The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    Take their money, lose my vote

    By erica20 on Thu, 01/26/2012 - 10:35am |

    The article about referees "blowing the whistle" on oil companies was quite energizing.  (Heh heh.) So I'm recycling this comment from 2010.

    Important parts bolded--the rest included for context. Main point is that Progressives, "True" Conservatives and Economic Tea Partiers have reason to agree on the issue of big money in politics.

    Dr. Reich,

    I know it would be preferable to have actual laws that require campaign financing, but couldn't we just make our own?

    What if we all (Progressive Democrats, "True" Conservatives, Tea Partiers who thought the bank bailout was a vast pander) issue an ultimatum:

    Take Their Money, Lose My Vote!

    I've been struck by the fact that Progressives seem to feel that Politicians are in the tank for Corporations, while Tea Partiers seem to feel that Corporations are in the tank for Politicians. But either way, Government and Corporations are in the tank, and we're not. Both Democrats and Republicans have a right to be, as you put it, Mad as Hell about this. Could a "take their money, lose my vote" initiative be bipartisan?

    We could let 'em down easy, by saying how much in corporate donations could be spent on each race, or make 'em go cold turkey and rely on individual contributions. But between Wall Street and The Big Easy, maybe there's finally enough outrage coming from the little people that something like this could take hold....

    Comments

    The truth is that we have the government the majority deserves due to the vast majority of We, The People not standing up and speaking out armed with facts and positive intent.  This campaign finance debacle is indeed (IMHO) proof positive of how apathy, choosing to be ignorant and  neglect by the masses delivers exactly what is in place.

    Most do not accept the truth, that the operations and practices of our government is a reflection of our society's choices (at the forefront is abdication of individual responsibility to be factually informed and involved).

    Whether it's campaign finance, immigration or a myriad of other issues that we have neglected to deal with at the onset, we have the end result of chaos and corruption.


    by Aunt Sam on Thu, 01/26/2012 - 1:09pm