - you could always run for public office as a Republican, you know. -- The job may be temporary...but I hear it's a sure-fire way to get your hands on some cash pretty quickly."
Don't laugh -- I'm thinking about it...
14
@Howard G: '"Well - you could always run for public office as a Republican, you know. ..."'
Are you hoping to run unopposed in the Republican primary?
Are you hoping to run unopposed in the Republican primary?
Republicans don't want to fix the operation of our elections. They lack the numbers and the demographics to win presidential elections in normal years, and their chances will only worsen. So they opt instead to hold to their present strategy: Allow big money, including corporate money, to gum up and tilt our elections. They continue that financial sabotage, accompanied by their more-American-than-thou chant. I wouldn't play a single hand of poker with any of them.
31
Not only do the Repubs "lack the demographics" they are actively fixing the game by pursuing voter suppression of the poor, black, and Hispanic constituencies in pursuit of a phony "fraud" charge. Wonder where the financing for that effort comes from? Could it be their wealthy white masters operating under Citizens United?
5
Ms. Ravel needs to learn how to play ball with the other side. She cannot give up. They are eating her alive and she stands back and gives in? Give me a break. Did she think her job was going to be easy? Be the teeth you say you need. Call them out, over and over again. If there are always 3 to 3 votes, then make that process work. Even billionaire shills have some inner independence on behalf of their government; i.e. better angel so to speak. Grab the dysfunction and seize the day. It's your job. No one is off the hook - including Ms. Ravel.
8
Maybe the Federal Trade Commision (F.T.C.) should take the place of the Federal Election Commision (F.E.C.) I would like the "Truth in Advertising" law implemented in the political process.
Truth In Advertising
When consumers see or hear an advertisement, whether it’s on the Internet, radio or television, or anywhere else, federal law says that ad must be truthful, not misleading, and, when appropriate, backed by scientific evidence. The Federal Trade Commission enforces these truth-in-advertising laws, and it applies the same standards no matter where an ad appears – in newspapers and magazines, online, in the mail, or on billboards or buses.
Unfortunately, the GOP employ Frank Luntz PhD who's expertise is in manipulation of words to manipulate people's "emotional" reactions" about a subject without giving people the facts of the event and they combine it with Joseph Goebbel's philosphy “It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle. They are mere words, and words can be molded until they clothe ideas and disguise.” “The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly - it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over.”
― Joseph Goebbels
The Koch brothers have said that they are willing to spend a billion dollars towards this process.
Truth In Advertising
When consumers see or hear an advertisement, whether it’s on the Internet, radio or television, or anywhere else, federal law says that ad must be truthful, not misleading, and, when appropriate, backed by scientific evidence. The Federal Trade Commission enforces these truth-in-advertising laws, and it applies the same standards no matter where an ad appears – in newspapers and magazines, online, in the mail, or on billboards or buses.
Unfortunately, the GOP employ Frank Luntz PhD who's expertise is in manipulation of words to manipulate people's "emotional" reactions" about a subject without giving people the facts of the event and they combine it with Joseph Goebbel's philosphy “It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle. They are mere words, and words can be molded until they clothe ideas and disguise.” “The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly - it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over.”
― Joseph Goebbels
The Koch brothers have said that they are willing to spend a billion dollars towards this process.
29
It's the police policing themselves.Neither party wants enforcement.Every time election reform/changes/enforcement comes up before them they vote to find every way it cannot be done or accomplished,and it never does get 'reformed'.Bring the supreme court decision into the fray and the politicians are loving it-$10 billion dollars-the democracy is working! What CAN We Do About It? Many Americans hate this about 'ourselves' but we continue down this same road... 40 yrs.ago ... what has changed?
1
Right-wingers control Congress and the Supreme Court now, and they work together to try to take over the Presidency with their money. They work hand in hand to buy elections now that money is speech and corporations are people. voting rights are a thing of the past in states controlled by Republicans, and the SCOTUS has given an assist. It's only logical that Republicans want to make the F.E.C. toothless.
7
OK, if the F. E. C. is paralyzed, perhaps the Department of Justice should take over enforcement in cases where federal laws are being broken. The stalemate at the F. E. C. shouldn't mean that a free-for-all of illegal behavior will simply be accepted as unfortunate, but unavoidable and unpunishable.
3
So, again we see the MSM work the false equivalency. The FEC is deadlocked along partisan lines.
Except that the Democrats want clean elections and Republicans want corruption in the form undue political influence.
Oh, wait, the Roberts court has said that spending to buy undue political influence is free speech and good for the country and the electoral process.
What was I thinking???
Except that the Democrats want clean elections and Republicans want corruption in the form undue political influence.
Oh, wait, the Roberts court has said that spending to buy undue political influence is free speech and good for the country and the electoral process.
What was I thinking???
14
Thinking requires acknowledging and admitting to the complexity of the issue
To Steven
What is complex about political corruption? Especially when it is sanctioned by the highest court in the land?
What is complex about the nonsense that corporations are people and enjoy religious freedom?
What is complex about political corruption? Especially when it is sanctioned by the highest court in the land?
What is complex about the nonsense that corporations are people and enjoy religious freedom?
If the F.E.C. cannot do what it is mandated to do then it should be defunded and Congress should pass a law getting rid of the agency.
3
This is what the GOP wants to do with the IRS do we can follow the example of Greece.
1
Poor Ms. Ravel, trying to get electoral integrity out of a Republican is like getting water from a stone.
8
And they wonder why such a low level of the public bothers to vote.
6
Dismiss them all. We don't need to pay for something that doesn't work.
2
So why doesn't the president unappoint, fire the F.E.C commisioners and select a new slate for Senate confirmation? The likely result would be gridlock and no one gets on that commission. Maybe the partisanship and ineptness will be more in the open and shame these folks into action. Of course, shame only occurs in persons of good character not those immoral or amoral.
2
If the laws were even enforced a bit the Republicans would lose more elections.
The only way they can stay in power is via rigging the entire system in their favor, suppressing voters who might not agree with them, stealing and disqualifying votes and entire elections, closing centers early, etc.
They have no rigged the electoral college so that they can win a presidential election without even a majority of voters supporting them. They want to divide the electoral college votes for the states instead of winner takes all which would destroy their hopes for power.
Losers every single one of them.
The only way they can stay in power is via rigging the entire system in their favor, suppressing voters who might not agree with them, stealing and disqualifying votes and entire elections, closing centers early, etc.
They have no rigged the electoral college so that they can win a presidential election without even a majority of voters supporting them. They want to divide the electoral college votes for the states instead of winner takes all which would destroy their hopes for power.
Losers every single one of them.
20
We should get rid of the electoral college and pursue direct elections. It would take some time to set it up, but we would be able to feel assured that our votes actually count. Also, shorten the campaign and fund raising period to 9 months, tops.
4
Simon,
Were you absent in Social Studies when they taught how the President was elected? It should have been blindingly obvious that a majority, or even a plurality, of the population was not required.
Were you absent in Social Studies when they taught how the President was elected? It should have been blindingly obvious that a majority, or even a plurality, of the population was not required.
I'd like to see a limit on TV advertising, addressing this from the other side. It's clear all that money is being spent on a largely cosmetic performance and the whole media/marketing apparatus is becoming ever more powerful at the expense of real reality.
England (actually the UK) is having a big election this Thursday, and the campaigning has only gone on a few short months. I believe they do not use TV advertising.
It is hard to get anything done, and we really can't afford the waste in any case.
As to voting, I think we should require everyone to vote, with small fines, like in Australia. That way the whole nonsense about pretending restricting working stiffs, the elderly, and the poor from voting while claiming fraud is coming trom the victims of the actual fraud, would be impossible.
History, which we have forgotten, demonstrates that the powerful will always use the system to gain more power, and in the end entire civilizations have collapsed from the kind of indulgence we fail to curb.
There is a whole market to exploit the obscene wealth of the few, and part of that market is vast sums supporting candicates who promote the vicious spiral to a hell of our own making.
It is inefficient and wastes every kind of energy, which in this climate is more than dangerous. In the end, the earth itself will reject us as we continue to think it is only there for us to exploit and use as a dump.
England (actually the UK) is having a big election this Thursday, and the campaigning has only gone on a few short months. I believe they do not use TV advertising.
It is hard to get anything done, and we really can't afford the waste in any case.
As to voting, I think we should require everyone to vote, with small fines, like in Australia. That way the whole nonsense about pretending restricting working stiffs, the elderly, and the poor from voting while claiming fraud is coming trom the victims of the actual fraud, would be impossible.
History, which we have forgotten, demonstrates that the powerful will always use the system to gain more power, and in the end entire civilizations have collapsed from the kind of indulgence we fail to curb.
There is a whole market to exploit the obscene wealth of the few, and part of that market is vast sums supporting candicates who promote the vicious spiral to a hell of our own making.
It is inefficient and wastes every kind of energy, which in this climate is more than dangerous. In the end, the earth itself will reject us as we continue to think it is only there for us to exploit and use as a dump.
26
Doing a little fact checking on my assertion about media in the UK.
Here's a summary:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campaign_advertising
One thing the EU does better than we do:
"In most EU Member States campaign advertising is heavily regulated.
"In some Member States, the United Kingdom and Ireland for example, party political advertisements on broadcast media (known as Party Political Broadcasts) are restricted to specific circumstances such as political party conferences and a limited time period before a General Election. In the latter instance political parties are allowed specific time slots on the broadcast media in which the advert may be aired. These are limited in time, offered to all registered parties and must be aired at times during the schedules that have similar levels of viewership. Furthermore, a moratorium on all election coverage is mandated on the day of the ballot.
"Some Member States regulate the posting of election posters at both national and municipal level. In Ireland there are restrictions on the erection of election posters which mandate the time period after an election by which time the poster must be removed, with fines as a potential sanction. Some local councils have voted to ban the placement of election posters, citing the cost of removal and the waste generated."
Here's a summary:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campaign_advertising
One thing the EU does better than we do:
"In most EU Member States campaign advertising is heavily regulated.
"In some Member States, the United Kingdom and Ireland for example, party political advertisements on broadcast media (known as Party Political Broadcasts) are restricted to specific circumstances such as political party conferences and a limited time period before a General Election. In the latter instance political parties are allowed specific time slots on the broadcast media in which the advert may be aired. These are limited in time, offered to all registered parties and must be aired at times during the schedules that have similar levels of viewership. Furthermore, a moratorium on all election coverage is mandated on the day of the ballot.
"Some Member States regulate the posting of election posters at both national and municipal level. In Ireland there are restrictions on the erection of election posters which mandate the time period after an election by which time the poster must be removed, with fines as a potential sanction. Some local councils have voted to ban the placement of election posters, citing the cost of removal and the waste generated."
5
Why not eliminate political advertising altogether? It contributes nothing to our democracy. This would require a constitutional amendment, but I believe a lot of Democrats and Republicans would support it.
In the age of the internet, it should be possible for both parties to cooperate to run a website where candidates could post their statements. As with Google and Amazon.com, their statements would rise in prominence because people found them interesting, not because of slick advertising campaigns.
Admittedly, people with money could afford to hire professional writers to compose their statements. But at least a virtuous David would have a chance against a more polished Goliath. And the Goliaths might be forced to pay attention to what the Davids said.
Much of the money-centeredness of our politics comes from the expense of buying ads. If we could eliminate political advertising, the power of money would be severely reduced. But something has to replace money as the factor which narrows down the field of candidates. Obviously, we can't vote for thousands of people for president. But with Google- and Amazon-like computer algorithms, the field should be narrowed by what the public finds interesting.
In the age of the internet, it should be possible for both parties to cooperate to run a website where candidates could post their statements. As with Google and Amazon.com, their statements would rise in prominence because people found them interesting, not because of slick advertising campaigns.
Admittedly, people with money could afford to hire professional writers to compose their statements. But at least a virtuous David would have a chance against a more polished Goliath. And the Goliaths might be forced to pay attention to what the Davids said.
Much of the money-centeredness of our politics comes from the expense of buying ads. If we could eliminate political advertising, the power of money would be severely reduced. But something has to replace money as the factor which narrows down the field of candidates. Obviously, we can't vote for thousands of people for president. But with Google- and Amazon-like computer algorithms, the field should be narrowed by what the public finds interesting.
When our country was founded voting was restricteed to land owning, white protestant white men. Since BIG money is now very likely to control voting, it seems that we are headed back to that time as only very weathy men will control the out come of most elections. Conservative America is carrying us back to 1776. The GOP aided by ALEC and SCOTUS seem determined to make that a reality.
Since 2000 the rule of one man one vote has rather rapidly disapeared. Democracy is rapidly being lost to the oligachs.
It was great for that short time it actually existed.
Since 2000 the rule of one man one vote has rather rapidly disapeared. Democracy is rapidly being lost to the oligachs.
It was great for that short time it actually existed.
18
It is incumbent upon every American who cares about democracy and this country to vote.
To give up is not viable. It is exactly what Republicans who have gerrymandered, passed voter suppression laws and paid billions to super-PACs want - voters to give up due to apathy or hopelessness.
Think of all the sacrifices African-Americans made in the South to get the right to vote, only to have a partisan 5-4 Supreme Court gut the Voting Rights Act with the claim Congress didn't know what it was doing.
Never give up. Money cannot outweigh voter unity.
5 of the last 6 popular elections were won by Democrats and we can't afford more Republican appointments to the Supreme Court giving away our democracy to the monied interests.
For all those who think there is no difference between the parties, consider that right now Republicans in Congress are trying to end the Estate Tax that applies to only 0.02% of estates - those larger than $10 million - at the same time they are holding down the minimum wage.
While all parties have become beholden to the wealthy, only the Democrats fight to reduce income inequality while Republicans openly seek to increase it.
To give up is not viable. It is exactly what Republicans who have gerrymandered, passed voter suppression laws and paid billions to super-PACs want - voters to give up due to apathy or hopelessness.
Think of all the sacrifices African-Americans made in the South to get the right to vote, only to have a partisan 5-4 Supreme Court gut the Voting Rights Act with the claim Congress didn't know what it was doing.
Never give up. Money cannot outweigh voter unity.
5 of the last 6 popular elections were won by Democrats and we can't afford more Republican appointments to the Supreme Court giving away our democracy to the monied interests.
For all those who think there is no difference between the parties, consider that right now Republicans in Congress are trying to end the Estate Tax that applies to only 0.02% of estates - those larger than $10 million - at the same time they are holding down the minimum wage.
While all parties have become beholden to the wealthy, only the Democrats fight to reduce income inequality while Republicans openly seek to increase it.
24
isn't this a situation where the USAG can and should step in and begin prosecutions of all the non-profit abusers - at least for tax evasion?
10
The FEC should be dismissed, like a deadlocked jury, and replaced with a non-partisan group having AN ODD NUMBER OF MEMBERS. And politicians cannot be involved in selecting the people who oversee their campaigns. Come on, fellow voters, we must insist. The FEC is all that stands between democracy and plutocracy, and right now, that means that nothing stands between them.
22
So the Republicans don't see any problem. The system is rigged to their liking. Just another toothless, non-functional government agency.
The Republicans go on about the good old USA being so exceptional, but it's hard to know what that means. They've put it up for sale. So far the Koch brothers are the highest bidder. Their daddy being a founder of the John Birch society that at one time was considered a far right fringe group. Now they Are the Republican Party, and if successful buying the government, will turn us all into Kansas. No taxes for the rich- go ahead and shut down the schools early, don't really care about 'em anyway.
A sad time for us. Hope there is a way out.
The Republicans go on about the good old USA being so exceptional, but it's hard to know what that means. They've put it up for sale. So far the Koch brothers are the highest bidder. Their daddy being a founder of the John Birch society that at one time was considered a far right fringe group. Now they Are the Republican Party, and if successful buying the government, will turn us all into Kansas. No taxes for the rich- go ahead and shut down the schools early, don't really care about 'em anyway.
A sad time for us. Hope there is a way out.
31
as odd as this might seem - why are there any republicans or democrats on this commission?
if we want a fair political system, why have any people with political motivations involved at all in monitoring the system?
if we want a fair political system, why have any people with political motivations involved at all in monitoring the system?
19
What we've got here is a failed democracy.
26
so why contribute to the failings by putting the wrong people in charge of the monitoring system?
"These days, the six commissioners hardly ever rule unanimously on major cases, or even on some of the most minor matters."
The political divide is clean across the board. Lines have been drawn, and the drawing is usually about how money is controlled. Corporations are now people that may donate, thanks Supreme Court, thanks Citizens United.
On a more optimistic note, how did Obama come out of nowhere and raise a billion and get elected? Answer: charisma, wit, humility, vision, courage, ideas, message, ability, logic....
Money may prop up a candidate, but, as people become more media savvy, more educated, more aware of the ruse being played by the one-percent, the cream will rise. Remember: Obama got *RE-ELECTED* against the white, connected one-per-center Mittens Romney. All is not lost, yet.
What if Sanders orchestrates a miracle? It only takes a debate.
Remember the Howard Dean media tragedy? One yell and a great candidate is sent to the sideline. Or Romney's 47 percent speech?
The game may be expensive, but having the most money may not be the only way in.
The political divide is clean across the board. Lines have been drawn, and the drawing is usually about how money is controlled. Corporations are now people that may donate, thanks Supreme Court, thanks Citizens United.
On a more optimistic note, how did Obama come out of nowhere and raise a billion and get elected? Answer: charisma, wit, humility, vision, courage, ideas, message, ability, logic....
Money may prop up a candidate, but, as people become more media savvy, more educated, more aware of the ruse being played by the one-percent, the cream will rise. Remember: Obama got *RE-ELECTED* against the white, connected one-per-center Mittens Romney. All is not lost, yet.
What if Sanders orchestrates a miracle? It only takes a debate.
Remember the Howard Dean media tragedy? One yell and a great candidate is sent to the sideline. Or Romney's 47 percent speech?
The game may be expensive, but having the most money may not be the only way in.
56
That would require those in control of debates to actually allow him to participate and then allow him to answer questions during the debate.
2
you are very naive if you believe anyone will debate bernie on the issues he considers important to the nation.
8
Obama got most of his money from Wall Street and big corporations. He received more money from Wall Street in 2008 than any other candidate.
2
"Republican members of the commission see no such crisis. They say they are comfortable with how things are working under the structure that gives each party three votes. No action at all, they say, is better than overly aggressive steps that could chill political speech."
Ho hum. Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy would agree with the Republican commissioners.
Great guardians of the Constitution these guys, as long as it involves completely bonkers interpretations of the 1st, 2nd and 10th Amendments.
Sheldon Adelson and the Koch Brothers own the podium. Let the "free" speech begin.
Ho hum. Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy would agree with the Republican commissioners.
Great guardians of the Constitution these guys, as long as it involves completely bonkers interpretations of the 1st, 2nd and 10th Amendments.
Sheldon Adelson and the Koch Brothers own the podium. Let the "free" speech begin.
11
It's hard to imagine the FEC being anything other than inert and enfeebled when it essentially up against the leanings of Congress and the Supreme Court.
3
Our free speech requires
Equal access to all ears
Not just rich speakers
Equal access to all ears
Not just rich speakers
6
Business as usual, just Republicans doing the work for which they were purchased.
22
I've read many comments on this thread already from people suggesting that the remedy here is to just shut down the FEC altogether since there is a seemingly unbreakable stalemate along partisan lines. I find this rather peculiar and, frankly, very suspect.
So the FEC is shut down. And then what?
No, the answer isn't the shut down the FEC; the answer is to take whatever measures necessary to remove the obstacles that keep it from being a functioning body. The board obviously cannot be comprised of partisan members. It must be made into a nonpartisan body that is representative of more than just the GOP and the Democratic Party.
The suggestion that it should be disbanded without any suggestions about how to achieve the goals of enforcement of rules and laws seems to come from those who support the obstruction put forth by the Republicans on the board.
Shady business is afoot, folks.
So the FEC is shut down. And then what?
No, the answer isn't the shut down the FEC; the answer is to take whatever measures necessary to remove the obstacles that keep it from being a functioning body. The board obviously cannot be comprised of partisan members. It must be made into a nonpartisan body that is representative of more than just the GOP and the Democratic Party.
The suggestion that it should be disbanded without any suggestions about how to achieve the goals of enforcement of rules and laws seems to come from those who support the obstruction put forth by the Republicans on the board.
Shady business is afoot, folks.
8
Republican commissioner Lee E. Goodman is right. Democracy "isn't collapsing around us." Wrong metaphor. Our democracy is paralyzed and unable to function and breathe owing to him, his Republican pals and their party. They deny our patient -- democracy -- the antidote to Republican poison, the money paralyzing us all.
19
If you haven't already figured out by now just how grotesque our elections process has become since Citizens United, then you should read this NYT article, published on April 26, 2015.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/27/us/politics/republican-contenders-reac...
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/27/us/politics/republican-contenders-reac...
1
"..“Congress set this place up to gridlock,” Lee E. Goodman, a Republican commissioner, said in an interview. “This agency is functioning as Congress intended. The democracy isn’t collapsing around us.”
The conclusion is wrong. Democracy has collapsed in practice, though the appearances are deceiving. Money rules politics and the voters really donot have very much influence - they are merely the target of lots of misleading propaganda and half-truths from politicians, their handlers and donors.
The conclusion is wrong. Democracy has collapsed in practice, though the appearances are deceiving. Money rules politics and the voters really donot have very much influence - they are merely the target of lots of misleading propaganda and half-truths from politicians, their handlers and donors.
2
Thanks to Republicans, the United States is becoming more and more like Mexico, where the 0.1% live with bodyguards inside gated fortresses, while drug thugs amd gangs terrorize almost everyone else, in what is essentially a failed state and de facto anarchy. If Republicans achieve their goal of becoming North Mexico, the Great American Experiment will turn out to be a failure within this century.
This country has had close calls before. The country came very close to complete destruction over ideology during the Civil War, unstable in the late years of the Gilded Age, and again came very close to complete destruction during the Great Depression. With Citizens United and extremist conservative ideology, it looks like ominous political economic weather is moving in over the next couple of decades. Will the country survive this one? It's too early to tell, but we shouldn't assume that just because the country has survived previous storms, it will survive the one on the way.
This country has had close calls before. The country came very close to complete destruction over ideology during the Civil War, unstable in the late years of the Gilded Age, and again came very close to complete destruction during the Great Depression. With Citizens United and extremist conservative ideology, it looks like ominous political economic weather is moving in over the next couple of decades. Will the country survive this one? It's too early to tell, but we shouldn't assume that just because the country has survived previous storms, it will survive the one on the way.
17
Funny how the line falls between parties...on one side, people wanting elections to be fair, legal, and less influenced by money. One the other, people who want those with money to control elections. I didn't have to read the article to know which parties were on which side.
24
Wait. . . there are laws on the books that are not being enforced. Isn't this a job for the Department of Justice, or are these 6 the only ones responsible?
15
The Republican members of the commission are employing the same strategy and the Republican party in general: instead of winning elections by popular support of ideas, they have decided to win elections by rigging the system.
20
Federal Election Commission is just a toothless tiger too weak to do anything.
The Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United case made F.E.C. like dead soldiers. This paralyzed agency is just waste of money and it should be closed without delay.
The Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United case made F.E.C. like dead soldiers. This paralyzed agency is just waste of money and it should be closed without delay.
2
It's infuriating to see Republicans glorify gridlock and dysfunction. They don't believe in this country or its people.
In Koch We Trust.
In Koch We Trust.
15
It goes back further than that. The founders designed a system that almost ensures deadlock with no faction or branch of government having superior powers for more than a limited time. Those complaining are those who don't know how to work with it and fail to see the beauty of it.
Not to worry. The FEC was designed to stay stalemated.
1
Until a disengaged electorate becomes engaged and begins to assert corrective measures we will have billionaires and corporations buying elections. The average US citizen spends three minutes per year thinking about politics; you need at least seven meaningful contacts with that disengaged voter to get them engaged and that effort takes a significant amount of money.
Personally, I am tired of apathetic voters who do not care their rights and interests are being denigrated just as much as I am tired of rich people that think that they have a Darwinian monopoly on being correct in all of their political beliefs.
Personally, I am tired of apathetic voters who do not care their rights and interests are being denigrated just as much as I am tired of rich people that think that they have a Darwinian monopoly on being correct in all of their political beliefs.
14
So true. The last election I canvassed for a Congressional candidate and probably a third of the homes whose door I knocked on, either refused to talk to me, or even slammed the door in my face.
The average citizen doesn't care anymore; they know the elections are a farce and that the majority of the candidates aren't going to represent their interests. All the average citizen cares about these days is making enough money to survive.
The average citizen doesn't care anymore; they know the elections are a farce and that the majority of the candidates aren't going to represent their interests. All the average citizen cares about these days is making enough money to survive.
The super rich and the giant corporations have captured the Republican Party and they have only one agenda - exploit the rest of us to feed their insatiable greed and lust for power. We have ceased to be a democracy. The forces of evil have almost complete control of the nation. There is nothing we can do about it, we are imprisoned in ignorance and moribund because of our apathy. What a terrible legacy we are leaving our children. SHAME on all of us for letting this happen.
23
It mirrors the political dysfunction now only too evident in our dying republic. It would be laughable were it not so tragic and dangerous.
In his Farewell Address President Washington warned us about political parties. They weren't merely a threat. Their partisanship would kill the republic. He was our Cincinnatus, a general who saved Rome from conquest then voluntarily relinquished power and returned to his hut and farm. The republic Washington led as president was modeled on Rome's and Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire" informed his despair.
Yet even as he warned about partisan politics he saw no way to stop its rise or prevent its conquering the republic from within. Patriotism wasn't enough. Individuals compete for pride-of-place and wealth in part by manipulating others. To accumulate power they must associate, form teams, clubs and corporations. They compete using every tool at their disposal: bribery, flattery, deceit and coercion; corporately, by exploiting groups' competing interests. Washington owed his own paramount position to it. Not a "man of Party" like Hamilton or Jefferson, the public elected him unopposed because he stood above the fray.
To fix our over-competition problem, what it really is, a Congress that usually divides spoils must rise above itself. It must be wise, invoke Washington's mantle and his perspective about the Greater Good. Despite being hobbled by partisanship and corrupted to its core by the very process it must reform.
In his Farewell Address President Washington warned us about political parties. They weren't merely a threat. Their partisanship would kill the republic. He was our Cincinnatus, a general who saved Rome from conquest then voluntarily relinquished power and returned to his hut and farm. The republic Washington led as president was modeled on Rome's and Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire" informed his despair.
Yet even as he warned about partisan politics he saw no way to stop its rise or prevent its conquering the republic from within. Patriotism wasn't enough. Individuals compete for pride-of-place and wealth in part by manipulating others. To accumulate power they must associate, form teams, clubs and corporations. They compete using every tool at their disposal: bribery, flattery, deceit and coercion; corporately, by exploiting groups' competing interests. Washington owed his own paramount position to it. Not a "man of Party" like Hamilton or Jefferson, the public elected him unopposed because he stood above the fray.
To fix our over-competition problem, what it really is, a Congress that usually divides spoils must rise above itself. It must be wise, invoke Washington's mantle and his perspective about the Greater Good. Despite being hobbled by partisanship and corrupted to its core by the very process it must reform.
7
As voters become more polarized, most of these ads will be pretty much a waste of time and money.
For example, conservatives would not vote for Jeb Bush even if he ran one-hour ads on CBS, NBC, and ABC.
For example, conservatives would not vote for Jeb Bush even if he ran one-hour ads on CBS, NBC, and ABC.
1
Freedom of speech exists only if everyone is equally free to speak. Back in 1789 all you needed was a soap box to stand on. You might get heckled, but no one tried to drown you out by buying up all the soap boxes, then using them to proclaim their own self-serving propaganda.
119
Film your campaign ad with your smart phone and upload it to YouTube! It's a free soapbox, and millions of people can hear what you have to say.
6
Good point, but politicians realize that too, and are already hitting YouTube, Twitter and so on. Even though they're free (assuming you can afford a smart phone and/or internet access), it's difficult to compete with well-funded professional productions. The volume also will eventually increase and overwhelm everything else. Have you watched TV during election season lately?
3
@PJ - Who is going to watch some windbag politician giving a speech in front of a focus group, when they can see the video of cute girls in bikinis chanting out all of the Clinton scandals? The guys with nothing to lose will make the viral videos, not the professional campaign consultants.
So...based on the article and statements given and referenced therein, the Democratic appointees on the board see a real crisis and the Republicans think everything is just peachy.
People...this is the price of having conservative Supreme Court. Our nation's next president will be nominated one or, possibly, two Justices for the Supreme Court. A Republican President will make the SCOTUS a hard conservative Court for the next 3 to 4 decades. If you like Citizens United and you don't mind that 3 billionaires are now buying your government, then by all means, elect whichever Republican wins the GOP nomination.
I wish my country were more like any number of the European nations where citizens gather in the streets by the millions to protest wholesale corruption when it occurs. Perhaps we don't because of the geographical expanse of our nation. I hope that's the reason, if there must be a reason. I hope it's not because we're just complacent and don't care.
It was a grand experiment while it lasted...this America business.
People...this is the price of having conservative Supreme Court. Our nation's next president will be nominated one or, possibly, two Justices for the Supreme Court. A Republican President will make the SCOTUS a hard conservative Court for the next 3 to 4 decades. If you like Citizens United and you don't mind that 3 billionaires are now buying your government, then by all means, elect whichever Republican wins the GOP nomination.
I wish my country were more like any number of the European nations where citizens gather in the streets by the millions to protest wholesale corruption when it occurs. Perhaps we don't because of the geographical expanse of our nation. I hope that's the reason, if there must be a reason. I hope it's not because we're just complacent and don't care.
It was a grand experiment while it lasted...this America business.
234
@Katie: It's not just the geographical expanse that stops people from taking to the streets in protest. It's the entertainment industry that has kidnapped the national consciousness; the only thing people think and care about is the latest movies and television shows and celebrity gossip. It's modern day bread and circus - but today it's cheep junk food and cable TV. Nobody will look up from their screens to notice that they now live in a plutocratic police state.
8
I cannot say that I disagree with you. I just wish I had some idea of what it would take to awaken my fellow citizens (those totally disengaged) from their stupors. I would love to know what it would take to make all see that the game of partisanship is just that...a game devised to divide the masses and keep them in a constant state of tribal warfare over issues that really are of no import and have really no impact on the lives of American citizens. I wish I knew already what the citizens of other nations long ago figured out and I wish that such knowledge could be spread by all Americans and heeded by all Americans finally.
Our hubris as a nation is literally destroying us from within.
Our hubris as a nation is literally destroying us from within.
2
Just an idea. "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Maybe you don't have to worry. If we equate being the only superpower with having absolute power, just for the sake of this argument, our dysfunctional gov't will put an end to your worries. Of course we'll be a second or third world country,but maybe people will vote, protest, etc. In other words maybe we'll all be so poor and hungry we'll actually care who is in charge? I personally despaired when a senator said, Whatever Obama wants, we'll vote against it. This was on a very ordinary five p.m. news broadcast. How broken can a government get? Nothing happened in response to this. How broken can a citizenship get?
3
2015 cost 67 million - 2016 request 76mm. Instead of complaining the "leader" of the FEC should call for shutting the commission down and returning the money back to the citizens who provided the funds. As she admits "the likelihood of the laws being enforced is slim" so set away from the public feeding trough.
3
The FEC is yet another sign that we are doomed as a form of government, thanks to the Supreme Court and Citizens United. Maybe we should disband and ask Canada and Mexico to take over governing us.
23
"Republican members of the commission see no such crisis. They say they are comfortable with how things are working under the structure that gives each party three votes. No action at all, they say, is better than overly aggressive steps that could chill political speech."
I.e. Republicans are comfortable with unregulated 0.1% speech and 99.9% speechlessness.
Nice people.
I.e. Republicans are comfortable with unregulated 0.1% speech and 99.9% speechlessness.
Nice people.
245
In other words, the Koch Brothers have already bought the election. Now all they need to do is decide who to make president.
122
Oh it isn't just the Kochs.
1
Puppet President.
1
I would like to hear Senators McCain and Feingold respond to this article and the continuous watering-down of their namesake campaign finance legislation.
24
I'm still processing the absolutely stunning first line of this article:
"The leader of the Federal Election Commission ... says she has largely given up hope of reining in abuses in the 2016 presidential campaign..."
RIP US Democracy. It was a great things while it lasted...
"The leader of the Federal Election Commission ... says she has largely given up hope of reining in abuses in the 2016 presidential campaign..."
RIP US Democracy. It was a great things while it lasted...
140
So it's not just me? I am literally sitting here in a stupor and in tears. And I thought, perhaps, I was just being the stereotypical "hysterical woman".
My heart breaks into a million pieces today.
My heart breaks into a million pieces today.
5
Why is it that people who can clearly see that Crossroads is a political advocacy organization that they want regulated by the FEC, do not make a similar case for Organizing for Action. How much would you like to bet that the four organizations Ms Ravel wanted to investigate were all libertarian focused organizations that are attempting to provide alternate information to counteract the progressive slant of the media?
1
And in the face of this Democrats have a problem with Hilary raising money? The only way this nightmare will end will be through a change in the court.
10
Hard to regulate campaign spending and practices in a democracy where one party is firmly and likely realistically committed to oligarchy and voter suppression as its only viable path to national power, present and future.
65
Interesting how some Republicans worry about Grammy, or some poor Southern farmer voting twice or in the wrong district, and not only close their eyes but promote the influence peddling of a couple of wealthy brothers. Dirty money is not new to politics but the scale of filth has never been so great. Our democracy is in serious trouble.
93
How much money does this do nothing commission cost taxpayers? The Republican audacity to claim their role is to do nothing, as the power of money is replacing the power of a vote, is shameful and indicative of their desire to serve only the rich.
40
Money is not free speech (despite what the Roberts court argued)! The obscene campaign spending complies with the letter, not the spirit, of the law. Potential political representatives are paid mouthpieces on the market of democracy.
10
One can argue that the electorate level of education is at an all-time low. On the other hand, social media and "news" on the internet, now travels at the speed of light. Information about where a candidates' money comes from is known right away by potential voters. President Obama spoke about "The Rose" from the Koch brothers, in the White House Correspondents dinner. It is kind of insulting to admit that you need one billion dollars to get people to "like" you, and maybe vote for you. As observed in the 2012 presidential election, money does not buy votes. Republicans essentially wasted nearly one billion dollars trying to get Obama out of office. For many reasons, Romney was unable to win. Even if they poured another billion dollars into his campaign, the outcome would have been the same. Campaign dollars have to be spent "shaping" the message to appeal to both conservatives and to some of the 47% ers, that Mitt accidentally spoke negatively about. I can't imagine any of the current GOP contenders being able to do this balancing act successfully in 2016, unless Hillary is not in the equation.
3
If the FEC can't/won't enforce the law applicable to elections, then the only remedy is to amend the law to allow enforcement by citizens in the courts. The idea that an FEC balanced bet. two parties (no more than three commissioners from one party may be appointed) can work to enforce election law is ludicrous. The FEC is designed to fail, and so it fails egregiously. Let's not pretend that there is such a thing as bi-partisanship any longer. Meanwhile, wholesale violations of the nation's election law occur everyday. It is a scandal of immense significance. That it is tolerated tells us that democracy in the US is weak and growing weaker day-by-day. If citizens were the watchdog of our election law it would be a very different story, which is the reason that they aren't.
10
Sounds to me, off hand, that all three Democratic members should just resign and let the agency function in the future with the remaining Republicans in charge of everything. In short.... do it right or don't do it at all. If it's just a joke, why participate?
2
My suggestion: Assign one or more auditors per campaign and put them on the ground. Make sure they have finance and campaign experience and a degree in finance and the authority to force campaigns to turn over any pertinent financial records in order to do their jobs.
I have 4 cycles of fundraising and compliance experience and have had some of the highest rates of compliance in the country. The 2012 presidential campaign’s compliance rate did not meet the standards and thresholds I think American presidential campaigns should be held to - I do not blame the campaigns, I blame the lack of enforcement.
I have 4 cycles of fundraising and compliance experience and have had some of the highest rates of compliance in the country. The 2012 presidential campaign’s compliance rate did not meet the standards and thresholds I think American presidential campaigns should be held to - I do not blame the campaigns, I blame the lack of enforcement.
1
“Congress set this place up to gridlock,” Lee E. Goodman, a Republican commissio ner, said in an interview. “This agency is functioning as Congress intended. The democracy isn’t collapsing around us.”
Democracy is collapsing. Look at the low voter turn-out. Look at the de facto tendency toward the disenfranchisement of those of lesser means. Look at Ferguson, where the government budget sits on the shoulders of those who are locked out of participation.
The Republicans on the FEC are happy to preside over the transformation of our society into one that works only for the wealthy.
Democracy is collapsing. Look at the low voter turn-out. Look at the de facto tendency toward the disenfranchisement of those of lesser means. Look at Ferguson, where the government budget sits on the shoulders of those who are locked out of participation.
The Republicans on the FEC are happy to preside over the transformation of our society into one that works only for the wealthy.
10
Is there a way for us as citizens of the US to ask for UN intervention? We should really check this out.
29
I'd like to think that the UN is ready and willing to take on the bully.
This agency has a budget of over $65 million dollars annually to vote 3 to 3 on all but the most egregious violations and ended up fining $135 thousand? Disband the ridiculous agency, give the money back to the Treasury and send the six Commissioners back to Congress to try to DO something worthwhile.
2
No kidding. This is exactly what Kennedy and the other conservative mandarins on SCOTUS hoped for in penning Citizens United and releasing a flood of dark money into American elections. Congratulations boys!
12
Bernie Sanders is asking for $100 from three thousand people. I hope he gets it.
15
I've sent mine, what about you?
My husband and I are sending Bernie Sanders $100 by check in the morning mail. I hope his campaign gets a massive response from those of us who finally realize the nature of the Republican/corporate takeover of the nation. We need to know that the corruption in government is systemic and has encompassed Congress completely. Read Lawrence Lessig's book REPUBLIC LOST if you want to know how it happened and what it has become. If your Representatives/Congresspersons were honest, they would tell you that none of us below the biggies at the top actually has any representation in Congress. Money not only talks; it shouts and sucks all the air out of the room. They pay no attention to the business of the country; they pay attention only to the business of keeping themselves in Congress with hopes of payoffs so they can conduct their campaigns for re election. To do that, they have to please their rich "business partners", the lobbyists. Yes, it's all rigged. And that's your Congressperson as well as mine, of whatever party.
Good for Ms. Ravel, giving an "unusually frank assessment" is pretty much her only recourse at this point. Her efforts "to bridge the partisan gap" have gone for naught, but like the president who appointed her, that's not her fault. Mr. Goodman and other Republican commissioners are showing the same kind of respect for Ms. Ravel that their Congressional counterparts show for Mr. Obama. Until Republicans believe that dark money no longer favors their party, they're not interested in any reform.
If only three members of the Commission can be Democrats, could the other three be from the Green Party, the Socialist Party, and the Workers Party respectively? Just asking...
If only three members of the Commission can be Democrats, could the other three be from the Green Party, the Socialist Party, and the Workers Party respectively? Just asking...
8
"“Congress set this place up to gridlock,” Lee E. Goodman, a Republican commissioner, said in an interview. “This agency is functioning as Congress intended. The democracy isn’t collapsing around us.”"
yeah, actually, it is.
Yet another reason to revile and mistrust republicans.
yeah, actually, it is.
Yet another reason to revile and mistrust republicans.
65
The FEC worked fairly well in its early years. Its failures in recent years are more the fault of the commissioners (and the Supreme Court) than of Congress
Politicians, open your eyes, read a newspaper, drive our roads and see a once great nation literally crumbling!
This isnt about party lines. Both of the candidates: including Ms. 2.5 billion dollar influence peddler - are thrilled.
1
Poll all members of Congress and get back to us on which are willing to sign on to a Constitutional Amendment to reform and limit campaign spending. It is absolutely about party lines.
1
The FEC motto is:
Laissez les bons temps roulez
or as the SCOTUS says:
Viva la CITIZENS UNITED
Laissez les bons temps roulez
or as the SCOTUS says:
Viva la CITIZENS UNITED
7
Bet you never read the case!
where in the 1st amendment does it say the government can fine or jail people for making a political documentary?
I'll wait!
where in the 1st amendment does it say the government can fine or jail people for making a political documentary?
I'll wait!
Who do we go to to impeach the Supreme Court? And yeah, I know they are appointed for life.
5
Impeaching the Supreme Court would require the combined actions of the US House and the US Senate. Given the current makeup of both houses, that won't happen.
The F.E.C.'s budget request for FY 2015 is $67.5 million.
http://www.fec.gov/pages/budget/fy2015/fy_2015_congressional_budget.pdf
Save us average taxpayers a few pennies and shut the Commission down. The plutocrats (regardless of party) have won.
`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
http://www.fec.gov/pages/budget/fy2015/fy_2015_congressional_budget.pdf
Save us average taxpayers a few pennies and shut the Commission down. The plutocrats (regardless of party) have won.
`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
6
Is there any Commission, Institution,Branches of Government or Public Forums left that is non-partisan? I guess when the Supreme Court of the land comes out with partisan rulings, what else can be expected of minion Commissions and Institutions specifically set-up to over-see fairness in societal participation of our Democracy. Bottom line - Everything now sways in the direction of the moneyed interests. And we have the audacity to foist a Democracy on other countries even if it means going to war and upending their system of Government, bad as they may be. Let us practice what we preach and stop being sanctimonious. Let's bring back Democracy, the way our fore-fathers intended. Bluntly put, currently, we don't have a democracy but Oligarchy, no different from other countries.
7
Ever notice how everything changed since Obama won the 2008 election...Now corporations can spend unlimited amounts on elections..Now, provisions of the 1965 Voting Right Acts were gutted by the conservative SCOTUS in 2014...Now, countless states have very strict voter ID laws, along with cuts in early voting, and (in some states), students who CAN'T use their student ID's to vote yet guns owners can use that ID to vote....Far more African Americans have been killed by police & captured on camera, than have committed voter fraud yet that is the cry from the right "we need these laws to curb voter fraud"....No you don't...You need these laws to prevent Democrats from voting, plain and simple...
12
constitutional amendment: corporations are not people, money is not speech. simple as that.
15
Go ahead and try. Good luck with that.
I can totally see an FEC commissioner giving a guest the evil eye for choosing the wrong pastry on the buffet line...
3
Well Gee how about they just enforce the actual laws and not look for new things to do. That is what congress if for. Simple!!
4
Why isn't the FEC a non-partisan body? It should be.
11
Republicans make me laugh. This is a choice quote:
"The drop in fines 'could easily be read as a signal that people are following the law,' said Mrs. Hunter, the Republican commissioner."
I mean you just can't make that up. Can you imagine being that brazen, that disingenuous? I couldn't sleep at night but they just keep on keeping on. It's amazing.
"The drop in fines 'could easily be read as a signal that people are following the law,' said Mrs. Hunter, the Republican commissioner."
I mean you just can't make that up. Can you imagine being that brazen, that disingenuous? I couldn't sleep at night but they just keep on keeping on. It's amazing.
22
I did not see in the article information about how these commissioners are selected or hired. If they are unable to do their jobs, they should be replaced.
4
They're political appointees, appointed by the President with the consent of the Senate to 6 year terms. The problem is that by law there can't be more than 3 commissioners from the same party, and this leads to eternal 3-3 deadlocks.
Maybe the next time Congress goes on recess, the President could add a member through a recess appointment and break the gridlock?
6
Republicans only say they believe in the rule of law. SCOTUS only claims to root its opinions in law: what they really care about is the outcome they want. And this is it.
13
Gridlock is as good as a victory for GOP. Bought and paid for by the Koch brothers.
32
Its not can't its won't! I am sick of Agencies who are so politicized that they won't follow the law.
12
I hope you are including the NLRB in that assessment.
Citizens United said that the 1st amendment, which reads in relevant part: "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press,"
does *not* allow the government to prosecute, fine and jail people [human beings] for making a political documentary, merely because they formed a corporation [like, say, New York Times, Inc.] to do it.
Apart from the remarkable freedom people who never read the case or studied Constitutional law grant themselves in opining on that case, most astonishing is the controversy.
Yes, corporate [and billionaire] money in elections is a problem - but how on earth does that mean the 1st amendment no longer means what it says?
http://reason.com/archives/2010/11/09/you-are-now-free-to-speak-abou
does *not* allow the government to prosecute, fine and jail people [human beings] for making a political documentary, merely because they formed a corporation [like, say, New York Times, Inc.] to do it.
Apart from the remarkable freedom people who never read the case or studied Constitutional law grant themselves in opining on that case, most astonishing is the controversy.
Yes, corporate [and billionaire] money in elections is a problem - but how on earth does that mean the 1st amendment no longer means what it says?
http://reason.com/archives/2010/11/09/you-are-now-free-to-speak-abou
3
And then, contrary to your amazing assumptions about all others, some of us are actually qualified to and have read the entire Citizens United ruling. So there's that.
2
Easily the most misunderstood case of the past 20 years.
Had the decision gone the other way, the very idea of speech free from government prohibition or regulation would have been eviscerated.
But you're dealing with people who think 'the press' meant the news media so big news corporations like the Times would be exempt - that is, Liberals apparently were fine with the idea of jailing "right wing" movie makers, secure in their belief that newspapers could never be regulated, and that only "right wing" people would be tossed in jail.
Harvard Law professors seem to be unable to grasp the actual ruling - and due to being blinded by statist, progressive politics, were unable, many, to see just how frightening the country would become if the court had ruled the other way.
Had the decision gone the other way, the very idea of speech free from government prohibition or regulation would have been eviscerated.
But you're dealing with people who think 'the press' meant the news media so big news corporations like the Times would be exempt - that is, Liberals apparently were fine with the idea of jailing "right wing" movie makers, secure in their belief that newspapers could never be regulated, and that only "right wing" people would be tossed in jail.
Harvard Law professors seem to be unable to grasp the actual ruling - and due to being blinded by statist, progressive politics, were unable, many, to see just how frightening the country would become if the court had ruled the other way.
"...assumptions about all others..."
I see no such thing. Did you read Citizens with as much care as the comment, supra?
Citizens is in fact a difficult case. Reading it once, head full of steam about the eee-vil white conservatives/tea party/Emmanuel Goldstein doesn't necessarily mean you got the import of the ruling.
I read it 3 times before feeling like I really had it, and I'm told I'm reasonably smart.
so there's that..
I see no such thing. Did you read Citizens with as much care as the comment, supra?
Citizens is in fact a difficult case. Reading it once, head full of steam about the eee-vil white conservatives/tea party/Emmanuel Goldstein doesn't necessarily mean you got the import of the ruling.
I read it 3 times before feeling like I really had it, and I'm told I'm reasonably smart.
so there's that..
1
Rules and law no longer apply to those that can throw 11 billion into political campaigns. Bernie Sanders is the only candidate seeking and relying on small donors like me. It's ironic that a 74 year old Democratic Socialist from Vermont is the only thing standing in the way of defacto control of all our political institutions by an oligarchy of corporations and wealthy interests.
50
Don't look to the FEC to help us out. Forget the media to assume it's role as the Fourth Estate. Political leaders? Completely laughable.
It boils down to you. The Voters. Like it always has. For over 240 years this is the only thing that keeps us from falling apart. The will of the Voters. We can never forget that or ignore it. We have all the power in our own hands, that's of course if we choose to use it.
We need nothing else than the power of our Vote. We do not need millions in political cash to exercise our vote. We don't need to fly into Las Vegas to meet with billionaires to do our civic duty and vote on election day.
It's up to us. Each and every one of us. Go out and vote. Participate in getting out the vote. Tell everyone you know to vote. We are the 99%. We have the numbers, where it counts. In the votes, not in the dollars.
If you think we've lost already because of the dollars, then we have lost already. If the only thing you can focus on is money, then we have lost.
But if you are able to grow a brain and figure that there is nothing to hold back the will of the people then we have a fighting chance. I'd say that we have more than a fighting chance. We have the power to take charge. We can run our government and lives how we chose. Only if we get out and vote.
It boils down to you. The Voters. Like it always has. For over 240 years this is the only thing that keeps us from falling apart. The will of the Voters. We can never forget that or ignore it. We have all the power in our own hands, that's of course if we choose to use it.
We need nothing else than the power of our Vote. We do not need millions in political cash to exercise our vote. We don't need to fly into Las Vegas to meet with billionaires to do our civic duty and vote on election day.
It's up to us. Each and every one of us. Go out and vote. Participate in getting out the vote. Tell everyone you know to vote. We are the 99%. We have the numbers, where it counts. In the votes, not in the dollars.
If you think we've lost already because of the dollars, then we have lost already. If the only thing you can focus on is money, then we have lost.
But if you are able to grow a brain and figure that there is nothing to hold back the will of the people then we have a fighting chance. I'd say that we have more than a fighting chance. We have the power to take charge. We can run our government and lives how we chose. Only if we get out and vote.
12
I believe it will take more than voting since the voting process has been corrupted with everything from gerrymandering to voter suppression. No, I think it will also take the Americans citizens using the one thing they have that, collectively, gives them the most power and that is their power as consumers and workers. Since all that seems to matter is money and money talks...starve the beast. Organize to conduct a 1-day work shutdown of the entire nation and a day when not a single dollar is spent purchasing goods and services that are not absolutely essential to life.
Only then, will they hear us. That is where our real power lies. Non-violent civil protests using money and our collective power as consumers and the very engines of our economy as our weapon.
Only then, will they hear us. That is where our real power lies. Non-violent civil protests using money and our collective power as consumers and the very engines of our economy as our weapon.
But then , just as a trial, campaigns for all political offices could be limited to say, 1 month duration.
2
@Gretchen King: Other western democracies do just that. Can you imagine the luxury of not being inundated with campaigning unpleasantries for 2 years straight? Can you imagine having more than two choices in an election?
3
The fact that Congress set this up to permanently be three Democrats and three Republicans is the first Constitional flaw in the commission's structure. This is nothing more than two special interest groups (the two entrenched parties) usurping the People's sovereignty over the democratic process.
The concept of "federal elections" is a myth. There are no federal elections. In the United States, elections, even those for members of the electoral college, and those for Congress, are matters for the states, within bounds of voting and free speech rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
As with the hideous Presidential Debate Commission, which was similarly set so the two major parties could control every element of the all-important presidental debates and expressely to exclude others from participation in those ground rules (as well as the debates), the Supreme Court should finally strike down this assault on our Constitutional democracy.
The concept of "federal elections" is a myth. There are no federal elections. In the United States, elections, even those for members of the electoral college, and those for Congress, are matters for the states, within bounds of voting and free speech rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
As with the hideous Presidential Debate Commission, which was similarly set so the two major parties could control every element of the all-important presidental debates and expressely to exclude others from participation in those ground rules (as well as the debates), the Supreme Court should finally strike down this assault on our Constitutional democracy.
9
"No action at all, (Republicans) say, is better than overly aggressive steps that could chill political speech."
Not much room for middle ground there.
Not much room for middle ground there.
15
It's a shame that the Republicans have taken the position that any level of corruption in American elections is ok, as long as it gets their party into office.
84
This has always been the position they've taken.
Since spending unlimited amounts of money for persuasive purposes is now considered the pinnacle of free speech, and since all American citizens are purportedly granted this right with minimal limitations, it seems the Supreme Court must now determine the minimum amount of funds necessary for an individual to effectively exercise her/his First Amendment rights.
Clearly, a large number of citizens do not have sufficient resources at this point in history to fully receive and make use of the guaranteed benefits of the First Amendment. That is surely unconstitutional, and suggests an obvious need for redistribution of the riches, away from the plutocrats and to average citizens. Otherwise, the nation will have conceded that the First Amendment is just another rich man's luxury.
Clearly, a large number of citizens do not have sufficient resources at this point in history to fully receive and make use of the guaranteed benefits of the First Amendment. That is surely unconstitutional, and suggests an obvious need for redistribution of the riches, away from the plutocrats and to average citizens. Otherwise, the nation will have conceded that the First Amendment is just another rich man's luxury.
11
Let's be realistic. Republicans know they have a big advantage when it comes to fund-raising. That's why they are so supportive of the Citizen's United decision. The only way Republicans will accept the notion of enforcing election law is when Democrats start out-raising them. Then they will be the ones crying foul.
8
The big advantage Republicans have is among the millionaires and billionaires. And, until those payments to the Republicans (whether above board or under the table) are stopped (not likely), nothing is going to change. When one or two people (think Koch or Addelson) are able to singlehandedly spend more than millions of people together, why would they let it change?
1
No, the Republicans do not have the advantage to get campaign money. The candidate who collected the MOST money in a presidential election is Barack Obama.
No, the problem is perception. You think the Repubs have an advantage so you pull back. Where does this misinformation come from? The media? The Repubs? Our own paranoia?
So if you want to be realistic check your facts before you make any postulations. Okay?
No, the problem is perception. You think the Repubs have an advantage so you pull back. Where does this misinformation come from? The media? The Repubs? Our own paranoia?
So if you want to be realistic check your facts before you make any postulations. Okay?
1
Or time to push for a Constitutional amendment to limit the impact of money on politics written broadly enough to be adaptable to new schemes the wealthy devise to buy our elected officials, write the laws to fit their needs and block laws they don't like from being applied.
I'd start by requiring candidates to submit petitions to get on the ballot that are circulated by unpaid volunteers, give all who qualify equal access to major media, pay the costs of their campaigning out of public funds (the cost of democracy), and make it a civic duty to vote, as many countries do now.
I'd start by requiring candidates to submit petitions to get on the ballot that are circulated by unpaid volunteers, give all who qualify equal access to major media, pay the costs of their campaigning out of public funds (the cost of democracy), and make it a civic duty to vote, as many countries do now.
5
If we can't get new campaign finance laws passed, can't we at least agree on the interpretation of the law and its subsequent enforcement?
1
The whole idea is to prevent government from working. This way, the Republicans can claim, "See! We told you that big government doesn't work!". It's a self-fulfilling prophecy and they do it at the expense of the American people and our democratic process.
We are a nation full of traitors.
We are a nation full of traitors.
2
Can we get over it yet? American democracy is a joke. We have a Congress that is effectively owned by corporate and foreign policy lobbies. We have two presidential canditates - Hillary and Jeb - who are so close on most issues they might as well be on the same ticket. The "debate" will again center on banal culture war issues - God, Guns, and Gays.
Honestly why bother. You can get angry at the Koch Brothers. You can get angry at the myriad bankers, billionaires, foreign interests, and god only knows wbo else who have paid off er "donated to" Hillary. Its a recipe for indigestion. The one thing you can be certain of is that no issue of serious importance to working Americans will be debated and every law and policy that comes from those elected in 2016 will be against our interests.
Honestly why bother. You can get angry at the Koch Brothers. You can get angry at the myriad bankers, billionaires, foreign interests, and god only knows wbo else who have paid off er "donated to" Hillary. Its a recipe for indigestion. The one thing you can be certain of is that no issue of serious importance to working Americans will be debated and every law and policy that comes from those elected in 2016 will be against our interests.
21
Yet we keep reelecting the same people.
1
Well there is a candidate now that is in the race and is talking about the issues. Unfortunately, the media and journalists have already written him off, despite the fact that in the first 24 hours of his campaign, he's raised more money than all 3 of the Republican candidates that have declared their candidacies and unlike the Republicans, his donations have come from tens of thousands of individual citizens.
If you're not paying attention to and telling everyone you know to pay attention to Senator Bernie Sanders, then I'm not sure why you're upset.
If you're not paying attention to and telling everyone you know to pay attention to Senator Bernie Sanders, then I'm not sure why you're upset.
1
I don't think the average voter is aware of how sleazy republicans are and how they feel as so important to be elected to high offices to push their selfish agendas. It is not just the FEC but all issues that they can support that contributes the huge gap between the rich and poor.
What is more obvious is the lack of comments on this article - are people really aware of this issue? If so, why are they voting for the officials that amass huge war chests and only consider the rich when they are in office?
Further, why are the average citizens even paying attention to all the paid ads blaring for candidates? It is our responsibility to read and watch all news and sort out the truth rather than the spouting of candidates who are attempting to buy elections.
What is more obvious is the lack of comments on this article - are people really aware of this issue? If so, why are they voting for the officials that amass huge war chests and only consider the rich when they are in office?
Further, why are the average citizens even paying attention to all the paid ads blaring for candidates? It is our responsibility to read and watch all news and sort out the truth rather than the spouting of candidates who are attempting to buy elections.
29
While labor unions were included in the Citizens United decision, it was largely a giveaway to large corporations and individuals in their quest to do what they do best: Control the agenda. The FEC indeed does it's hands tied in a de facto manner, if they are in reality prohibited from policing the money process in national elections.
And, isn't it typical that one commisioner ran to Fox (not) News to air his side of the story.
And, isn't it typical that one commisioner ran to Fox (not) News to air his side of the story.
19
What a shame- how those three Republican Commissioners sleep at night. They are sitting in the powerful consumer organization to protect the citizens. Alas, the only goal Is to serve their paymasters like the infamous Koch Brothers. What Koch Brothers want is to derail all regulations to protect the citizens from the toxic effects of the fossil fuel they produce. They have already taken over the Grand No Party with the money machine. FEC is the only vehicle left for protecting 300 million citizens of our great nation. Now Koch and other few have bought the soul of those three recruited stooges to champion the interests of the few fat cats. The three Commisioners are shame and disgrace for the nation.
32
What a sad state of affairs. Here we have a key federal agency designed to protect our democracy from the corrupt influences of money rendered essentially worthless by its own ultrapartisan commissioners.
Even China, which is more corrupt and not even a democracy, have a functional anticorruption agency trying to keep money away from political power.
Even China, which is more corrupt and not even a democracy, have a functional anticorruption agency trying to keep money away from political power.
52
The Chinese (even if corrupt) will still actually defend the core beliefs of their country and culture. Since 9/11, I have seen little of that in the U.S. All they care about these days is money.
1
How about only funding the commission for votes actually passed, and no not pay them for deadlocked votes which don't accomplish anything. While I know little about the commission, I'm sure the members don't donate their time for free, so perhaps tying their salaries to outcomes would provide an incentive. The argument that the commission is doing what it is supposed to do when everything results in a 3-3 deadlock is absurd.
4
Pete sorry to be crude but if I was a bad commissioner dedicated to not let the FEC do anything I'm pretty sure I could find a "consulting job" or a seat in the board of directors directly after I am done with my time as a commissioner in the FEC.
I'm sure you're aware of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolving_door_(politics)
I'm sure you're aware of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolving_door_(politics)
2
Well it appears that the Republicans are doing what they've been doing in broader politics and legislation/governance for the last 6 years...obstruct and/or do nothing at all. That's the problem. Nothing can be accomplished if half of those tasked to do a job just won't show up for work.
1
Democracy-hating Republicans see regulation of campaign spending as a violation of the right to free speech, and voting by minorities and the poor as so riddled with fraud (no evidence needed) that new laws must be passed and enforced.
Democracy as redefined by Republicans like "Congress set this place up to gridlock" Goodman is functioning well - for their sponsors.
Democracy as redefined by Republicans like "Congress set this place up to gridlock" Goodman is functioning well - for their sponsors.
46
This assumes they actually believe what they say ... They are not stupid, they know they are rigging elections, plain and simple, and disenfranchising voters with specious arguments, but they simply do not care - any semblance of consideration of democratic principles no longer holds any interest for them. We are on a precipice, a serious moment in the life of our nation, and the outcome will depend upon what people of conscience, including legislators, do from this time forward.
2
Republicans know the only way they can win is by gerrymandering, denying minorities the right to vote, and buying elections.
The Democrats are horrible, no way around it, but they are saints compared to what has become of the Republican party.
Lincoln would have wept.
The Democrats are horrible, no way around it, but they are saints compared to what has become of the Republican party.
Lincoln would have wept.
164
Lincoln's Republican Party wasn't based in far right conservative ideology. The Dixiecrats weren't liberals or Democrats. The names mean nothing. It's all about the ideology and policies.
1
Of course Republicans don't want the laws enforced.
That would give the middle class and poor more equal footing in the political process, and Republicans are still punishing both classes very hard for "daring" to twice put a Democrat into the White House, and possibly another in 2016.
Citizens United was just the first step in meting that punishment, and hard.
That would give the middle class and poor more equal footing in the political process, and Republicans are still punishing both classes very hard for "daring" to twice put a Democrat into the White House, and possibly another in 2016.
Citizens United was just the first step in meting that punishment, and hard.
105
So many 5-4 rulings by our SCOTUS can only be explained by corruption or incompetence, both impeachable!
It's understandable why Republicans typically want to give money more influence over US politics and money will continue to get its way until more Americans wake up to this manipulation and actually vote.
31
The function of money is clearly defined on each unit of currency: "This note is legal tender for all debts public and private." In other words a transactional medium when presented requires rendering a service or payment for same. Now that SCOTUS has defined that transaction as "free speech" for the purpose of financing political campaigns, perhaps the F.E.C. is the wrong regulating agency. Maybe we should be regulating this election product as interstate commerce.
15
Since the commission is dysfunctional, the next best thing is for those like Commissioner Ravel to publish the information that the Committee collects in the course of its operations. Knowing just how bad the problems are will help bring pressure for enforcement.
I also think Commissioner Ravel should send the information, completely underrated, to our new Attorney General. If there is evidence of criminality, she can seek criminal charges.
I also think Commissioner Ravel should send the information, completely underrated, to our new Attorney General. If there is evidence of criminality, she can seek criminal charges.
123
edit - autocorrect changed "unredacted" to "underrated"
2
Great idea. First comment I've seen that actually suggests something that can be done about the problem.
As is obvious from reading the comments, most of us are in total agreement about the seriousness of the situation and the travesty of Citizens United. Well, it's time to get off our easy chairs and take action.
How many of us are teachers? I wonder if teachers are bringing this awareness to students? I heard on an NPR program recently that a poll showed that young people are in favor of U.S. presence in the Middle East in troops on the ground. Obviously, the teachers are not doing their job.
As is obvious from reading the comments, most of us are in total agreement about the seriousness of the situation and the travesty of Citizens United. Well, it's time to get off our easy chairs and take action.
How many of us are teachers? I wonder if teachers are bringing this awareness to students? I heard on an NPR program recently that a poll showed that young people are in favor of U.S. presence in the Middle East in troops on the ground. Obviously, the teachers are not doing their job.
Our electoral process is beyond repair. $10 billion? Totally obscene. When I think of how that money could be spent in building America, I want to cry.
Gridlock is rendering a once great nation unstable and unpredictable. Foreign nations have declared they can't depend on America keeping it's word in any global policy initiative because of how poisonous our politics are. We have a ton of problems and all we can do is out spend each other to get an edge.
It's ironic this commission was founded to stop corruption post Watergate. That it has its hands tied with infighting speaks volumes to the fact corruption is alive and well: in the power of money to dictate ideology and control the country's priorities.
Gridlock is rendering a once great nation unstable and unpredictable. Foreign nations have declared they can't depend on America keeping it's word in any global policy initiative because of how poisonous our politics are. We have a ton of problems and all we can do is out spend each other to get an edge.
It's ironic this commission was founded to stop corruption post Watergate. That it has its hands tied with infighting speaks volumes to the fact corruption is alive and well: in the power of money to dictate ideology and control the country's priorities.
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I feel and share your pain and outrage.
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Republican Federal Election Commissioner Lee E. Goodman’s assertion that “Congress set this place up to gridlock” puts him in a class with fellow Republican Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, who as chair of that body’s environmental committee claims that only God can influence the earth’s weather.
With their egregiously reckless decision in Citizens United, the Supreme Court’s ideologues gave America’s wannabe oligarchs the keys to the Republic. Don’t expect the three Republican apparatchiks on the FEC to honor their oath to serve the public interest and protect this democracy of ours - which, contrary to Mr. Goodman’s snarky assertion, is indeed "collapsing around us."
With their egregiously reckless decision in Citizens United, the Supreme Court’s ideologues gave America’s wannabe oligarchs the keys to the Republic. Don’t expect the three Republican apparatchiks on the FEC to honor their oath to serve the public interest and protect this democracy of ours - which, contrary to Mr. Goodman’s snarky assertion, is indeed "collapsing around us."
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There you have it: America's white mullahs. The conservative branches of the SCOTUS, the Appellate Court system, the FEC, the security and fund-related commissions in Congress and the SuperPACs/503(c)s.
It is interesting how Americans would declare (loudly) that such a system would be undemocratic anywhere else in the world and we should bomb the heck out of them if another country was run like this but, hey, it is A-OK in the U.S. as long as the "right people" are in control of the government.
It is interesting how Americans would declare (loudly) that such a system would be undemocratic anywhere else in the world and we should bomb the heck out of them if another country was run like this but, hey, it is A-OK in the U.S. as long as the "right people" are in control of the government.
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Ok,take a candidate with the Koch brothers money and even more money than that. That candidate has, let's call it unlimited funds. They spend every cent. They've plastered the airways and print outlets with ads. Maybe those ads have pretty much destroyed their opponent(s.) So on and so on. When we the citizens go to our local polling place to vote, why do we vote for this candidate? What is the reason, at the individual citizen level that this person wins? How are politicians "buying" that imaginary voter in the voting booth? I'm sincerely asking.
Maybe it's time to ask the UN to monitor American elections
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not a bad idea, actually. With electronic voting machines, it is much easier to fake results.
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And I wonder how much these political parasites make for sitting on this do-nothing panel.
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I wouldn't trust the UN. Look what they are doing to the man who finally gave up on trying to get the UN to deal with the sexual abuse of young boys by UN Peacekeepers. No the UN is a failed corrupt organization.