Original Link: http://www.thomhartmann.com/blog/2011/08/democracy-died-first-wisconsin-%E2%80%93-long-live-oligarchs
By Thom Hartman
The Wisconsin recall election was the first major test of the new era in American politics. That new era began in January of 2010 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in "Citizens United v. FEC" that the political voice of We The People was no longer as important as the voices of billionaires and transnational corporations.
Now we know the result, and it bodes ill for both 2012 and for the tattered future of small-d democracy in our republic. A few of America's most notorious oligarchs -- including the Koch and the DeVos (Amway fortune) billionaires -- as well as untraceable millions from donors who could as easily be Chinese government-run corporations as giant "American" companies who do most of their business and keep most of their profits outside the US -- apparently played big in this election. I say "apparently" because the Supreme Court has ruled that we no longer have the right to know who is really funding our election commercials, or even our candidates themselves.
Thanks to an irrational and likely illegal Supreme Court ruling, we have moved into an era of oligarch-run politics. As much as $40 million of our oligarch's money was spent in Wisconsin in a handful of local races -- a testing laboratory for strategies that will now be used against Democrats nationwide in 2012.
And so now we enter the battle of the oligarchs over the next fifteen or so months. As the old saying goes, when the elephants fight, the mice get trampled. In this case, the mice aren't just the voters. It's democracy itself. America is now -- demonstrably, as proven by Wisconsin -- just a few years away from the possibility of a totally corrupted, totally billionaire- and corporate-controlled political system. Political scientists call it oligarchy.
The Citizens United election experiment is over, and the oligarchs won. Long live the oligarchy.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
30 Years Ago Today: The Day the Middle Class Died
Original Link: http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/30-years-ago-today
By Michael Moore
From time to time, someone under 30 will ask me, "When did this all begin, America's downward slide?" They say they've heard of a time when working people could raise a family and send the kids to college on just one parent's income (and that college in states like California and New York was almost free). That anyone who wanted a decent paying job could get one. That people only worked five days a week, eight hours a day, got the whole weekend off and had a paid vacation every summer. That many jobs were union jobs, from baggers at the grocery store to the guy painting your house, and this meant that no matter how "lowly" your job was you had guarantees of a pension, occasional raises, health insurance and someone to stick up for you if you were unfairly treated.
Young people have heard of this mythical time -- but it was no myth, it was real. And when they ask, "When did this all end?", I say, "It ended on this day: August 5th, 1981."
Beginning on this date, 30 years ago, Big Business and the Right Wing decided to "go for it" -- to see if they could actually destroy the middle class so that they could become richer themselves.
And they've succeeded.
On August 5, 1981, President Ronald Reagan fired every member of the air traffic controllers union (PATCO) who'd defied his order to return to work and declared their union illegal. They had been on strike for just two days.
It was a bold and brash move. No one had ever tried it. What made it even bolder was that PATCO was one of only three unions that had endorsed Reagan for president! It sent a shock wave through workers across the country. If he would do this to the people who were with him, what would he do to us?
Reagan had been backed by Wall Street in his run for the White House and they, along with right-wing Christians, wanted to restructure America and turn back the tide that President Franklin D. Roosevelt started -- a tide that was intended to make life better for the average working person. The rich hated paying better wages and providing benefits. They hated paying taxes even more. And they despised unions. The right-wing Christians hated anything that sounded like socialism or holding out a helping hand to minorities or women.
Reagan promised to end all that. So when the air traffic controllers went on strike, he seized the moment. In getting rid of every single last one of them and outlawing their union, he sent a clear and strong message: The days of everyone having a comfortable middle class life were over. America, from now on, would be run this way:
* The super-rich will make more, much much more, and the rest of you will scramble for the crumbs that are left.
* Everyone must work! Mom, Dad, the teenagers in the house! Dad, you work a second job! Kids, here's your latch-key! Your parents might be home in time to put you to bed.
* 50 million of you must go without health insurance! And health insurance companies: you go ahead and decide who you want to help -- or not.
* Unions are evil! You will not belong to a union! You do not need an advocate! Shut up and get back to work! No, you can't leave now, we're not done. Your kids can make their own dinner.
* You want to go to college? No problem -- just sign here and be in hock to a bank for the next 20 years!
* What's "a raise"? Get back to work and shut up!
And so it went. But Reagan could not have pulled this off by himself in 1981. He had some big help:
The AFL-CIO.
The biggest organization of unions in America told its members to cross the picket lines of the air traffic controllers and go to work. And that's just what these union members did. Union pilots, flight attendants, delivery truck drivers, baggage handlers -- they all crossed the line and helped to break the strike. And union members of all stripes crossed the picket lines and continued to fly.
Reagan and Wall Street could not believe their eyes! Hundreds of thousands of working people and union members endorsing the firing of fellow union members. It was Christmas in August for Corporate America.
And that was the beginning of the end. Reagan and the Republicans knew they could get away with anything -- and they did. They slashed taxes on the rich. They made it harder for you to start a union at your workplace. They eliminated safety regulations on the job. They ignored the monopoly laws and allowed thousands of companies to merge or be bought out and closed down. Corporations froze wages and threatened to move overseas if the workers didn't accept lower pay and less benefits. And when the workers agreed to work for less, they moved the jobs overseas anyway.
And at every step along the way, the majority of Americans went along with this. There was little opposition or fight-back. The "masses" did not rise up and protect their jobs, their homes, their schools (which used to be the best in the world). They just accepted their fate and took the beating.
I have often wondered what would have happened had we all just stopped flying, period, back in 1981. What if all the unions had said to Reagan, "Give those controllers their jobs back or we're shutting the country down!"? You know what would have happened. The corporate elite and their boy Reagan would have buckled.
But we didn't do it. And so, bit by bit, piece by piece, in the ensuing 30 years, those in power have destroyed the middle class of our country and, in turn, have wrecked the future for our young people. Wages have remained stagnant for 30 years. Take a look at the statistics and you can see that every decline we're now suffering with had its beginning in 1981 (here's a little scene to illustrate that from my last movie).
It all began on this day, 30 years ago. One of the darkest days in American history. And we let it happen to us. Yes, they had the money, and the media and the cops. But we had 200 million of us. Ever wonder what it would look like if 200 million got truly upset and wanted their country, their life, their job, their weekend, their time with their kids back?
Have we all just given up? What are we waiting for? Forget about the 20% who support the Tea Party -- we are the other 80%! This decline will only end when we demand it. And not through an online petition or a tweet. We are going to have to turn the TV and the computer and the video games off and get out in the streets (like they've done in Wisconsin). Some of you need to run for local office next year. We need to demand that the Democrats either get a spine and stop taking corporate money -- or step aside.
When is enough, enough? The middle class dream will not just magically reappear. Wall Street's plan is clear: America is to be a nation of Haves and Have Nothings. Is that OK for you?
Why not use today to pause and think about the little steps you can take to turn this around in your neighborhood, at your workplace, in your school? Is there any better day to start than today?
By Michael Moore
From time to time, someone under 30 will ask me, "When did this all begin, America's downward slide?" They say they've heard of a time when working people could raise a family and send the kids to college on just one parent's income (and that college in states like California and New York was almost free). That anyone who wanted a decent paying job could get one. That people only worked five days a week, eight hours a day, got the whole weekend off and had a paid vacation every summer. That many jobs were union jobs, from baggers at the grocery store to the guy painting your house, and this meant that no matter how "lowly" your job was you had guarantees of a pension, occasional raises, health insurance and someone to stick up for you if you were unfairly treated.
Young people have heard of this mythical time -- but it was no myth, it was real. And when they ask, "When did this all end?", I say, "It ended on this day: August 5th, 1981."
Beginning on this date, 30 years ago, Big Business and the Right Wing decided to "go for it" -- to see if they could actually destroy the middle class so that they could become richer themselves.
And they've succeeded.
On August 5, 1981, President Ronald Reagan fired every member of the air traffic controllers union (PATCO) who'd defied his order to return to work and declared their union illegal. They had been on strike for just two days.
It was a bold and brash move. No one had ever tried it. What made it even bolder was that PATCO was one of only three unions that had endorsed Reagan for president! It sent a shock wave through workers across the country. If he would do this to the people who were with him, what would he do to us?
Reagan had been backed by Wall Street in his run for the White House and they, along with right-wing Christians, wanted to restructure America and turn back the tide that President Franklin D. Roosevelt started -- a tide that was intended to make life better for the average working person. The rich hated paying better wages and providing benefits. They hated paying taxes even more. And they despised unions. The right-wing Christians hated anything that sounded like socialism or holding out a helping hand to minorities or women.
Reagan promised to end all that. So when the air traffic controllers went on strike, he seized the moment. In getting rid of every single last one of them and outlawing their union, he sent a clear and strong message: The days of everyone having a comfortable middle class life were over. America, from now on, would be run this way:
* The super-rich will make more, much much more, and the rest of you will scramble for the crumbs that are left.
* Everyone must work! Mom, Dad, the teenagers in the house! Dad, you work a second job! Kids, here's your latch-key! Your parents might be home in time to put you to bed.
* 50 million of you must go without health insurance! And health insurance companies: you go ahead and decide who you want to help -- or not.
* Unions are evil! You will not belong to a union! You do not need an advocate! Shut up and get back to work! No, you can't leave now, we're not done. Your kids can make their own dinner.
* You want to go to college? No problem -- just sign here and be in hock to a bank for the next 20 years!
* What's "a raise"? Get back to work and shut up!
And so it went. But Reagan could not have pulled this off by himself in 1981. He had some big help:
The AFL-CIO.
The biggest organization of unions in America told its members to cross the picket lines of the air traffic controllers and go to work. And that's just what these union members did. Union pilots, flight attendants, delivery truck drivers, baggage handlers -- they all crossed the line and helped to break the strike. And union members of all stripes crossed the picket lines and continued to fly.
Reagan and Wall Street could not believe their eyes! Hundreds of thousands of working people and union members endorsing the firing of fellow union members. It was Christmas in August for Corporate America.
And that was the beginning of the end. Reagan and the Republicans knew they could get away with anything -- and they did. They slashed taxes on the rich. They made it harder for you to start a union at your workplace. They eliminated safety regulations on the job. They ignored the monopoly laws and allowed thousands of companies to merge or be bought out and closed down. Corporations froze wages and threatened to move overseas if the workers didn't accept lower pay and less benefits. And when the workers agreed to work for less, they moved the jobs overseas anyway.
And at every step along the way, the majority of Americans went along with this. There was little opposition or fight-back. The "masses" did not rise up and protect their jobs, their homes, their schools (which used to be the best in the world). They just accepted their fate and took the beating.
I have often wondered what would have happened had we all just stopped flying, period, back in 1981. What if all the unions had said to Reagan, "Give those controllers their jobs back or we're shutting the country down!"? You know what would have happened. The corporate elite and their boy Reagan would have buckled.
But we didn't do it. And so, bit by bit, piece by piece, in the ensuing 30 years, those in power have destroyed the middle class of our country and, in turn, have wrecked the future for our young people. Wages have remained stagnant for 30 years. Take a look at the statistics and you can see that every decline we're now suffering with had its beginning in 1981 (here's a little scene to illustrate that from my last movie).
It all began on this day, 30 years ago. One of the darkest days in American history. And we let it happen to us. Yes, they had the money, and the media and the cops. But we had 200 million of us. Ever wonder what it would look like if 200 million got truly upset and wanted their country, their life, their job, their weekend, their time with their kids back?
Have we all just given up? What are we waiting for? Forget about the 20% who support the Tea Party -- we are the other 80%! This decline will only end when we demand it. And not through an online petition or a tweet. We are going to have to turn the TV and the computer and the video games off and get out in the streets (like they've done in Wisconsin). Some of you need to run for local office next year. We need to demand that the Democrats either get a spine and stop taking corporate money -- or step aside.
When is enough, enough? The middle class dream will not just magically reappear. Wall Street's plan is clear: America is to be a nation of Haves and Have Nothings. Is that OK for you?
Why not use today to pause and think about the little steps you can take to turn this around in your neighborhood, at your workplace, in your school? Is there any better day to start than today?
Koch Brothers Leading the GOP's Charge to Suppress the Youth Vote
Original Link: http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/bill-berkowitz/35375/is-the-shadowy-world-of-alec-and-the-koch-brothers-leading-the-gops-charge-to-suppress-the-youth-vot
By Bill Berkowitz
Nearly forty years after a Constitutional Amendment giving 18-21 year-olds the right to vote, Republican legislators across the country are trying to disenfranchise youth under the subterfuge of combatting "voter fraud." However, as Christina Francisco-McGuire recently pointed out at progressivestates.org, instances of *voter fraud "are so rare that one is more likely to be struck by lightening." Amongst the legislation being pushed in various states are photo id requirements, the abandonment of election-day registration, and the redefining of student residency requirements.
"The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conservative organization linked to corporate and right-wing donors, including the billionaire Koch Brothers, [see "Smart ALEC: Dragging the Secretive Conservative Organization Out of the Shadows"] has drafted and distributed model legislation, obtained by Campus Progress, that appears to be the inspiration for bills proposed by state legislators this year and promoted by Tea Party activists, bills that would limit access of young people to vote," Tobin Van Ostern reported in Campus Progress in early March ("Conservative Corporate Advocacy Group ALEC Behind Voter Disenfranchisement Efforts").
Van Ostern wrote: "According to research by the Fair Elections Legal Network (FELN) and Campus Progress, in the past six years, seven states have enacted laws that disenfranchise students or make it more difficult for them to vote. This year, 18 additional states are considering similar laws, while other states are proposing voter ID laws that would depress turnout among other groups of voters -- particularly those who traditionally lean left.
"These requirements run the gamut from requiring in-state driver's licenses, to banning school IDs, to prohibiting first-time voters - essentially every college-aged voter - from voting by absentee ballot. All together, these barriers create new logistical and financial barriers for many people attempting to vote."
Van Ostern's investigation found that "Many of the state proposals appear to stem from model legislation known as the Voter ID Act (also known as Photo ID) that was developed by the American Legislative Exchange Council.
"In a 2009 public report, ALEC described Voter ID legislation as "proactive" and offered up examples of states successfully passing the legislation as providing 'a helpful guide' for other states to follow."
When Campus Progress tried to get copies of ALEC's model legislation, it was rebuffed by the organization. Van Ostern pointed out that "ALEC spokesperson Raegan Weber emailed, 'Model legislation is a privilege of membership and therefore we don't provide this publicly'" According to Van Ostern, this is "a somewhat unusual practice by a non-profit public policy group organized under the Internal Revenue Service code as a 501(c)(3) charitable or educational group; most such organizations make public most fruits of their labors, rather than concealing it from people who aren't members."
In a story headlined "N.H. bill intended to block youth vote" (The University of Tennessee's The Daily Beacon, March 29, 2011), Elliott Devore pointed out that the goal of New Hampshire's House Bill 176 "is to alter the eligibility of voter registration within the state by changing the definition of domicile".
Rep. Gregory Sorg, who introduced the New Hampshire bill, said that students were "transient inmates ... with a dearth of experience and a plethora of the easy self-confidence that only ignorance and inexperience can produce." He added that the bill will end "unfair domination of local elections by students."
Devore reported that William O'Brien, the Republican New Hampshire state house speaker, "was quoted in reference to college students at a recent Tea Party event saying, 'voting as a liberal. That's what kids do. ... Students lack 'life experience,' and they just vote their feelings.'"
"Forty years ago this week," Real Clear Politics' Carl M. Cannon reported on March 25th, "the House of Representatives, on an overwhelming bipartisan vote, sent a proposed constitutional amendment to the states to lower the voting age in this country to 18. ... Two weeks earlier, the Senate passed it 94-0; and the measure that became the 26th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified by the states in record time.
"By Independence Day, it was the law of the land, and at a July 5, 1971 White House signing ceremony, President Nixon gazed on a sea of handpicked young faces and proclaimed, 'The reason I believe that your generation, the 11 million new voters, will do so much for America at home is that you will infuse into this nation some idealism, some courage, some stamina, some high moral purpose that this country always needs.'"
The battle for the youth vote had begun.
Youth generally favor Democrats
Cannon pointed out that while Republicans swept to victory in 2010, "Democratic candidates outpolled Republicans among under-30 voters by 16 percentage points in 2010. This was half the margin it had been two years ago - and turnout among young voters was lower."
ABC News reported last week that according to a new poll released at the end of March by Harvard University's Institute of Politics, located at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, "President Obama's job approval rating among an important voting bloc -- 18-29 year-olds -- rose to 55 percent, a six percentage point uptick since last October."
According to the Institute's Press Release, "The President's job approval rating among students on four-year college campuses - now 60% - increased even more (nine percentage points) over the same period."
Many political observers believe that it was the youth vote that turned the tide for Barack Obama in November 2008. In its report on the Harvard poll Politico pointed out that, "in 2008, nearly 70 percent of voters ages 29 and younger voted for Obama - the highest share of youth votes ever won by a candidate, according to exit polls."
However, according to the analysis of Arizona State University assistant professor of political science, Matthew Hindman, writing in The Arizona Republic a few days after the election, "In one sense, young voters were less important than some predicted. The anticipated 'wave' of youth voting was mostly submerged in the election's general tide of high participation. Youth turnout rose but at a rate only slightly faster than that of other age groups."
Nevertheless, Hindman noted that, "amidst all the other stirring Election Day images, it was surprising to see thousands of Pennsylvania college students standing in line to cast their ballots as soon as the polls opened at 7 a.m."
It doesn't take a political scientist to recognize that if young voters were to turn out in great numbers - for any election - it is highly likely there will be a favorable outcome for Democratic Party candidates. Hindman pointed out that, "if younger voters continue to turn out at this rate, it is terrible news for the Republican Party. The youngest voters are markedly more left-leaning than the Generation Xers who preceded them. They are certainly more liberal than their own parents."
In light of this, what is the best most way for the Republican Party to deal with the youth vote? Will it try to appeal to young voters? Will they call a Time Out on the social issues - abortion, gay rights - time-honored issues that have alienated youth from the GOP?
Or, will the GOP dig its heels in and develop mechanisms that will suppress the youth vote, making it much more difficult for youth everywhere to exercise their franchise, and calling into question the residency of students at colleges across the nation?
The Harvard poll also found - to probably no one's shock or awe - that "online tools" such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs and You Tube "make more of an impact than in-person advocacy (16%) when advocating for a political position."
"As the 2012 presidential primary and caucus season draws closer, young people will again have the opportunity to greatly impact the race for the White House," said Harvard's Institute of Politics Director Trey Grayson. "Political campaigns which incorporate an effective youth outreach strategy will have a strong advantage in the 2012 cycle."
"What's been proven in 2008 and in the events in the Middle East of late, is that young adults can make the difference when inspired," said John Della Volpe, Director of Polling for the Institute of Politics. "And before inspiration happens, it's important to understand how Millennials communicate - providing this perspective is what we aim to do every semester with our national research project."
The poll found:
•Job approval ratings have risen for President Obama, especially among college youth.
•Economy remains the top national issue of concern and source of anxiety among 18 to 29 year olds.
•Facebook adoption continues to rise, outpaces Twitter by more than three-to-one.
•Social media tools viewed as having a greater political impact than in-person advocacy.
•Nearly twice as many Millennials view community service as "honorable" compared to running for office.
•Millennials are not optimistic about the United States' role in the world.
•America's 18 to 29 year olds look first to major national newspapers - followed by "Facebook Friend" statuses - to track 2012 presidential campaign.
"The drive to amend the constitution and thus enfranchise young adults 18-21 was, a priori, an expression of faith in the political system," Les Francis, a veteran Democratic consultant told Real Clear Politics' Carl M. Cannon. "And it came at precisely the same time that much media and political attention was being paid to those who were either working outside the system or who were, in fact, trying to undo or overturn the system."
In 1971, after years of young people maintaining, that if they were old enough to die for their country in Vietnam, they were old enough to vote, a Constitutional Amendment was passed that lowered the voting age. Can anyone imagine the Republican Party supporting that Constitutional Amendment today?
By Bill Berkowitz
Nearly forty years after a Constitutional Amendment giving 18-21 year-olds the right to vote, Republican legislators across the country are trying to disenfranchise youth under the subterfuge of combatting "voter fraud." However, as Christina Francisco-McGuire recently pointed out at progressivestates.org, instances of *voter fraud "are so rare that one is more likely to be struck by lightening." Amongst the legislation being pushed in various states are photo id requirements, the abandonment of election-day registration, and the redefining of student residency requirements.
"The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conservative organization linked to corporate and right-wing donors, including the billionaire Koch Brothers, [see "Smart ALEC: Dragging the Secretive Conservative Organization Out of the Shadows"] has drafted and distributed model legislation, obtained by Campus Progress, that appears to be the inspiration for bills proposed by state legislators this year and promoted by Tea Party activists, bills that would limit access of young people to vote," Tobin Van Ostern reported in Campus Progress in early March ("Conservative Corporate Advocacy Group ALEC Behind Voter Disenfranchisement Efforts").
Van Ostern wrote: "According to research by the Fair Elections Legal Network (FELN) and Campus Progress, in the past six years, seven states have enacted laws that disenfranchise students or make it more difficult for them to vote. This year, 18 additional states are considering similar laws, while other states are proposing voter ID laws that would depress turnout among other groups of voters -- particularly those who traditionally lean left.
"These requirements run the gamut from requiring in-state driver's licenses, to banning school IDs, to prohibiting first-time voters - essentially every college-aged voter - from voting by absentee ballot. All together, these barriers create new logistical and financial barriers for many people attempting to vote."
Van Ostern's investigation found that "Many of the state proposals appear to stem from model legislation known as the Voter ID Act (also known as Photo ID) that was developed by the American Legislative Exchange Council.
"In a 2009 public report, ALEC described Voter ID legislation as "proactive" and offered up examples of states successfully passing the legislation as providing 'a helpful guide' for other states to follow."
When Campus Progress tried to get copies of ALEC's model legislation, it was rebuffed by the organization. Van Ostern pointed out that "ALEC spokesperson Raegan Weber emailed, 'Model legislation is a privilege of membership and therefore we don't provide this publicly'" According to Van Ostern, this is "a somewhat unusual practice by a non-profit public policy group organized under the Internal Revenue Service code as a 501(c)(3) charitable or educational group; most such organizations make public most fruits of their labors, rather than concealing it from people who aren't members."
In a story headlined "N.H. bill intended to block youth vote" (The University of Tennessee's The Daily Beacon, March 29, 2011), Elliott Devore pointed out that the goal of New Hampshire's House Bill 176 "is to alter the eligibility of voter registration within the state by changing the definition of domicile".
Rep. Gregory Sorg, who introduced the New Hampshire bill, said that students were "transient inmates ... with a dearth of experience and a plethora of the easy self-confidence that only ignorance and inexperience can produce." He added that the bill will end "unfair domination of local elections by students."
Devore reported that William O'Brien, the Republican New Hampshire state house speaker, "was quoted in reference to college students at a recent Tea Party event saying, 'voting as a liberal. That's what kids do. ... Students lack 'life experience,' and they just vote their feelings.'"
"Forty years ago this week," Real Clear Politics' Carl M. Cannon reported on March 25th, "the House of Representatives, on an overwhelming bipartisan vote, sent a proposed constitutional amendment to the states to lower the voting age in this country to 18. ... Two weeks earlier, the Senate passed it 94-0; and the measure that became the 26th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified by the states in record time.
"By Independence Day, it was the law of the land, and at a July 5, 1971 White House signing ceremony, President Nixon gazed on a sea of handpicked young faces and proclaimed, 'The reason I believe that your generation, the 11 million new voters, will do so much for America at home is that you will infuse into this nation some idealism, some courage, some stamina, some high moral purpose that this country always needs.'"
The battle for the youth vote had begun.
Youth generally favor Democrats
Cannon pointed out that while Republicans swept to victory in 2010, "Democratic candidates outpolled Republicans among under-30 voters by 16 percentage points in 2010. This was half the margin it had been two years ago - and turnout among young voters was lower."
ABC News reported last week that according to a new poll released at the end of March by Harvard University's Institute of Politics, located at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, "President Obama's job approval rating among an important voting bloc -- 18-29 year-olds -- rose to 55 percent, a six percentage point uptick since last October."
According to the Institute's Press Release, "The President's job approval rating among students on four-year college campuses - now 60% - increased even more (nine percentage points) over the same period."
Many political observers believe that it was the youth vote that turned the tide for Barack Obama in November 2008. In its report on the Harvard poll Politico pointed out that, "in 2008, nearly 70 percent of voters ages 29 and younger voted for Obama - the highest share of youth votes ever won by a candidate, according to exit polls."
However, according to the analysis of Arizona State University assistant professor of political science, Matthew Hindman, writing in The Arizona Republic a few days after the election, "In one sense, young voters were less important than some predicted. The anticipated 'wave' of youth voting was mostly submerged in the election's general tide of high participation. Youth turnout rose but at a rate only slightly faster than that of other age groups."
Nevertheless, Hindman noted that, "amidst all the other stirring Election Day images, it was surprising to see thousands of Pennsylvania college students standing in line to cast their ballots as soon as the polls opened at 7 a.m."
It doesn't take a political scientist to recognize that if young voters were to turn out in great numbers - for any election - it is highly likely there will be a favorable outcome for Democratic Party candidates. Hindman pointed out that, "if younger voters continue to turn out at this rate, it is terrible news for the Republican Party. The youngest voters are markedly more left-leaning than the Generation Xers who preceded them. They are certainly more liberal than their own parents."
In light of this, what is the best most way for the Republican Party to deal with the youth vote? Will it try to appeal to young voters? Will they call a Time Out on the social issues - abortion, gay rights - time-honored issues that have alienated youth from the GOP?
Or, will the GOP dig its heels in and develop mechanisms that will suppress the youth vote, making it much more difficult for youth everywhere to exercise their franchise, and calling into question the residency of students at colleges across the nation?
The Harvard poll also found - to probably no one's shock or awe - that "online tools" such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs and You Tube "make more of an impact than in-person advocacy (16%) when advocating for a political position."
"As the 2012 presidential primary and caucus season draws closer, young people will again have the opportunity to greatly impact the race for the White House," said Harvard's Institute of Politics Director Trey Grayson. "Political campaigns which incorporate an effective youth outreach strategy will have a strong advantage in the 2012 cycle."
"What's been proven in 2008 and in the events in the Middle East of late, is that young adults can make the difference when inspired," said John Della Volpe, Director of Polling for the Institute of Politics. "And before inspiration happens, it's important to understand how Millennials communicate - providing this perspective is what we aim to do every semester with our national research project."
The poll found:
•Job approval ratings have risen for President Obama, especially among college youth.
•Economy remains the top national issue of concern and source of anxiety among 18 to 29 year olds.
•Facebook adoption continues to rise, outpaces Twitter by more than three-to-one.
•Social media tools viewed as having a greater political impact than in-person advocacy.
•Nearly twice as many Millennials view community service as "honorable" compared to running for office.
•Millennials are not optimistic about the United States' role in the world.
•America's 18 to 29 year olds look first to major national newspapers - followed by "Facebook Friend" statuses - to track 2012 presidential campaign.
"The drive to amend the constitution and thus enfranchise young adults 18-21 was, a priori, an expression of faith in the political system," Les Francis, a veteran Democratic consultant told Real Clear Politics' Carl M. Cannon. "And it came at precisely the same time that much media and political attention was being paid to those who were either working outside the system or who were, in fact, trying to undo or overturn the system."
In 1971, after years of young people maintaining, that if they were old enough to die for their country in Vietnam, they were old enough to vote, a Constitutional Amendment was passed that lowered the voting age. Can anyone imagine the Republican Party supporting that Constitutional Amendment today?
ALEC, Koch and the Conservative led "War on the Middle Class"...
Original Link: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/06/24/988399/-ALEC,-Koch-and-the-Conservative-led-War-on-the-Middle-Class
By Bob Sloan
I've written extensively about the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the likes of Charles and David Koch, the Council for National Policy, the Heritage Foundation, Reason Foundation, CATO Institute, Freedom Works...etc, etc., and their involvement in starting, funding and advancing similar agendas targeting legislation beneficial to their corporate interests.
Usually I write about involvement of this core group related to incarceration, prison privatization and prison industries. I know to many this is simply not considered a "Hot Topic" - either in personal, business or political terms. This diary is published to show why it should be a hot topic and how the mechanics employed in this one ALEC led initiative is demonstrative of their agenda regarding pursuit of even more important issues facing us today.
I'll begin by saying that over the past decade we have been involved in a huge class war here in the U.S. It has been mostly ignored by many, because the skirmishes have been small scale when compared to larger issues that dominate our media and thus our minds. However, each of these tiny battles have led us to the situation today where the entire middle class is in a battle for it's very existence. The battle is brought upon us by the corporate elite representing the wealthiest segment of our society.
Criminal justice is but one of those "skirmishes" in this war. It is an important one though, for several reasons. The most important aspect is the huge financial windfall realized by these corporatists from our state and federal budgets for incarceration. The billions spent by the middle class on incarceration, is siphoned off through prison privatization of those incarcerated and by companies profiting off of incarceration in general; privatized health, food services, canteen operations, transportation, banking services, phone contracts and of huge importance - privatized prison industries.
Reports by independent and informed sources, provide statistics that as of 2007, American taxpayers spent $74 billion annually on incarceration, an increase of 72% since 1997 (Tracey Kyckelhahn, Justice Expenditure and Employment Extracts 2007, Table 1(Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2010) as reported by the Justice Policy Institute this week. Out of this huge sum of tax dollars, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and Geo Group (Geo) jointly reported $2.9 billion in revenue for 2010 alone (Corrections Corporation of America, 2010 Annual Report, 2011; The GEO Group, 2010 Annual Report (Boca Raton, FL): The GEO Group, 2011).
In addition to these "earned" profits by CCA and Geo, another $2.4 billion was taken in by companies through the sale of prisoner made goods in 2009. Together the private companies involved in private prison operations and prison industries are realizing more than $5 billion in income per year. This amount does not include peripheral income such as the profits made by Bail bond agents and insurers, medical, food service, banking or sale of products used in prison; chemical sprays, security equipment, construction of new prisons and expansion of existing ones. Altogether an estimated $11 billion dollars changes hands annually from U.S. incarceration and prison industries.
To anyone suffering through the economic situation over the past two or three years, this is a HUGE sum of money - and most of it paid out of state and federal appropriations set aside for correctional services and operations. Conservatives would have us believe that all these incarceration costs are because we as a society demand that we be made safe by locking up every possible individual that commits an offense against us - personally or upon our property. We're told it is because of these demands that so many are imprisoned and the cost of that imprisonment so expensive. These arguments have been used by Republicans since 1980 to increase incarceration by more than 650%, while putting into place legislation that allows their corporate masters and benefactors to realize the most profits possible from locking up everyone and throwing away the key.
Now lets take a close look at how this was done, why and the "mechanics". By doing this I'll demonstrate how these same manipulations and tactics are being used in a similar manner to win the "skirmishes" and ultimately this Class War - that is not even recognized as happening by many Americans...
From 1980 ALEC has been involved in writing model legislation involving criminal justice at the state level (lauding such efforts at their web site). Simultaneously through their huge number of Alumni who have gone on to posts within the federal government, or have been elected to the U.S. Congress, they also have pushed for federal legislation that comports with their state efforts; three strike laws, minimum mandatory drug and gun laws, truth in sentencing laws, replacement of government programs to provide bonding for those charged with, abolishing parole and similar legislation. These efforts have resulted today in more than 2.4 million of us incarcerated.
Also from 1980 on, ALEC developed and pushed their Model Legislation to expand privatization of state and federal prison facilities. Their Model Legislation's such as:
Targeted Contracting for Certain Correctional Facilities and Services Act
Resolution on Prison Expenditures
Inmate Labor Disclosure Act
Housing Out-of-State Prisoners in a Private Prison Act
have all been designed to benefit their long time members, CCA and Geo Group.
From 1993 ALEC has also been actively pursuing involvement in prison industry legislation. Their model legislation titled the "Prison Industries Act" is based upon exploiting the federal Prison Industries Enhancement Certification Program (PIECP) to allow private sector corporations, businesses and companies access to and use of prisoner labor as a cheap workforce and a means of increasing profits.
Through their legislative efforts, ALEC helped create our huge prison population of today. They were able to implement their model legislation on privatization of prisons in many states and on the federal level, creating a huge business niche with substantial profits for CCA and Geo. ALEC's efforts of privatization of prison industries - or allowance of the use of prisoners for corporate labor were equally successful, again resulting in huge profits to manufacturers and other member companies.
Now let's look at how they accomplished all of this so easily...
The criminal justice legislation mentioned above created the "workforce" for their prison industry initiatives. What needed to be done next was to expand prison industry operations state by state to create cheap jobs for inmates and high profits for their corporate membership.
Along came Ray Allen. Allen was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1993. As a "freshman" Conservative Republican lawmaker Allen was attracted to ALEC and joined their ranks. In 1993, legislation sponsored by Allen offered tax credits to corporations, encouraging them to engage in prison industries. In1997 he introduced ALEC's Model Prison Industries Act as proposed legislation in Texas and it became law. In 1999 he introduced more legislation on the state prison industry program and subsequent legislation amendments to his original legislation. While Allen was working so diligently on behalf of ALEC and prison industries, he became Chairman of the House Corrections Committee and ALEC's Criminal Justice and Homeland Security Task Force Chairman. In those capacities he assisted prison privatization efforts on behalf of ALEC members CCA and Geo side by side with his prison industry work.
In 1998 Allen participated in a meeting in Washington, D.C. titled: "Policies and Programs In Prison Industries". Key Note speaker was AG Janet Reno and other speakers included Pam Davis, PRIDE CEO and Chairman of the NCIA, FL. U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Crime (that just months before chaired a hearing on expansion of the federal prison industries). Also present as moderator was Warren Cikins, a representative of the Brookings Institution, another Koch and ALEC affiliate. Allen was also secretly lobbying on behalf of the National Correctional Industries Association (NCIA). As you can see from the articles and links, ALEC, the NCIA, Ray Allen and Koch affiliated Brookings Institution all came together at that meeting to promote expanding the PIECP program so that more corporations could take advantage of prison labor.
The U.S.Department of Justice issued the PIECP final guideline within 6 months of this "workshop meeting" attended by all of the above. Once the federal law was in place, prison industry in the U.S. exploded exponentially - along with the access to that labor by private corporations, many of which were members of ALEC or affiliated with Koch, Heritage or similar Conservative organizations and individuals. The results of the coordinated legislative and lobbying efforts of these lawmakers, corporations, individuals and organizations such as ALEC is today's estimated $2.5 billion dollar prison industry operation.
Just last October Attorney General Holder issued a memo applauding the continued growth of the federal prison population, and urged all federal procurement officers to "open their UNICOR" catalogs and buy - buy - buy products from them so they could expand the prison industries and put more inmates to work. With first Janet Reno and now Holder supporting this exploitation of prisoners as a workforce, the corruption has escalated to the highest office of law enforcement in the U.S. Such is the pervasive nature of this beast - fed by ALEC.
From the profits garnered from prison industries, and privatization, corporate members of ALEC contributed huge sums back to ALEC and affiliated right wing PAC's and political organizations. Conservatives have used both of these "Initiatives" to enrich themselves and to help fund other political efforts of ALEC and the likes of Koch through the Heritage and Reason foundations, etc. In plain terms, this money is being used to promote today's Republican initiatives: repealing healthcare, voter disenfranchisement, privatization of more jails, prisons and state operated facilities. Privatization and prison industry of the past is fueling ALEC and Koch's efforts against the middle class today.
Until this past year many of us had no idea there was even a "war" ongoing against the middle class. We perceived the machinations of the Bush administration and Republicans as simply more of the same political rhetoric between the parties that had been continuing for decades, and chose to ignore it and we did it at our own peril. By our ignorance we allowed this cabal to amass a huge - almost insurmountable - financial war chest, which they used in 2010 to push many Democrats and moderate Republicans from office. With a majority in state governors, state assemblies and ALEC Alumni (Boehner, Cantor, Kasich, Walker and others) holding U.S. and state positions of power and influence they believe they are now in a position of minority strength. They're using that influence to push ALEC's agenda over the top.
If you look at what's been happening on the front lines in Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio - to name just the top three states - and compare what's happening today to what has transpired in privatization and prison industry efforts in the past, we can easily discern the same pattern. ALEC member, the American Bail Coalition has used ALEC lawmaker members in Wisconsin to slip through a budget amendment to make way for a return of commercial bail bonding in that state. Previous legislative efforts to do that failed, so this time Rep. Robin Vos instead squeezed a last-minute provision into the state budget to enable the ABC to regain commercial bonding in Wisconsin. Of Course, Vos also serves as ALEC's Wisconsin State Chair.
A similar budget manipulation in Florida resulted in more than $100 million being slid to ALEC member GEO Group to build an unnecessary private prison facility in that state in 2008-09. This was accomplished by then ALEC member (and Alumni) Marcos Rubio and FL. House Speaker, Ray Sansom who has already resigned due to corruption and faces indictment for:
Perhaps the most notable individual charged to date is former Rep. Ray Sansom (R-Destin), who while serving as Rubio's budget chief inserted language into the Florida's 2008-2009 budget for what was to become Blackwater CF.
The FBI just issued subpoenas and is fully investigating that entire incident, looking particularly at the campaign contributions and lobbyist payments by Geo Group and to Rubio and Sansom. The fact that Florida has been forced to close up to five state run prisons to accommodate Geo's thirst for more prisoners in their beds, has been ignored by Governor Scott - another corporate hawk looking to fatten his own pocket. In fact Scott just supported legislation to privatize 18 counties in South Florida (home to Geo Group's headquarters) that will put another 15,000 state inmates in Geo's control at the taxpayer expense - a move even some Republicans oppose.
This, I think, clearly demonstrates the vast money being funneled into the pockets of legislators by corporations determined to have their way regarding access to taxpayer money. Today the President is faced with the challenge of repulsing the Republican's demands for no tax increases (actually rescinding the tax breaks given by Bush) while they go after Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and other safety nets important to the middle class. President Obama must be made to see that he has to draw the line on cutting important programs for the middle class and stand firm on repealing the tax breaks that he extended just last year. We have to begin to slow the until now uncontrolled flow of money into the corporate coffers and from there into the campaigns and special interest projects of ALEC's alumni serving as U.S. lawmakers or Conservatives. Repealing these corporate tax breaks to corporations and the wealthy will begin to diminish that flow. Repealing the PIECP laws - or even just enforcing the mandatory laws of the program - will turn that tap another full turn and lessen access to the $2.5 billion prison industry by private companies and ALEC's corporate members. Doing both would severely limit the funding of the Conservative efforts in their unstated open war against the middle class.
Make no doubt, we are in fact under attack from all angles by these efforts. The media owned primarily by conglomerates and corporate masters such as Fox, Bloomberg and Gannett won't report on this war or the battles being fought on all these fronts. Instead they fill their shows, papers and radio reports with inane topics and when something surfaces that points to this war, they downplay the incident, and convince their readers, watchers and listeners that the story is simply more left wing rhetoric that should be ignored...
...and it has been ignored and for far too long. The future of our country and society hangs in the balance today. If we continue to wring our hands and do nothing that future is bleak indeed. Instead we should be taking part in the many demonstrations and protests taking place across the country. Since the exploitation began months ago in Wisconsin and spread like a Republican fueled wildfire across the Midwest, thousands have been speaking out, protesting, demonstrating and fighting for worker's rights, defending voter rights, fighting to stop defunding or our education and similar issues.
Collectively we must come together and for once present a united front against these attacks and the war itself. Join us in Protesting ALEC in August in New Orleans. If you can't come, donate to the effort. You can join or donate here: http://protestalec.org/. You can also join the Brave New Foundation in their efforts of exposing the Koch influence, opposing prison privatization and incarcerating immigrants for profits by Geo and CCA.
Please take a few seconds and sign my petition that will be sent to your state legislative members and Governor, asking that ALEC legislation be identified and their state members exposed.
I'll be in New Orleans in August and hope to see some of you there joining arms with us in this ongoing war against the middle class. If our President continues to capitulate to the demands of the minority over the needs and demands of the middle class, we must stand up and speak out for ourselves and our neighbors...just sayin'...
By Bob Sloan
I've written extensively about the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the likes of Charles and David Koch, the Council for National Policy, the Heritage Foundation, Reason Foundation, CATO Institute, Freedom Works...etc, etc., and their involvement in starting, funding and advancing similar agendas targeting legislation beneficial to their corporate interests.
Usually I write about involvement of this core group related to incarceration, prison privatization and prison industries. I know to many this is simply not considered a "Hot Topic" - either in personal, business or political terms. This diary is published to show why it should be a hot topic and how the mechanics employed in this one ALEC led initiative is demonstrative of their agenda regarding pursuit of even more important issues facing us today.
I'll begin by saying that over the past decade we have been involved in a huge class war here in the U.S. It has been mostly ignored by many, because the skirmishes have been small scale when compared to larger issues that dominate our media and thus our minds. However, each of these tiny battles have led us to the situation today where the entire middle class is in a battle for it's very existence. The battle is brought upon us by the corporate elite representing the wealthiest segment of our society.
Criminal justice is but one of those "skirmishes" in this war. It is an important one though, for several reasons. The most important aspect is the huge financial windfall realized by these corporatists from our state and federal budgets for incarceration. The billions spent by the middle class on incarceration, is siphoned off through prison privatization of those incarcerated and by companies profiting off of incarceration in general; privatized health, food services, canteen operations, transportation, banking services, phone contracts and of huge importance - privatized prison industries.
Reports by independent and informed sources, provide statistics that as of 2007, American taxpayers spent $74 billion annually on incarceration, an increase of 72% since 1997 (Tracey Kyckelhahn, Justice Expenditure and Employment Extracts 2007, Table 1(Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2010) as reported by the Justice Policy Institute this week. Out of this huge sum of tax dollars, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and Geo Group (Geo) jointly reported $2.9 billion in revenue for 2010 alone (Corrections Corporation of America, 2010 Annual Report, 2011; The GEO Group, 2010 Annual Report (Boca Raton, FL): The GEO Group, 2011).
In addition to these "earned" profits by CCA and Geo, another $2.4 billion was taken in by companies through the sale of prisoner made goods in 2009. Together the private companies involved in private prison operations and prison industries are realizing more than $5 billion in income per year. This amount does not include peripheral income such as the profits made by Bail bond agents and insurers, medical, food service, banking or sale of products used in prison; chemical sprays, security equipment, construction of new prisons and expansion of existing ones. Altogether an estimated $11 billion dollars changes hands annually from U.S. incarceration and prison industries.
To anyone suffering through the economic situation over the past two or three years, this is a HUGE sum of money - and most of it paid out of state and federal appropriations set aside for correctional services and operations. Conservatives would have us believe that all these incarceration costs are because we as a society demand that we be made safe by locking up every possible individual that commits an offense against us - personally or upon our property. We're told it is because of these demands that so many are imprisoned and the cost of that imprisonment so expensive. These arguments have been used by Republicans since 1980 to increase incarceration by more than 650%, while putting into place legislation that allows their corporate masters and benefactors to realize the most profits possible from locking up everyone and throwing away the key.
Now lets take a close look at how this was done, why and the "mechanics". By doing this I'll demonstrate how these same manipulations and tactics are being used in a similar manner to win the "skirmishes" and ultimately this Class War - that is not even recognized as happening by many Americans...
From 1980 ALEC has been involved in writing model legislation involving criminal justice at the state level (lauding such efforts at their web site). Simultaneously through their huge number of Alumni who have gone on to posts within the federal government, or have been elected to the U.S. Congress, they also have pushed for federal legislation that comports with their state efforts; three strike laws, minimum mandatory drug and gun laws, truth in sentencing laws, replacement of government programs to provide bonding for those charged with, abolishing parole and similar legislation. These efforts have resulted today in more than 2.4 million of us incarcerated.
Also from 1980 on, ALEC developed and pushed their Model Legislation to expand privatization of state and federal prison facilities. Their Model Legislation's such as:
Targeted Contracting for Certain Correctional Facilities and Services Act
Resolution on Prison Expenditures
Inmate Labor Disclosure Act
Housing Out-of-State Prisoners in a Private Prison Act
have all been designed to benefit their long time members, CCA and Geo Group.
From 1993 ALEC has also been actively pursuing involvement in prison industry legislation. Their model legislation titled the "Prison Industries Act" is based upon exploiting the federal Prison Industries Enhancement Certification Program (PIECP) to allow private sector corporations, businesses and companies access to and use of prisoner labor as a cheap workforce and a means of increasing profits.
Through their legislative efforts, ALEC helped create our huge prison population of today. They were able to implement their model legislation on privatization of prisons in many states and on the federal level, creating a huge business niche with substantial profits for CCA and Geo. ALEC's efforts of privatization of prison industries - or allowance of the use of prisoners for corporate labor were equally successful, again resulting in huge profits to manufacturers and other member companies.
Now let's look at how they accomplished all of this so easily...
The criminal justice legislation mentioned above created the "workforce" for their prison industry initiatives. What needed to be done next was to expand prison industry operations state by state to create cheap jobs for inmates and high profits for their corporate membership.
Along came Ray Allen. Allen was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1993. As a "freshman" Conservative Republican lawmaker Allen was attracted to ALEC and joined their ranks. In 1993, legislation sponsored by Allen offered tax credits to corporations, encouraging them to engage in prison industries. In1997 he introduced ALEC's Model Prison Industries Act as proposed legislation in Texas and it became law. In 1999 he introduced more legislation on the state prison industry program and subsequent legislation amendments to his original legislation. While Allen was working so diligently on behalf of ALEC and prison industries, he became Chairman of the House Corrections Committee and ALEC's Criminal Justice and Homeland Security Task Force Chairman. In those capacities he assisted prison privatization efforts on behalf of ALEC members CCA and Geo side by side with his prison industry work.
In 1998 Allen participated in a meeting in Washington, D.C. titled: "Policies and Programs In Prison Industries". Key Note speaker was AG Janet Reno and other speakers included Pam Davis, PRIDE CEO and Chairman of the NCIA, FL. U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Crime (that just months before chaired a hearing on expansion of the federal prison industries). Also present as moderator was Warren Cikins, a representative of the Brookings Institution, another Koch and ALEC affiliate. Allen was also secretly lobbying on behalf of the National Correctional Industries Association (NCIA). As you can see from the articles and links, ALEC, the NCIA, Ray Allen and Koch affiliated Brookings Institution all came together at that meeting to promote expanding the PIECP program so that more corporations could take advantage of prison labor.
The U.S.Department of Justice issued the PIECP final guideline within 6 months of this "workshop meeting" attended by all of the above. Once the federal law was in place, prison industry in the U.S. exploded exponentially - along with the access to that labor by private corporations, many of which were members of ALEC or affiliated with Koch, Heritage or similar Conservative organizations and individuals. The results of the coordinated legislative and lobbying efforts of these lawmakers, corporations, individuals and organizations such as ALEC is today's estimated $2.5 billion dollar prison industry operation.
Just last October Attorney General Holder issued a memo applauding the continued growth of the federal prison population, and urged all federal procurement officers to "open their UNICOR" catalogs and buy - buy - buy products from them so they could expand the prison industries and put more inmates to work. With first Janet Reno and now Holder supporting this exploitation of prisoners as a workforce, the corruption has escalated to the highest office of law enforcement in the U.S. Such is the pervasive nature of this beast - fed by ALEC.
From the profits garnered from prison industries, and privatization, corporate members of ALEC contributed huge sums back to ALEC and affiliated right wing PAC's and political organizations. Conservatives have used both of these "Initiatives" to enrich themselves and to help fund other political efforts of ALEC and the likes of Koch through the Heritage and Reason foundations, etc. In plain terms, this money is being used to promote today's Republican initiatives: repealing healthcare, voter disenfranchisement, privatization of more jails, prisons and state operated facilities. Privatization and prison industry of the past is fueling ALEC and Koch's efforts against the middle class today.
Until this past year many of us had no idea there was even a "war" ongoing against the middle class. We perceived the machinations of the Bush administration and Republicans as simply more of the same political rhetoric between the parties that had been continuing for decades, and chose to ignore it and we did it at our own peril. By our ignorance we allowed this cabal to amass a huge - almost insurmountable - financial war chest, which they used in 2010 to push many Democrats and moderate Republicans from office. With a majority in state governors, state assemblies and ALEC Alumni (Boehner, Cantor, Kasich, Walker and others) holding U.S. and state positions of power and influence they believe they are now in a position of minority strength. They're using that influence to push ALEC's agenda over the top.
If you look at what's been happening on the front lines in Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio - to name just the top three states - and compare what's happening today to what has transpired in privatization and prison industry efforts in the past, we can easily discern the same pattern. ALEC member, the American Bail Coalition has used ALEC lawmaker members in Wisconsin to slip through a budget amendment to make way for a return of commercial bail bonding in that state. Previous legislative efforts to do that failed, so this time Rep. Robin Vos instead squeezed a last-minute provision into the state budget to enable the ABC to regain commercial bonding in Wisconsin. Of Course, Vos also serves as ALEC's Wisconsin State Chair.
A similar budget manipulation in Florida resulted in more than $100 million being slid to ALEC member GEO Group to build an unnecessary private prison facility in that state in 2008-09. This was accomplished by then ALEC member (and Alumni) Marcos Rubio and FL. House Speaker, Ray Sansom who has already resigned due to corruption and faces indictment for:
Perhaps the most notable individual charged to date is former Rep. Ray Sansom (R-Destin), who while serving as Rubio's budget chief inserted language into the Florida's 2008-2009 budget for what was to become Blackwater CF.
The FBI just issued subpoenas and is fully investigating that entire incident, looking particularly at the campaign contributions and lobbyist payments by Geo Group and to Rubio and Sansom. The fact that Florida has been forced to close up to five state run prisons to accommodate Geo's thirst for more prisoners in their beds, has been ignored by Governor Scott - another corporate hawk looking to fatten his own pocket. In fact Scott just supported legislation to privatize 18 counties in South Florida (home to Geo Group's headquarters) that will put another 15,000 state inmates in Geo's control at the taxpayer expense - a move even some Republicans oppose.
This, I think, clearly demonstrates the vast money being funneled into the pockets of legislators by corporations determined to have their way regarding access to taxpayer money. Today the President is faced with the challenge of repulsing the Republican's demands for no tax increases (actually rescinding the tax breaks given by Bush) while they go after Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and other safety nets important to the middle class. President Obama must be made to see that he has to draw the line on cutting important programs for the middle class and stand firm on repealing the tax breaks that he extended just last year. We have to begin to slow the until now uncontrolled flow of money into the corporate coffers and from there into the campaigns and special interest projects of ALEC's alumni serving as U.S. lawmakers or Conservatives. Repealing these corporate tax breaks to corporations and the wealthy will begin to diminish that flow. Repealing the PIECP laws - or even just enforcing the mandatory laws of the program - will turn that tap another full turn and lessen access to the $2.5 billion prison industry by private companies and ALEC's corporate members. Doing both would severely limit the funding of the Conservative efforts in their unstated open war against the middle class.
Make no doubt, we are in fact under attack from all angles by these efforts. The media owned primarily by conglomerates and corporate masters such as Fox, Bloomberg and Gannett won't report on this war or the battles being fought on all these fronts. Instead they fill their shows, papers and radio reports with inane topics and when something surfaces that points to this war, they downplay the incident, and convince their readers, watchers and listeners that the story is simply more left wing rhetoric that should be ignored...
...and it has been ignored and for far too long. The future of our country and society hangs in the balance today. If we continue to wring our hands and do nothing that future is bleak indeed. Instead we should be taking part in the many demonstrations and protests taking place across the country. Since the exploitation began months ago in Wisconsin and spread like a Republican fueled wildfire across the Midwest, thousands have been speaking out, protesting, demonstrating and fighting for worker's rights, defending voter rights, fighting to stop defunding or our education and similar issues.
Collectively we must come together and for once present a united front against these attacks and the war itself. Join us in Protesting ALEC in August in New Orleans. If you can't come, donate to the effort. You can join or donate here: http://protestalec.org/. You can also join the Brave New Foundation in their efforts of exposing the Koch influence, opposing prison privatization and incarcerating immigrants for profits by Geo and CCA.
Please take a few seconds and sign my petition that will be sent to your state legislative members and Governor, asking that ALEC legislation be identified and their state members exposed.
I'll be in New Orleans in August and hope to see some of you there joining arms with us in this ongoing war against the middle class. If our President continues to capitulate to the demands of the minority over the needs and demands of the middle class, we must stand up and speak out for ourselves and our neighbors...just sayin'...
ALEC: One Stop Shopping For Legislation Meant To Be Shared By Each And Every State! ALEC Writes Our Laws!
Original Link: http://jillianbarclay.hubpages.com/hub/ALEC-One-Stop-Shopping-For-Legislation-Meant-To-Be-Shared-By-Each-And-Every-State-How-Cool-Is-That
By Jillian Barclay
When Wisconsin has a new law that destroys collective bargaining, how does that same law almost instantaneously show up in ten other statehouses? When Florida presents anti-abortion legislation, why are 25 other states doing the same thing at the same time? When Michigan decides that it is a good idea to privatize, well, everything, why do other state legislatures follow suit so quickly? For years, I thought this was just dumb luck or even some kind of political ESP, or maybe even some sort of wild conspiracy theory, but then thought I was being foolish! How could states be reading from the same playbook? Could it be possible that there was a conspiracy? No! More than likely, I concluded, it was dumb luck!
Not only is it not dumb luck, it is a well-orchestrated, well-financed, corporate conspiracy that has successfully infiltrated every state legislature in the United States. The legislation that you see repeated daily in states across the country is actually from a playbook brought to America by way of ALEC, a group that seeks to influence legislation that benefits corporations and seeks to rob consumers and the electorate.
ALEC is short for the American Legislative Exchange Council. It is a not-for-profit (aren't they all?) organization designed to be a one-stop shopping experience for state legislators. The legislation offered by ALEC is usually always geared to the advancement of corporate interests and the laws are actually written by corporate lobbyists. Shocked? No? Nothing shocks me anymore, either. The idea that real statesmen might still exist would be a more shocking premise. ALEC has its grubby hands in every single legislative body in this country. They are so blatantly outrageous that their website shows each legislator chairperson that handles and promotes "friendly" corporate laws. The legislative contact for each state is also the legislative sell-out.
ALEC was founded in 1973 by Paul Weyrich, who also helped found the Heritage Foundation and the Moral Majority. It has been reported that the major funders are the Koch Foundation, Exxon Mobil, the Coors family and several other ultra right-wing corporate interests. Their list of board members are from AT&T, Wal-Mart, Johnson & Johnson, State Farm, Bayer, Coca-Cola, etc.
Legislative exchange are the key words for this non-profit, because that is precisely what they do. The lobbyists write the legislation that they would like to see passed and then, through the elected representatives in each state, personalize it for each state and pass it around. It really is an exchange. ALEC's website will let you know the names of the legislators from your state that 'work' with them to promote ALEC's product.
How Insidious Is ALEC? The Current Laws That Come From ALEC!
ALEC says they do not lobby. That is how they get away with maintaining their non-profit status. They simply write the legislation and the mostly Republican legislators (only 3 are Democrats) from all of the different states then present the bills in their respective statehouses and pass them off as their own. It is similar to buying a term paper or hiring another student to write your term paper for you. In school, it is called cheating. In America, it is called a non-profit organization.
ALEC is not ashamed of their activities. ALEC is proud of the fact that their lobbyists and corporate members are the authors of most of the legislation pending or passed in every state. Their own website touts the fact that they are directly responsible for :
•Voter ID bills being passed that tighten registration requirements and disenfranchise up to 20 million voters. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, over 20 million will be disenfranchised by the new laws. They are mainly students, the elderly, the poor and the disabled.
•The bills that have assaulted and destroyed collective bargaining rights in states such as Wisconsin and Michigan. ALEC stands behind laws that would roll-back employee protections, worker's compensation and even do away with the minimum wage.
•The bills that eliminate pension plans and turn them into 401K's.
•The bills designed to overturn the Affordable Care Act. ALEC offers each state a "Guide to Repealing Obamacare".
•The bills that eliminate environmental protections. Not only are the bills already written(ALEC says they have 15 model bills), the state legislators can work with ALEC's task force to launch an all out assault on EPA rules and regulations.
•The bills that lower corporate tax rates. In fact, to assist in this effort, ALEC has written the "State Budget Reform Tool Kit". It is a must have for states that want to lower taxes for the wealthy and raise taxes for the middle class and poor.
•The bills that strip education of funding and decimate local control of schools.
This list could go on and on. It includes prison reform legislation, legislation designed to "protect innocent corporations from liability for asbestos poisoning", how states can effectively market pharmaceuticals, as well as "how to privatize" almost every sector of government, along with instructions on how to frame the bills to make them sound as advantageous as possible.
ALEC itself, says that the organization is responsible for at least 1,000 bills a year that are introduced in every statehouse. From ALEC: " ALEC's far-reaching national network of state legislators that crosses geographic and political boundaries, and affects all levels of government, is without equal. No other organization in America today can claim as many valuable assets-both people and ideas-that have influence on as many key decision-making centers."
Far- reaching? If this organization is responsible for 1,000 bills a year, they are more far-reaching than I would like to think.
Who Are These Lawmakers That Create Our Laws?
ALEC boasts of over 2,000 members. Private sector membership can range in price from $7,000 per year to join the Washington Club all the way up to $25,000 per year for the Jefferson Club. Without giving the names of their board members, I will just list the corporations each member of the Private Enterprise Board represents:
•Bayer
•Glaxo-Smith-Kline
•Reynolds
•Wal-Mart
•Johnson & Johnson
•Energy Future Holdings
•PhRMA
•Kraft Foods
•American Bail Coalition
•Pfizer
•Reed-Elsevier
•DIAGEO
•AT&T
•Peabody Energy
•UPS
•Intuit, Inc
•Koch Brothers
•Coca-Cola
•Altria Client Services
•Exxon Mobil
•Salt River Project
•State Farm Insurance Company
•Centerpoint 360
Were these the people you elected to write your laws? Think I was better off when I thought the coordination was dumb luck. How about you?
Your Very Own ALEC Representatives!
Your ALEC State Chairmen represent ALEC in each of their home states. The key words here are "REPRESENT ALEC". If any of them ALSO suggest they represent you, question them as to their jobs as chairmen for ALEC. Know who they are and what they stand for and promote:
Alabama
•Rep. Mary Sue McClurkin
Alaska
•Rep. Wes Keller
Arizona
•Rep. Debbie Lesko
Arkansas
•Rep. Linda Collins-Smith
•Sen. Michael Lamoureux
California
•Sen. Joel C. Anderson
Colorado
•Sen. Bill L. Cadman
•Rep. B.J. Nikkel
Connecticut
•Rep. DebraLee Hovey
•Sen. Kevin D. Witkos
Delaware
•Rep. Daniel B. Short
Florida
•Rep. Jimmy T. Patronis, Jr.
Georgia
•Rep. Calvin Hill, Jr.
•Sen. Chip Rogers
Hawaii
•Rep. Gene Ward
Idaho
•Sen. Patti Anne Lodge
Illinois
•Sen. Kirk W. Dillard
•Rep. Renée Kosel
Indiana
•Sen. Jim Buck
•Rep. David A. Wolkins
Iowa
•Rep. Linda J. Miller
Kansas
•Sen. Ray Merrick
Kentucky
•Sen. Tom Buford
•Rep. Mike Harmon
Louisiana
•Rep. George G. Cromer
Maine
•Sen. Richard W. Rosen
Maryland
•Del. Michael Hough
•Sen. Christopher Shank
Massachusetts
•Vacant
Michigan
•Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker
Minnesota
•Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer
Mississippi
•Rep. Jim Ellington
Missouri
•Rep. Timothy W. Jones
•Rep. Jason T. Smith
•Rep. Jim C. Ellington
Montana
•Rep. Gary MacLaren
•Rep. Scott M. Reichner
Nebraska
Nevada
•Sen. Barbara Cegavske
New Hampshire
•Rep. Gary L. Daniels
•Rep. Jordan G. Ulery
New Jersey
•Sen. Steve Oroho
•Hon. Jay Webber
New Mexico
•Rep. Paul C. Bandy
•Sen. Kent L. Cravens
New York
•Sen. Owen Johnson
North Carolina
•Rep. Fred F. Steen
North Dakota
•Rep. Alan H. Carlson
•Rep. Blair B. Thoreson
Ohio
•Rep. John P. Adams
Oklahoma
•Rep. Gary W. Banz
•Sen. John W. Ford
Oregon
•Rep. C. Gene Whisnant
Pennsylvania
•Rep. John R. Evans
Rhode Island
•Sen. Francis T. Maher, Jr.
•Sen. Leo Blais
South Carolina
•Rep. Liston Barfield
•Sen. Raymond E. Cleary III
South Dakota
•Sen. Deb Peters
•Rep. Valentine B. Rausch
Tennessee
•Rep. Curry Todd
Texas
•Rep. Charlie Howard
•Rep. Jim Jackson
•Sen. Kel Seliger
Utah
•Sen. Curtis S. Bramble
•Sen. Wayne L. Niederhauser
Vermont
•Sen. Kevin J. Mullin
Virginia
•Del. John A. Cosgrove, Jr.
•Sen. Stephen H. Martin
Washington
•Rep. Jan Angel
•Sen. Don Benton
West Virginia
•Del. Eric L. Householder
Wisconsin
•Rep. Robin J. Vos
Wyoming
•Rep. Peter S. Illoway
By Jillian Barclay
When Wisconsin has a new law that destroys collective bargaining, how does that same law almost instantaneously show up in ten other statehouses? When Florida presents anti-abortion legislation, why are 25 other states doing the same thing at the same time? When Michigan decides that it is a good idea to privatize, well, everything, why do other state legislatures follow suit so quickly? For years, I thought this was just dumb luck or even some kind of political ESP, or maybe even some sort of wild conspiracy theory, but then thought I was being foolish! How could states be reading from the same playbook? Could it be possible that there was a conspiracy? No! More than likely, I concluded, it was dumb luck!
Not only is it not dumb luck, it is a well-orchestrated, well-financed, corporate conspiracy that has successfully infiltrated every state legislature in the United States. The legislation that you see repeated daily in states across the country is actually from a playbook brought to America by way of ALEC, a group that seeks to influence legislation that benefits corporations and seeks to rob consumers and the electorate.
ALEC is short for the American Legislative Exchange Council. It is a not-for-profit (aren't they all?) organization designed to be a one-stop shopping experience for state legislators. The legislation offered by ALEC is usually always geared to the advancement of corporate interests and the laws are actually written by corporate lobbyists. Shocked? No? Nothing shocks me anymore, either. The idea that real statesmen might still exist would be a more shocking premise. ALEC has its grubby hands in every single legislative body in this country. They are so blatantly outrageous that their website shows each legislator chairperson that handles and promotes "friendly" corporate laws. The legislative contact for each state is also the legislative sell-out.
ALEC was founded in 1973 by Paul Weyrich, who also helped found the Heritage Foundation and the Moral Majority. It has been reported that the major funders are the Koch Foundation, Exxon Mobil, the Coors family and several other ultra right-wing corporate interests. Their list of board members are from AT&T, Wal-Mart, Johnson & Johnson, State Farm, Bayer, Coca-Cola, etc.
Legislative exchange are the key words for this non-profit, because that is precisely what they do. The lobbyists write the legislation that they would like to see passed and then, through the elected representatives in each state, personalize it for each state and pass it around. It really is an exchange. ALEC's website will let you know the names of the legislators from your state that 'work' with them to promote ALEC's product.
How Insidious Is ALEC? The Current Laws That Come From ALEC!
ALEC says they do not lobby. That is how they get away with maintaining their non-profit status. They simply write the legislation and the mostly Republican legislators (only 3 are Democrats) from all of the different states then present the bills in their respective statehouses and pass them off as their own. It is similar to buying a term paper or hiring another student to write your term paper for you. In school, it is called cheating. In America, it is called a non-profit organization.
ALEC is not ashamed of their activities. ALEC is proud of the fact that their lobbyists and corporate members are the authors of most of the legislation pending or passed in every state. Their own website touts the fact that they are directly responsible for :
•Voter ID bills being passed that tighten registration requirements and disenfranchise up to 20 million voters. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, over 20 million will be disenfranchised by the new laws. They are mainly students, the elderly, the poor and the disabled.
•The bills that have assaulted and destroyed collective bargaining rights in states such as Wisconsin and Michigan. ALEC stands behind laws that would roll-back employee protections, worker's compensation and even do away with the minimum wage.
•The bills that eliminate pension plans and turn them into 401K's.
•The bills designed to overturn the Affordable Care Act. ALEC offers each state a "Guide to Repealing Obamacare".
•The bills that eliminate environmental protections. Not only are the bills already written(ALEC says they have 15 model bills), the state legislators can work with ALEC's task force to launch an all out assault on EPA rules and regulations.
•The bills that lower corporate tax rates. In fact, to assist in this effort, ALEC has written the "State Budget Reform Tool Kit". It is a must have for states that want to lower taxes for the wealthy and raise taxes for the middle class and poor.
•The bills that strip education of funding and decimate local control of schools.
This list could go on and on. It includes prison reform legislation, legislation designed to "protect innocent corporations from liability for asbestos poisoning", how states can effectively market pharmaceuticals, as well as "how to privatize" almost every sector of government, along with instructions on how to frame the bills to make them sound as advantageous as possible.
ALEC itself, says that the organization is responsible for at least 1,000 bills a year that are introduced in every statehouse. From ALEC: " ALEC's far-reaching national network of state legislators that crosses geographic and political boundaries, and affects all levels of government, is without equal. No other organization in America today can claim as many valuable assets-both people and ideas-that have influence on as many key decision-making centers."
Far- reaching? If this organization is responsible for 1,000 bills a year, they are more far-reaching than I would like to think.
Who Are These Lawmakers That Create Our Laws?
ALEC boasts of over 2,000 members. Private sector membership can range in price from $7,000 per year to join the Washington Club all the way up to $25,000 per year for the Jefferson Club. Without giving the names of their board members, I will just list the corporations each member of the Private Enterprise Board represents:
•Bayer
•Glaxo-Smith-Kline
•Reynolds
•Wal-Mart
•Johnson & Johnson
•Energy Future Holdings
•PhRMA
•Kraft Foods
•American Bail Coalition
•Pfizer
•Reed-Elsevier
•DIAGEO
•AT&T
•Peabody Energy
•UPS
•Intuit, Inc
•Koch Brothers
•Coca-Cola
•Altria Client Services
•Exxon Mobil
•Salt River Project
•State Farm Insurance Company
•Centerpoint 360
Were these the people you elected to write your laws? Think I was better off when I thought the coordination was dumb luck. How about you?
Your Very Own ALEC Representatives!
Your ALEC State Chairmen represent ALEC in each of their home states. The key words here are "REPRESENT ALEC". If any of them ALSO suggest they represent you, question them as to their jobs as chairmen for ALEC. Know who they are and what they stand for and promote:
Alabama
•Rep. Mary Sue McClurkin
Alaska
•Rep. Wes Keller
Arizona
•Rep. Debbie Lesko
Arkansas
•Rep. Linda Collins-Smith
•Sen. Michael Lamoureux
California
•Sen. Joel C. Anderson
Colorado
•Sen. Bill L. Cadman
•Rep. B.J. Nikkel
Connecticut
•Rep. DebraLee Hovey
•Sen. Kevin D. Witkos
Delaware
•Rep. Daniel B. Short
Florida
•Rep. Jimmy T. Patronis, Jr.
Georgia
•Rep. Calvin Hill, Jr.
•Sen. Chip Rogers
Hawaii
•Rep. Gene Ward
Idaho
•Sen. Patti Anne Lodge
Illinois
•Sen. Kirk W. Dillard
•Rep. Renée Kosel
Indiana
•Sen. Jim Buck
•Rep. David A. Wolkins
Iowa
•Rep. Linda J. Miller
Kansas
•Sen. Ray Merrick
Kentucky
•Sen. Tom Buford
•Rep. Mike Harmon
Louisiana
•Rep. George G. Cromer
Maine
•Sen. Richard W. Rosen
Maryland
•Del. Michael Hough
•Sen. Christopher Shank
Massachusetts
•Vacant
Michigan
•Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker
Minnesota
•Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer
Mississippi
•Rep. Jim Ellington
Missouri
•Rep. Timothy W. Jones
•Rep. Jason T. Smith
•Rep. Jim C. Ellington
Montana
•Rep. Gary MacLaren
•Rep. Scott M. Reichner
Nebraska
Nevada
•Sen. Barbara Cegavske
New Hampshire
•Rep. Gary L. Daniels
•Rep. Jordan G. Ulery
New Jersey
•Sen. Steve Oroho
•Hon. Jay Webber
New Mexico
•Rep. Paul C. Bandy
•Sen. Kent L. Cravens
New York
•Sen. Owen Johnson
North Carolina
•Rep. Fred F. Steen
North Dakota
•Rep. Alan H. Carlson
•Rep. Blair B. Thoreson
Ohio
•Rep. John P. Adams
Oklahoma
•Rep. Gary W. Banz
•Sen. John W. Ford
Oregon
•Rep. C. Gene Whisnant
Pennsylvania
•Rep. John R. Evans
Rhode Island
•Sen. Francis T. Maher, Jr.
•Sen. Leo Blais
South Carolina
•Rep. Liston Barfield
•Sen. Raymond E. Cleary III
South Dakota
•Sen. Deb Peters
•Rep. Valentine B. Rausch
Tennessee
•Rep. Curry Todd
Texas
•Rep. Charlie Howard
•Rep. Jim Jackson
•Sen. Kel Seliger
Utah
•Sen. Curtis S. Bramble
•Sen. Wayne L. Niederhauser
Vermont
•Sen. Kevin J. Mullin
Virginia
•Del. John A. Cosgrove, Jr.
•Sen. Stephen H. Martin
Washington
•Rep. Jan Angel
•Sen. Don Benton
West Virginia
•Del. Eric L. Householder
Wisconsin
•Rep. Robin J. Vos
Wyoming
•Rep. Peter S. Illoway
WI: The Kochs, Colbert And $ In Politics
Original Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-greenwald/wi-the-kochs-colbert-and_b_923143.html
By Robert Greenwald
Much of the nation watched last night with breath held, waiting to see the recall results in Wisconsin. In the end, two WI Senate Republicans were replaced with Democrats, falling short of the three needed to take control of the Senate.
While this wasn't the outcome many hoped for, it was still a bit of a victory. No longer are politics played on an even field, and the situation in Wisconsin makes this clearer than any other state. But despite the slanted scale, working people in Wisconsin were still able to change two seats out of six. It is movement in the right direction.
What I mean about there no longer being an even playing field in politics is the vast amount of control and power money now has in our democratic system. While Scott Walker has pushed so extremely to rob working people of their basic rights and protections, he's been cushioned in support of endlessly flowing money backing his efforts.
Brave New Foundation's work on Koch Brothers Exposed has told the story of the corrupting role of big money in politics. How the Koch brothers politically spend their money, in order to get policies that will support their bottom line of billions, is a story we will continue to tell. The Koch brothers are a key example of this phenomenon, but they are far from the only wealthy individuals to control the outcomes of our political system. The represent a disease that is much larger than them alone.
This isn't a game played fair. While organizers go door to door to have conversations with voters, big money can pay for endless ads to run on TV.
While democracy has rules and has traditionally been a structure respected for its importance in our country, the Kochs treat our political system as a game to be won at all costs.
A perfect example of this? Here is a clip of Stephen Colbert telling of the Koch-funded American For Prosperity's work in Wisconsin around this recent election.
The Kochs gave enough money for Americans For Prosperity to mail Democratic voters information about how they should send their ballots in -- days after the election -- and how, instead of sending them to the appropriate office, they should send them to a fake right-wing run PO Box. Those using their money to corrupt our political system have no shame at this point.
We need some series changes made in order to save our political system from the destruction it is headed for. A citizen's ability to influence our democracy cannot continue to be defined primarily by the size of their net wealth. The only thing that can fix this is a structural policy change that redefine politics' relationship to money.
As we as a country wrestle with the need for these major changes, the game will continue to be played on an unequal field. But one positive thing that Wisconsin has shown us is that those who try to buy our democracy for their own gain are no longer able to do it in complete secret. When characters such as the Koch brothers, and their ruthless efforts to take political power away from working people, are so commonplace that Colbert can run a whole segment mocking them, things are changing.
We at Brave New Foundation will continue to work to tell these stories. We will continue to expose the unjust role of money in politics, and how the Koch brothers are a key example of how democracy can be bought to benefit one's bottom line. The more we know and understand these stories, the more we can fight back. It's an unequal battleground in politics in our country right now. The outcome of Wisconsin should be read as a reminder of that. A reminder of the fight still left to had, but also of the willingness of working people to not give up this fight. No matter how many billionaires they are up against.
By Robert Greenwald
Much of the nation watched last night with breath held, waiting to see the recall results in Wisconsin. In the end, two WI Senate Republicans were replaced with Democrats, falling short of the three needed to take control of the Senate.
While this wasn't the outcome many hoped for, it was still a bit of a victory. No longer are politics played on an even field, and the situation in Wisconsin makes this clearer than any other state. But despite the slanted scale, working people in Wisconsin were still able to change two seats out of six. It is movement in the right direction.
What I mean about there no longer being an even playing field in politics is the vast amount of control and power money now has in our democratic system. While Scott Walker has pushed so extremely to rob working people of their basic rights and protections, he's been cushioned in support of endlessly flowing money backing his efforts.
Brave New Foundation's work on Koch Brothers Exposed has told the story of the corrupting role of big money in politics. How the Koch brothers politically spend their money, in order to get policies that will support their bottom line of billions, is a story we will continue to tell. The Koch brothers are a key example of this phenomenon, but they are far from the only wealthy individuals to control the outcomes of our political system. The represent a disease that is much larger than them alone.
This isn't a game played fair. While organizers go door to door to have conversations with voters, big money can pay for endless ads to run on TV.
While democracy has rules and has traditionally been a structure respected for its importance in our country, the Kochs treat our political system as a game to be won at all costs.
A perfect example of this? Here is a clip of Stephen Colbert telling of the Koch-funded American For Prosperity's work in Wisconsin around this recent election.
The Kochs gave enough money for Americans For Prosperity to mail Democratic voters information about how they should send their ballots in -- days after the election -- and how, instead of sending them to the appropriate office, they should send them to a fake right-wing run PO Box. Those using their money to corrupt our political system have no shame at this point.
We need some series changes made in order to save our political system from the destruction it is headed for. A citizen's ability to influence our democracy cannot continue to be defined primarily by the size of their net wealth. The only thing that can fix this is a structural policy change that redefine politics' relationship to money.
As we as a country wrestle with the need for these major changes, the game will continue to be played on an unequal field. But one positive thing that Wisconsin has shown us is that those who try to buy our democracy for their own gain are no longer able to do it in complete secret. When characters such as the Koch brothers, and their ruthless efforts to take political power away from working people, are so commonplace that Colbert can run a whole segment mocking them, things are changing.
We at Brave New Foundation will continue to work to tell these stories. We will continue to expose the unjust role of money in politics, and how the Koch brothers are a key example of how democracy can be bought to benefit one's bottom line. The more we know and understand these stories, the more we can fight back. It's an unequal battleground in politics in our country right now. The outcome of Wisconsin should be read as a reminder of that. A reminder of the fight still left to had, but also of the willingness of working people to not give up this fight. No matter how many billionaires they are up against.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Murdoch’s American Scandals
Original Link: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/07/17/rupert-murdoch-s-american-scandals-from-fox-news-to-the-ny-post.html
By Michael Tomasky
With Rupert Murdoch’s empire engulfed in scandal in the U.K., Michael Tomasky asks whether the trail of wrongdoing could end up consuming the mogul’s many holdings in the U.S.
The question every right-thinking American is asking: Is there any chance, please, that this electrifying Murdoch scandal will spread with full force to America? Pleasing as it is to see Rebekah Brooks arrested, she’s not responsible for helping to ruin my country. So I’m not really feeling it like I would if I had the pleasure of seeing Roger Ailes perp-walked into the Midtown South precinct. Alas, I wouldn’t bet on it spreading (beyond Dow Jones CEO Les Hinton, who resigned last week). Fox News and the New York Post commit innumerable sins, but illegal phone-hacking or some kindred behavior seems to me unlikely to be among them. Still, we can dream. Here are three ways the scandal might come stateside.
First, there are the Dan Cooper allegations. Cooper is a former Fox employee who in 2008 wrote a blog post alleging that Ailes (or someone working for him) sought to harass liberal journalist and founder of Media Matters for America David Brock by securing copies of his telephone records and ensuring that Cooper served as a source for Brock on a story the latter was writing for New York magazine. Cooper also alleges that Ailes called up his agent, Richard Leibner, and demanded Leibner stop representing Cooper, lest audition tapes sent over to Fox by Leibner—the leading TV-personality agent in New York, apparently—mysteriously end up gathering dust. Finally there was a more general allegation that somewhere in the bowels of 1211 Sixth Avenue, the News Corp. building, there is some kind of “black ops” room, where oppo research is done on people Fox doesn’t like. Cooper says he knows because he designed it himself.
These allegations didn’t grow many legs at the time. Last week, Leslie Savan brought them back to life for a blistering piece on The Nation website. Certainly this “black ops” business is tantalizing, and doesn’t seem terribly far-fetched, given what we’ve learned in the past two weeks thanks to the estimable Nick Davies and his colleagues at The Guardian. (Full disclosure: I used to write a political blog for The Guardian.) I’m not sure if the rest quite rises to the level of phone-hacking. Obtaining phone records, the allegation here, would be an honorable or at least defensible journalistic way of getting information in certain contexts—if, say, it helped in exposing a high crime or misdemeanor. That Ailes might have sought to obtain Brock’s phone records because he knew Brock was writing a negative profile of him and wanted to see who was singing to him is thuggish in the way we’ve come to expect from Fox, but it’s probably not the behavior of a crime syndicate masquerading as a news organization, which is what we’re seeing in the U.K.
Second, there’s book editor and publisher Judith Regan. The allegation here is that Ailes ordered Regan, a former employee, to lie to federal investigators to protect the thoroughly corrupt Bernie Kerik, the former New York police commissioner under Rudy Giuliani and then-nominee to head the Department of Homeland Security, who is now in prison. This also seems plausible, but we don’t know and probably never will. Regan has reportedly been paid $10.75 million, and hasn't addressed the specifics in public since. She's said she was contractually owed the money, but it sure looks to me like the payout might have helped make sure we never know the rest of the story.
Third, there is the New York Post, Murdoch’s New York tabloid. Does it operate like The News of the World? Not really. I read the Post closely for many years when I lived in New York, I knew many people who worked there—a lot of them, believe it or not, honorable and honest journalists—and I learned plenty about how it does business. The Post is a protection racket. It decides on its friends and gives them great press. It decides on its enemies and gives them lousy press all the time, and in increasingly inventive ways. Just ask Mickey Rourke, of all people, perhaps the greatest public enemy of Page Six, for whatever reason, during the 1990s.
In politics, the favored rarely are forced to submit to a cross word (and of course the favored are always and have always been Republicans, except for Ed Koch). When former New York Senator Al D’Amato (Rupert’s all-time favorite politician, odd as that may seem) was the target of a scathing Senate ethics report, it was big news everywhere—except in the Post, where you had to have both patience and a microscope to find the coverage.
The New York Post is a protection racket. It decides on its friends and gives them great press. It decides on its enemies and gives them lousy press, all the time.
Most comically of all, I will never forget the brief Al-Sharpton-has-been-redeemed interregnum. It was the spring/summer of 1992, and there was a Democratic primary for U.S. Senate to see who would face the vulnerable D’Amato. The front-runner was then-Attorney General Bob Abrams. Sharpton was a candidate in the Democratic primary. Until then, the Post had given Sharpton roughly the same sort of coverage as Yasser Arafat. But now, with Sharpton in a position to make mischief for the Democrat who had the power to take D’Amato down, the Post suddenly saw great merit, I remember, in a “humanitarian” trip the reverend made to Haiti, among other Sharpton pursuits. Of course, this was all well within the rights of a man who buys ink by the barrel, and it wasn’t even a scandal, since one had to be a pretty committed Post Kremlinologist even to notice that sort of thing.
So I doubt the paper breaks the law or conspires with it in blatantly corrupt ways. That’s a British tradition that predates even Rupert, first of all; read up on The News of the World’s role in the bust at Keith Richards’ house, Redlands, in 1967, and how the NotW managed to report it before the police had even made it public. Beyond that, we don’t do checkbook journalism in the U.S., except for the supermarket tabloids, and we don’t have a half-dozen-odd national tabloids desperately competing for readers and resorting to extreme measures. So the odds that the Post has been tapping Democrats’ phones seem long to me.
And in all likelihood Fox’s sins are “merely,” as it were, moral; that is, it is inherently a morally corrupt organization, purporting to stand for truth, justice, and the American way when in fact it’s nothing more than a propaganda outfit. I’d be mildly surprised if legal corruption even occurs to them, they’re so busy pursuing and perfecting the moral kind.
But the delicious thing about the world is that we never know until we know. And given what we’ve learned in these last exhilarating two weeks, well—who knows?
By Michael Tomasky
With Rupert Murdoch’s empire engulfed in scandal in the U.K., Michael Tomasky asks whether the trail of wrongdoing could end up consuming the mogul’s many holdings in the U.S.
The question every right-thinking American is asking: Is there any chance, please, that this electrifying Murdoch scandal will spread with full force to America? Pleasing as it is to see Rebekah Brooks arrested, she’s not responsible for helping to ruin my country. So I’m not really feeling it like I would if I had the pleasure of seeing Roger Ailes perp-walked into the Midtown South precinct. Alas, I wouldn’t bet on it spreading (beyond Dow Jones CEO Les Hinton, who resigned last week). Fox News and the New York Post commit innumerable sins, but illegal phone-hacking or some kindred behavior seems to me unlikely to be among them. Still, we can dream. Here are three ways the scandal might come stateside.
First, there are the Dan Cooper allegations. Cooper is a former Fox employee who in 2008 wrote a blog post alleging that Ailes (or someone working for him) sought to harass liberal journalist and founder of Media Matters for America David Brock by securing copies of his telephone records and ensuring that Cooper served as a source for Brock on a story the latter was writing for New York magazine. Cooper also alleges that Ailes called up his agent, Richard Leibner, and demanded Leibner stop representing Cooper, lest audition tapes sent over to Fox by Leibner—the leading TV-personality agent in New York, apparently—mysteriously end up gathering dust. Finally there was a more general allegation that somewhere in the bowels of 1211 Sixth Avenue, the News Corp. building, there is some kind of “black ops” room, where oppo research is done on people Fox doesn’t like. Cooper says he knows because he designed it himself.
These allegations didn’t grow many legs at the time. Last week, Leslie Savan brought them back to life for a blistering piece on The Nation website. Certainly this “black ops” business is tantalizing, and doesn’t seem terribly far-fetched, given what we’ve learned in the past two weeks thanks to the estimable Nick Davies and his colleagues at The Guardian. (Full disclosure: I used to write a political blog for The Guardian.) I’m not sure if the rest quite rises to the level of phone-hacking. Obtaining phone records, the allegation here, would be an honorable or at least defensible journalistic way of getting information in certain contexts—if, say, it helped in exposing a high crime or misdemeanor. That Ailes might have sought to obtain Brock’s phone records because he knew Brock was writing a negative profile of him and wanted to see who was singing to him is thuggish in the way we’ve come to expect from Fox, but it’s probably not the behavior of a crime syndicate masquerading as a news organization, which is what we’re seeing in the U.K.
Second, there’s book editor and publisher Judith Regan. The allegation here is that Ailes ordered Regan, a former employee, to lie to federal investigators to protect the thoroughly corrupt Bernie Kerik, the former New York police commissioner under Rudy Giuliani and then-nominee to head the Department of Homeland Security, who is now in prison. This also seems plausible, but we don’t know and probably never will. Regan has reportedly been paid $10.75 million, and hasn't addressed the specifics in public since. She's said she was contractually owed the money, but it sure looks to me like the payout might have helped make sure we never know the rest of the story.
Third, there is the New York Post, Murdoch’s New York tabloid. Does it operate like The News of the World? Not really. I read the Post closely for many years when I lived in New York, I knew many people who worked there—a lot of them, believe it or not, honorable and honest journalists—and I learned plenty about how it does business. The Post is a protection racket. It decides on its friends and gives them great press. It decides on its enemies and gives them lousy press all the time, and in increasingly inventive ways. Just ask Mickey Rourke, of all people, perhaps the greatest public enemy of Page Six, for whatever reason, during the 1990s.
In politics, the favored rarely are forced to submit to a cross word (and of course the favored are always and have always been Republicans, except for Ed Koch). When former New York Senator Al D’Amato (Rupert’s all-time favorite politician, odd as that may seem) was the target of a scathing Senate ethics report, it was big news everywhere—except in the Post, where you had to have both patience and a microscope to find the coverage.
The New York Post is a protection racket. It decides on its friends and gives them great press. It decides on its enemies and gives them lousy press, all the time.
Most comically of all, I will never forget the brief Al-Sharpton-has-been-redeemed interregnum. It was the spring/summer of 1992, and there was a Democratic primary for U.S. Senate to see who would face the vulnerable D’Amato. The front-runner was then-Attorney General Bob Abrams. Sharpton was a candidate in the Democratic primary. Until then, the Post had given Sharpton roughly the same sort of coverage as Yasser Arafat. But now, with Sharpton in a position to make mischief for the Democrat who had the power to take D’Amato down, the Post suddenly saw great merit, I remember, in a “humanitarian” trip the reverend made to Haiti, among other Sharpton pursuits. Of course, this was all well within the rights of a man who buys ink by the barrel, and it wasn’t even a scandal, since one had to be a pretty committed Post Kremlinologist even to notice that sort of thing.
So I doubt the paper breaks the law or conspires with it in blatantly corrupt ways. That’s a British tradition that predates even Rupert, first of all; read up on The News of the World’s role in the bust at Keith Richards’ house, Redlands, in 1967, and how the NotW managed to report it before the police had even made it public. Beyond that, we don’t do checkbook journalism in the U.S., except for the supermarket tabloids, and we don’t have a half-dozen-odd national tabloids desperately competing for readers and resorting to extreme measures. So the odds that the Post has been tapping Democrats’ phones seem long to me.
And in all likelihood Fox’s sins are “merely,” as it were, moral; that is, it is inherently a morally corrupt organization, purporting to stand for truth, justice, and the American way when in fact it’s nothing more than a propaganda outfit. I’d be mildly surprised if legal corruption even occurs to them, they’re so busy pursuing and perfecting the moral kind.
But the delicious thing about the world is that we never know until we know. And given what we’ve learned in these last exhilarating two weeks, well—who knows?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)