Dark Money

i'm just wondering how many here reading have ever thought about money and good government. What influence should money have over our politicians and how do we feel about people who prefer to give money in secret? Don't cha think one question should be why they prefer to give money in secret and how is that good for the nation?

Do you know what dark money is, have you even heard the term or been exposed to its influence in the political process today? Mother Jones editors coined the term “dark money” after doing research into 501(c)(4)'s that were buying ads all over the nation. They wanted to know who was supplying these groups with their money and came upon a brick wall.

Historically there has always been a battle between those with money and power wanting to control the political process and all the rest of the population. The first campaign reform law passed by Congress was in 1867 to make it illegal to pressure workers at naval yards for campaign donations and it has continued ever since. In 1906 Teddy Roosevelt banned corporate contributions for any political purpose. He believed that open competitions kept out the criminals and corruption. Unfortunately the Citizens United ruling by the Supreme court in 2010 trashed that law and allowed corporations to spend as much money as they want on elections.

So today what would we label a free and fair election? Is it one where a 1,082 people out of a population of over 300,000,000 donate over “94 percent of all individual donations to super-PACs from January 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012. Those 1,082 donors amount to just 0.00035 percent of the US population.” MJ

Is this what we all consider a free and fair election? Where money donated to Super Pacs dominates the airwaves and pollutes the media with their small vision for society.

Here is another one for you. According to Mother Jones and their research dept. 47 rich individuals have given over $1,000,000 each, some as high as Sheldon Adelson who has given 36.3 million so far. Some will say more power to them if they want to control our elections let them.

Right now there are three groups that are using dark money to create what many will call a dark election if they are allowed to continue unobstructed. Karl Rove's Crossroad's GPS and American's for Prosperity partially funded by the Koch brothers operate as 501(c)(4)'s and hide their donors names as does the pro-Obama Priorities USA. These groups operate in the shadows and reveal very little about what they spend. Using money in this way in order to sway the voters leaves a bad taste in my mouth, i don't know about yours, but it seems that today there is too much money in politics.  This year may prove to be historic in the amount of money spent trying to influence this election.

When you don't know who is trying to manipulate you to vote or not vote, who is feeding your brain with goo to get you to vote for their guy its time to start wondering where this democracy of ours is really going. Do we approve of dark money? Should money rule our politics and elect our government servants? When do we start the conversation about private money financing elections and its corrupting influence? When do we start clamoring for laws that stop the free flow of private money?

If we continue to have politicians elected by private money the outcomes will not be conducive to a democracy or even a republic. Those politician's will appoint their stooges to regulatory boards, the judicial system and give sweet heart deals to contractors of their choosing. These “elected” officials will have no obligation to “all a we”. Is this where we want to go?

See ya next week.