By striking down the Montana campaign finance law that dates back to 1912, the Supreme Court steams ahead on its long-term project of turning our political system over to giant corporations. (So much for “states’ rights,” or the role of states as “incubators” for best practices). A century ago, the same year Montana passed...
Stephen Colbert’s super PAC exposes the corporate news media’s incapability to express what would be in normal life circumstances a totally justified sense of righteous outrage. Why do people become upset with the notion of anonymous corporate donors filling the coffers of Super PACS and corporations being considered “people?” It must offend a sense...
Once again the United States Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts has shown the nation it will always favor corporations over people even if it means conjuring new law out of thin air. Like Citizens United, the recent 5-4 ruling in AT&T’s favor gutting the power of consumers to file class-action lawsuits against...
With the Supreme Court ruling by the “Fabulous Five,” Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, a single corporation will be able tap into its deep pockets and disfranchise a million citizens. A group calling itself “Citzens United” has just won a fight to give huge corporations more control over our politics. Even the 1886...
Historically speaking, very bad things happen to a people who acquiesce in the corporate takeover of their government. In the first half of the 20th Century we learned that Trusts couldn’t be trusted and that FIAT, Krupps, and I.G. Farben made very bad public policy in Italy and Germany. We just suffered through eight...
Losing the Narrative on Public Employee Unions
Despite what some polls are telling us the Democrats at the national level are rapidly losing the narrative thread on the issue of collective bargaining rights for public employees. The frame of the “debate” on public worker pensions, and the role of labor unions in American society generally, has already largely moved in the...
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