ELECTION FUNDING REFORM PASSED IN 6 STATES

Parliament of Whores

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ELECTION FUNDING REFORM PASSED IN 6 STATES

The only way we are going to get the parliament of whores to stop bending over is for these prostitutes to pass a law prohibiting them from accepting gifts from their corporate Johns

6 states offer alternative to corporate financing for state elections

USA Today
October 27, 2004

Once again, big donors find new ways to skirt the rules

Trying to control the flow of money corrupting politics is a lot like trying to contain flooding on the Mississippi. Dikes can channel the torrent. But when there's a downpour, the river will keep on coming, breaking through at the point of least resistance.

So it has gone in this presidential campaign. The walls erected by the last set of political engineers, Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Russ Feingold, D-Wis., will largely have achieved their purpose: slowing the flow of illegal contributions — sometimes seven-figure checks — to political parties. But by the time the last vote is counted, a record $3.9 billion will have been showered on this year's campaigns for president and Congress, delivered through diverted means.

That number, projected last Thursday by the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan monitoring group, is up 30% from four years ago. And that's conservative. Lax disclosure rules mask the scale of special-interest involvement.

What are beleaguered taxpayers to do? No doubt, they'll pay plenty when the recipients of that cash repay with government largesse.

Putting more dams in the river isn't going to help. Donors intent on buying influence can always find new legal channels. Candidates, lacking any other way to make their campaigns competitive, will take what's offered. In fact, they're forced to grovel for it.

There is a better option: Give honest candidates an alternative and, at the same time, expose the gifts taken by the rest.

Four states — Maine, Arizona, Vermont and North Carolina — already are offering the “clean money” option of public financing to candidates for some state offices. New Jersey will launch a similar program next year, and New Mexico in 2006.

This works. In Maine, where the movement started, nearly 80% of this year's legislature candidates rejected private money.

Defenders of the status quo deride public financing as welfare for politicians. Catchy. But also hooey. Even the highest estimate of the cost of Maine-style public financing at the federal level is only $10 per taxpayer — trivial compared with the cost of payoffs to special interests.

As for disclosure, the current system is a carefully constructed mirage.

All contributions over $200 to presidential and congressional candidates and national party committees must be disclosed. But reporting runs weeks or months late. Voters may not find out until after an election. Further, many non-profit groups with their own parallel campaigns don't have to report at all.

" The states' approach also avoids the problem inherent in all attempts to limit political donations: They undercut free speech.

Donations often pay for campaign commercials by candidates or independent groups. Can any government arbiter be trusted to say who can speak and how loudly — particularly if that speech is unpopular? Certainly not the Federal Election Commission, which tries to do the job now. Virtually every independent political observer agrees that its members are chosen by Congress to be ineffective. And if they were effective, free-speech problems would quickly sprout.

Giving candidates a chance to be honest and voters a way to watch the rest is a better option. It won't stop the flood of corrupt money. No system can. But it would protect voters and taxpayers far better than the patchwork system of levees in place now.

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THE CANADIAN SOLUTION

There is a conflict of interest when the legislators are dependent on election funding upon the very parties whom the policies they pass affect. And in particular international corporations have very, very deep pockets.

The Canadian government has addressed the problem that funds buys votes--both of legislators' and the public's. First the Broadcasters Guidelines and CRTC rules require that each broadcaster make available up to 390 minutes for political parties to purchase. This 390 minutes is divided according to voter’s registration—there are 4 substantial parties in Canada. Second a limit on spending is set per district (riding) according to the size of the electorate and the number of districts with candidates. The 4 major parties each had a limit of $18,278,278.64. In 2004 the law was amended so that if a party received more than 2% of the national vote and 5% in the ridings it contested, then it would qualify for payment equal to 60% of its election expenses (22.5% in 2000). There is in addition a limit on donations made by third parties (individuals and groups) to $3,000 for each constituency and $150,000 for a national advertising campaign—set in 2000. (These limits have been adjusted for inflation.) We need funding reforms.

Condensed from http://www.sfu.ca/~aheard/elections/laws.html by jk

#211 Section on stolen elections

Dishonorable Mention

Chester Trent Lott Sr. (born October 9, 1941) is a United States Senator from Mississippi and a member of the Republican Party. He served as Senate Majority Leader from 1996 to June 6, 2001, interrupted only by a brief period in January 2001, during which he held the position of Senate Minority Leader. After Sen. Jim Jeffords of Vermont left the Republican Party to become an independent in June 2001, giving the Democrats control of the Senate, Lott served as Minority Leader until his resignation from that position in December 2002 due to controversial remarks. The remark in praise of Senator Strom Thurmond, an open racist, highlighted Lott’s own racist voting record. From 1981 to 1989 he was also a House Minority Whip. As Majority Leader he played a prominate role in the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton.

David Bruce Vitter (born May 3, 1961) is an American Republican politician, currently serving as the junior U.S. Senator from Louisiana. He is known for his opposition to same-sex marriage and his support of abstenance sex education. . Vitter won a special election to Louisiana's 1st Congressional District in 1999, succeeding Republican Congressman Bob Livingston, who resigned after an adultery scandal. Vitter in July of 2007 was identified as a client of "D.C. Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey's escort service in Washington, D.C. Vitter appeared with his wife on television following this revelation. She stated that she forgave him.

New inductees into the Ethics Hall of Shame:

Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa

Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W-Va)

Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Ca)

Updated June of 08

http://www.cleanupwashington.org/hos/ is a site dedicated to the corruption and malfeasance of our congressional leaders.

Listed there with details are Tom DeLay, Randal Duke Cunningham, Bob Ney, Richard Pombo, Conrad Burns, William Jefferson, and Jack Abramoff.

http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/religion/spurious.htm, about various bible sources, their lack of agreement

http://nofreelunch.org/reqreading.htm about drug companies influencing medical decisions.

Senator Ted Stevens (born November 18, 1923) who has served since 1968 was convicted on 7 counts contected to handling of public funds.

From wikipedia.org:

On July 29, 2008 Stevens was indicted by a federal grand jury on seven counts of failing to properly report gifts and found guilty at trial three months later (October 27, 2008). The charges relate to renovations to his home and alleged gifts from VECO Corporation, claimed to be worth more than $250,000. The indictment followed a lengthy investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for possible corruption into Alaskan politicians and was based on his relationship with Bill Allen. Allen, then an oil service company executive, had earlier pled guilty, with sentencing suspended pending his cooperation in gathering evidence and giving testimony in other trials, to bribing several Alaskan state legislators, including a disputed claim about Stevens' son, former State Senator Ben Stevens. Stevens declared, "I'm innocent," and pled not guilty to the charges in a federal district court on July 31, 2008. Stevens asserted his right to a speedy trial so that he could have the opportunity to promptly clear his name and requested that the trial be held before the 2008 election.

Home Remodeling and VECO

May 29, 2007, the Anchorage Daily News reported that the FBI and a federal grand jury were investigating an "extensive" remodeling project at Stevens' home in Girdwood. Stevens' Alaska home was raided by the FBI and IRS on July 30, 2007. The remodeling work doubled the size of the modest home. Public records show that the house was 2,471 square feet (230 m²) after the remodeling and that the property was valued at $271,300 in 2003, including a $5,000 increase in land value. The remodel in 2000 was organized by Bill Allen, a founder of the VECO Corporation, an oil-field service company and has been estimated to have cost VECO and the various contractors $250,000 or more. However, the residential contractor who finished the renovation for VECO, Augie Paone, "believes the [Stevens'] remodeling could have cost ― if all the work was done efficiently ― around $130,000 to $150,000, close to the figure Stevens cited last year.” In June, the Anchorage Daily News reported that a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., heard evidence in May about the expansion of Stevens' Girdwood home and other matters connecting Stevens to VECO. In mid-June, FBI agents questioned several aides who work for Stevens as part of the investigation.^[64] In July, Washingtonian magazine reported that Stevens had hired "Washington’s most powerful and expensive lawyer", Brendan Sullivan Jr., in response to the investigation. In 2006, during wiretapped conversations with Bill Allen, Stevens expressed worries over potential misunderstandings and legal complications arising from the sweeping federal investigations into Alaskan politics. On the witness stand, "Allen testified that VECO staff who had worked on his own house had charged 'way too much,' leaving him uncertain how much to invoice Stevens for when he had his staff work on the senator's house ... that he would be embarrassed to bill Stevens for overpriced labor on the house, and said he concealed some of the expense."

Bob Penney

In September, The Hill reported that Stevens had "steered millions of federal dollars to a sportfishing industry group founded by Bob Penney, a longtime friend". In 1998, Stevens invested 15,000 in a Utah land deal managed by Penney; in 2004, Stevens sold his share of the property for $150,000.

Guilty verdict

On October 27, 2008, Stevens was found guilty of all seven charges against him. He is the fifth sitting senator ever to be convicted by a jury in U.S. history, and the first since Senator Harrison A William. (D-NJ) in 1981. His sentingcing hearing is scheduled for Feb. 25. However, FBI Agent Chad in February 2009 filed a whistleblower affidavit concerning gross government misconduct (FBI sending back to Alaska a witness who would have undercut their case and other exculpatory materials were withheld), This was addressed in a hearing on Feb. 13. At the hearing the Judge Sullivan held the prosecutors in contempt for failing to deliver documents to Steven's legal counsel.

If there lips are moving they are lying (said of politician)

To understand developments in our political system (both parties) one must understand the role of neoliberalism. Any analysis which misses this connection is grossly inadequate. (Neocons follow neoliberalism economic policies).

We have an evil, evil system. Words such as imperialism, greed, corporate greed, neoliberalism, neoconservate, globalism, bought politicians, control of media are descriptive. There are reasons why the labor movement has collapsed. It is the politics of neoliberalism, an out growth of corporate greed. Given how it opposes the public weal, we have devoted a section to expose just what neoliberalism is—a thing that the five corporations which own broadcasting will not do.

THE BRINK OF ECONOMIC COLLAPSE

Things have gotten worse, the hole the neocons has dug is much deeper. The economic stats are worse than bad: the trend is toward greater disparity of wealth and on top of that the U.S. is loaded with debt and imbalance of trade. The debt can through fiscal austerity can be paid off (as some of it was under Clinton), but the trade imbalance will only grow due to the dismantling of are industrial base and the setting up of free trade agreements such as NAFTA. The current foreign debt is equaled to over 70% of GDP, a ratio unmatched by far among industrialized nations. To find out what economics is called the dismal science and the role of neoliberalism.