The Supreme Court’s ruling in the Citizens United case ranks as one of the worst missteps in the history of the Republic. Almost single-handedly it has paved the way for our country to be turned into a plutocracy, with all power firmly in the vice grip of a ruling class of rich interests. The ramifications and secondary effects of this ruling are now spinning out of control.
Dark Money is money spent on campaigns and issues whose provenance is not known and not easily discoverable. Obviously, with such a thing accountability is not possible, and now that special interest groups can donate unlimited sums to candidates and PACs, we are entering an era when there is no accountability any longer in the electoral process.
Dark Money groups have set up a network of funds transfers aimed at obscuring the origin of contributions. They exchange money back and forth and leave such a long, twisted trail that only many weeks and months of diligence can uncover what has transpired and who is paying for whom. Usually, by the time we find out who has paid for a candidate’s election, they have already taken the oath of office.
It is bad enough that money is permitted to influence our elections, sometimes outright buying the outcome for the better-funded candidate. Things grow far worse when not only is an election delivered for the right size check, but we citizens cannot even know whom the newly elected official owes favors to.
It is time for America to wake up! Our government, supposedly by the people and for the people, has been stolen from us! Rich interests can purchase government favors, and not only are we helpless to stop it, we cannot even be sure when it has happened and who did it. This is not the way a free people should organize their government.
The time for change is now. Either we mend our broken system, or we suffer the consequences of catastrophic failure. Our representatives need to know these practices are unacceptable. Contact your representative and tell them to be a force for positive change in our country. Send this article to five of your friends, and have them do the same.
Dark Money is money spent on campaigns and issues whose provenance is not known and not easily discoverable. Obviously, with such a thing accountability is not possible, and now that special interest groups can donate unlimited sums to candidates and PACs, we are entering an era when there is no accountability any longer in the electoral process.
Dark Money groups have set up a network of funds transfers aimed at obscuring the origin of contributions. They exchange money back and forth and leave such a long, twisted trail that only many weeks and months of diligence can uncover what has transpired and who is paying for whom. Usually, by the time we find out who has paid for a candidate’s election, they have already taken the oath of office.
It is bad enough that money is permitted to influence our elections, sometimes outright buying the outcome for the better-funded candidate. Things grow far worse when not only is an election delivered for the right size check, but we citizens cannot even know whom the newly elected official owes favors to.
It is time for America to wake up! Our government, supposedly by the people and for the people, has been stolen from us! Rich interests can purchase government favors, and not only are we helpless to stop it, we cannot even be sure when it has happened and who did it. This is not the way a free people should organize their government.
The time for change is now. Either we mend our broken system, or we suffer the consequences of catastrophic failure. Our representatives need to know these practices are unacceptable. Contact your representative and tell them to be a force for positive change in our country. Send this article to five of your friends, and have them do the same.