The best predictor of US election outcomes:
Dollars contributed.
.
Corporations can now buy their own congressman or senator “donate” any amount of money to any election, as decided recently by the US Supreme Court “Citizens United” ruling.
Why make donations to politicians? To influence outcomes.
Politics: the Road Show version
.
For example:
Top lobbying banks got biggest bailouts. The more aggressively a bank lobbied before the financial crisis, the worse its loans performed during the economic downturn — and the more bailout dollars it received, according to a study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research this week. (Source)
Campaign Contributions Rise When Foreclosure Investigation Begins: Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller’s campaign war chest got a dramatic boost after he announced his leadership of the 50-state attorneys general investigation into foreclosure irregularities. Out-of-state law firms and donors from the finance, insurance, and real estate sector gave $261,445-which is 88 times more than they had given him over the previous decade. (Source1, Source2)
.
Why do so few Americans today believe in our government? Because the government is serving the giant corporations and the ultra-wealthy, and not Main Street and the common American; also this. (Source)
Princeton political scientist Larry Bartels found that senators outright ignored the views of their least advantaged constituents while catering to the preferences of the wealthy. Princeton’s Martin Gilens has also found that policy changes reflect the preferences of the most affluent. (Source) George Carlin explains it to us in simple language:
Transcript here: “Who Really Controls America”
.
Politics: “Conflicting winds that push the public in whichever way the oligarch’s desire, as if they were ranch hands on a cattle drive and the public was the cattle.” (Source)
The theater of words between liberals and conservatives is a false divide-and-conquer dog-and-pony show created by the powers that be to keep the American people divided and distracted. See this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this and this. Both Democrats and Republicans want to fund endless wars, give endless bailouts to the too big to fail banks and corporations, and perpetuate the expensive Ponzi scheme of printing money out of thin air. (Source)
Both parties exist to serve their owners donors. We have allowed this and we should be ashamed.
We are drowning here, with gaping holes torn into the hull of the ship of state from charges detonated by the owners and manipulators of capital. Their wealth has become a demonic force in politics. Nothing can stop them. Not the law, which has been written to accommodate them. Not scrutiny — they have no shame. Not a decent respect for the welfare of others — the people without means, their safety net shredded, left helpless before events beyond their control. . . our elections have replaced horse racing as the sport of kings. Only these kings . . . are multi-billionaire, corporate moguls who by . . . the United States Supreme Court and its Citizens United decision, are now buying politicians like so much pricey horseflesh. (Source)
.
.
This is democracy?
.
Influential Harvard and Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig noted that polls show that only 11% of the American people still have confidence in Congress–as he discusses in the next two video clips:
.
82% of the American public wants tougher regulation of Wall Street; yet in Congress, the people who receive the most money from lobbyists are the most opposed to regulation. See this, this, this, this, this, this, and this.- Two leading IMF officials, the former Vice President of the Dallas Federal Reserve, and the the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City say that the United States is controlled by an oligarchy.
- Two powerful congressmen said that banks run Congress.
.
Ninety-eight per cent of Congressional seats are now held by incumbents; a percentage matched only by fraudulent democracies and de facto tyrannies like the former Soviet Union. Those seats are controlled by Special Monied Interests that run our political system, write our laws in their own interests, exchange the Rights of our People for the Privileges of the Oligarchy, and saddle us with Perpetual War. (Source)
Campaign Cash Seating Charts
Business “donations” completely overwhelm all others.
.
What if members of Congress were seated not by party but according to their major business sponsors–the industries which gave them the most money over their entire careers? (Source)
.
Who Owns donates the most to the US Senate?
The US Senate Campaign Cash Seating Chart
The Senate: Ruled by finance/insurance/real estate
SECTOR | # OF MEMBERS
Finance, insurance, and real estate 57
Lawyers and lobbyists 25
Health 5
Agribusiness 3
Labor 2
Energy and natural resources 2
Miscellaneous business 2
Communications and electronics 1
No money raised 3Total seats | 100 (Source)
.
The banks “frankly own the place.” — Dick Durbin, US Senator (Source)
The finance, insurance and real estate sector has given $2.3 billion to candidates, leadership PACs and party committees since 1989, which eclipses every other sector. (Source.)
Want more details? Go to OpenSecrets.org to see which members of Congress have received Wall Street money.
.
Who Owns donates the most to the US House of Representatives?
The US House Campaign Cash Seating Chart
The House: Labor + Finance/insurance/real estate
SECTOR | # OF MEMBERS
Labor 159
Finance, insurance, and real estate 159
Health 26
Agribusiness 23
Lawyers and lobbyists 20
Miscellaneous business 18
Energy and natural resources 10
Defense 7
Transportation 6
Communications and electronics 4
Construction 1
Unfilled seats 2Total seats | 435 (Source)
.
Want more details? Go to OpenSecrets.org to see which members of Congress have received Wall Street money.
.
How cheaply can Congress be bought and sold?
Average spent by House race winners, 2008: (Source)
$1.4 million
- Average raised by challengers, 2010: $166,000
- Average raised by incumbents, 2010: $1 million
Average spent by Senate race winners, 2008: (Source)
$8.5 million
- Average raised by challengers, 2010: $519,000
- Average raised by incumbents, 2010: $9.4 million
. . . in other words, it costs about $1.4 M to get your operative elected to the House, or $10 M to the Senate.
(Sources: Federal election data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics and OpenSecrets.org.)
.
For a mere $1.6 B anyone can effectively buy themselves an entire US Congress.
How? Back your own operatives, “donate” $1.6 B to get most of them elected, and RULE! Of course, your operatives would have to be trained to say that your donations don’t influence them in any way. Right?
- Do the math: $1.6 B = (100 senators x $10 M) + (435 congressmen x $1.4 M)
- Put it in perspective: $1.6 B is less than 10% of the $16.2 B bonuses awarded to Goldman Sachs’ employees in 2009
We’re back to the late 19th century when the lackeys of robber barons literally deposited sacks of cash on the desks of friendly legislators. . . . We’re losing our democracy to a different system. It’s called plutocracy. (Source)
US Government — now on sale!
“The banks — hard to believe in a time when we’re facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created — are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. They frankly own the place.” — U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, Democratic Party Whip, April 30, 2009 (Source)
We’re back to the late 19th century when the lackeys of robber barons literally deposited sacks of cash on the desks of friendly legislators. . . . We’re losing our democracy to a different system. It’s called plutocracy. (Source)
.
48 Goldman Sachs Operatives in Obama Government
Obama received more donations from Goldman Sachs and the rest of the financial industry than almost anyone else. (Source)
Obamas #1 Partner
That the Obama administration continues to place (current and former) Goldman Sachs executives in government positions illustrates how little effort is devoted to hiding what is really taking place. (Source)
.
The list below shows the pervasive influence of Goldman Sachs and its units in the Obama government. Combined, this is the most comprehensive list of such ties yet published. (Source1, Source2)
.
ALTMAN, ROGER.- BERKOWITZ, HOWARD P.
- BIDEN, JOE.
- BRAINARD, LAEL.
- BUFFETT, WARREN.
- CLINTON, HILLARY.
- CRAIG, GREGORY.
- DONILON, THOMAS.
DUDLEY, WILLIAM C.- EFFRON, BLAIR W.
- ELMENDORF, DOUGLAS.
- EMANUEL, RAHM.
- FARRELL, DIANA.
- FRIEDMAN, STEPHEN.
- FROMAN, Michael.
- FUDGE, ANNE.
- FURMAN, JASON.
GALLOGLY, MARK.- GEITHNER, TIMOTHY.
- GENSLER, GARY.
- GEPHARDT, RICHARD
- GREENSTONE, MICHAEL
- HAMILTON PROJECT, THE
- HORMATS, ROBERT.
- KAGAN, ELENA.
- KASHKARI, NEEL.
KORNBLUH, KAREN.- LEW, JACOB (AKA “JACK”) J.
- LIDDY, EDWARD MICHAEL.
- LIPTON, DAVID A.
- MINDICH, ERIC
- MURPHY, PHILLIP.
- NIEDERAUER, DUNCAN.
- OBAMA, BARACK H.
- ORSZAG, PETER.
PATTERSON, MARK.- PERRY, RICHARD.
- RATTNER, STEVE.
- REISCHAUER, ROBERT D.
- RIVLIN, ALICE.
- RUBIN, JAMES.
- RUBIN, ROBERT.
- SHAFRAN, STEVEN.
- SPERLING, GENE.
- STORCH, ADAM.
- SUMMERS, LARRY.
- THAIN, JOHN.
- TYSON, LAURA D’ANDREA.
Sources:
- Greg Gordon (McClatchy Newspapers), “Goldman’s White House Connections Raise Eyebrows” April 21, 2010.
- Fflambeau, “With the Obama Administration Infested With Goldman Sachs People, How Real is the Obama/Democratic Attack on Big Banks” FDL Diary, April 21, 2010.
- “More Investigations of Goldman Sachs, A Double-Edge Swords for Obama and Democrats”
- Matthew Skomarovsky, “Obama Packs Debt Commission with Social Security Looters”, March 28, 2010 at Alternet.
- Fflambeau, “A List of Goldman Sachs People in the Obama Administration: Names Attached to the Giant Squid’s Tentacles”
- An Updated List of Goldman Sachs Ties to the Obama Government
- “Goldman Sachs’s Greed Knows No Restraint” and related posts (goldmansachs666.com)
.
Are Special Interests Bankrupting US?
At election time organizations donate massively to candidates willing to back their agenda. Over time, board of directors, city halls, and legislative bodies in general get packed with politicians accepting bribes (campaign contributions) from special interests.
Problems big and small are everywhere you look, and the process of buying votes and seeking special favors is generally smack in the midst of it all. (Source)
Giveaways and Entitlements for the Defense Industry
Greedy politicians willing to accept campaign donations to get reelected, support massive defense budgets. Defense contractors as well as those receiving handouts from defense contractors label anyone not in favor of wars and massive military spending as “soft on defense”. With massive fearmongering campaigns, including pictures of nuclear bombs going off, those organizations are able to whip up public sentiment to do whatever they want, which essentially is to spend more on defense. (Source)
Pentagon’s Largest Military Budget Since World War II
While this graph puts the US defence budget at $US711 billion in 2009, that doesn’t include a number of “off-budget” items that, on some estimates, push US defence spending above $US1.3 trillion. In 2002, then Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld admitted that the Pentagon had lost track of $US2.3 trillion in transactions and there was no way of ascertaining how the money was spent.(Source)
.
.
Imperial wars reduce our national security. Indeed, our top military and intelligence officials say that debt is the main threat to our national security, and have said that the Pentagon must cut spending. See this and this. (Source)
Down Payments: The wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan have cost the US over $4 trillion in the last decade, with nearly another trillion built in to take care of the wounded veterans. This does not include future interest on the war debt, which is running at about $180 billion a year – talk about unfunded obligations. The wars have also killed at least 225,000 people, to no apparent end. (Source)
Giveaways and Entitlements for the Rich and for the Oligarchs
- Tax breaks, bailouts, preferential treatment, dismantling of regulation, etc.
Tax Cuts for the rich extended–a move that will cost the government hundreds of billions. (Source)
Republicans such as Mitch McConnell: “a group of House Democrats who tout “fiscal responsibility” as their core belief – vote to pass the extension of $70-billion-per-year tax cuts for the highest income-earners.” (Source)
Endless bailouts harm the economy. Ponzi finance costs trillions of dollars (and leads to a decrease in loans to Main Street). And see this and this. (Source)
Giveaways and Entitlements for Management
- Plundering of corporate assets, bailouts, and obscene bonuses.
When Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were nationalized at enormous taxpayer expense, the government approved $6,000,000.00 individual pay packages in 2009 (150 times the average American wage) for the CEOs of both failed companies anyway. (Source)
Giveaways and Entitlements for Corporations, Banksters, etc.
- Central bank manipulation of currency and the economy, corruption of capital markets, dismantling of regulation,
- Elimination of taxes paid by corporations and Wall Street (via lobbying and off-shore tax entities). Perhaps the fact that most corporations pay no U.S. income taxes has something to do with government deficits?
Two-thirds of US corporations didn’t pay so much as a dime in taxes between 1998 and 2005, exploiting a multitude of loopholes, according to a Congressional report. (Source: Washington Post)
When 90% of the American people vehemently rejected the $700 billion TARP bailout plan, the Master Class put it on a fast track and approved it anyway. (Source)
When the people expressed astonishment and anger that Wall Street planned to pay itself record bonuses, in the midst of America’s worst-ever fiscal and financial crisis caused by them, Wall Street stuffed its pockets with taxpayer-supported bonus money anyway. (Source)
.
Giveaways and Entitlements for the Masses–Social Services, Entitlement Programs, etc.
- Every social service and entitlement program has its constituency.
Interactive Map Showing Where $130 Billion in Earmarks Went, by State, District, and Politician
Giveaways and Entitlements for Unions
- Preferential treatment, subsidized health care and pensions, etc.
In the case of public unions, union members lobby vociferously for untenable wages and benefit packages. Greedy politicians, willing to accept campaign donations to get reelected, go along. (Source)
When more than seven million American workers lost their jobs and were subsisting on unemployment benefits and food stamps, federal government employees were given another round of pay and benefits increases anyway. (Source)
.
.
Politicians Slash Budget of Watchdog Agencies … Guaranteeing that Financial Fraud Won’t Be Investigated or Prosecuted
How interested are Congress and the White House in uncovering the truth?
The US government authorized: (Source)
- $175 million for investigating theChallenger space shuttle disaster.
- $152 million for the the Columbia disaster investigation.
- $30 million for investigating the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
- $15 million for the 9/11 Commission.
- $8 million for the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, charged with getting to the bottom of what caused the financial crisis.
You can tell alot about the questions which the government is truly interested in finding answers to by the amount of money it authorizes for the various investigations. (Source)
We the People Giant Corporations of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union Pig Trough, establish Justice Perpetual Bailouts, insure domestic Tranquility Passivity, provide for the common defence Bewilderment, promote the general Welfare Sense of Cynicism and Helplessness, and secure the Blessings of Liberty Socialism for the Rich to ourselves and our Posterity Key Executives. (Source)
Well, There’s Your Problem Right There … Insider Trading Rules Don’t Apply To Congress: They’re incentivized to lie, cheat and steal. So – of course – they will continue to lie, cheat and steal. Duh.
Related Articles
- Lawrence Lessig: On the Significance of the Roemer Announcement (huffingtonpost.com)
- Your Congressperson Got Richer Last Year. You Did Not. [Charts] (gawker.com)
- Citizens: A brief talk by Larry Lessig (strongerdemocracy.org)
- Corporate Campaigning: Where Do Politicians Get Their Money? (creditloan.com)
.
This page has the following sub pages.
[...] Politics [...]