"The 2010 Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission established that corporations and unions have the same free speech rights as individuals and can spend unlimited amounts on independent political communications."
Bernie Sanders has been progressively stalwart on GOP spending habits, but the big issue today is the disagreement between parties on spending factions that could have already shut down the U.S. government. One of the major points of contention is healthcare spending, which, naturally, the Republicans want less of, but Democrats want at least to hold the line on current spending; the former to enrich the wealthy and the corporate community, the latter to continue to help those in need. But, suffice it to say the biggest financial wrecking ball is Donald Trump and his family.
Here is an AI opinion on the Trump family grifting...
Recent financial activities of Donald Trump and his family have been described as "grifting" by critics and watchdog groups, citing their extensive monetization of public office through cryptocurrency ventures, real estate deals with foreign governments, and other enterprises. A civil fraud case in New York found that Trump and his sons inflated their assets to secure favorable loans, reinforcing accusations of deceptive business practices.
These government parasites pull no punches...'We did it and we're glad...And we'll do it again.' As former Friends actor, Chandler, would have said, 'Could it be more blatant?' Robt. Reich says...
"That tsunami [of legal bribes] has grown dramatically over the last forty years. It underlies the crisis of democracy. It is fueling polarization. Democracy and social cohesion are impossible to sustain when big money is dictating political outcomes.
There's more...
"Over the last four decades, corporate political spending has more than quadrupled, adjusted for inflation."
Reich comes to an interesting conclusion: union political contributions no longer offset those of the
I use the union examples for two reasons. One, To show how the individual has lost most of its power in the workplace. Two, To show how the corporations have not only taken up that slack, but how they have forged a tremendous position in the control of employee benefits and wages, plus holding the dominant spot in political donations at a three to one ratio. And, you can only blame the last ten years on Donald Trump. However, look what he has recently done to federal employee unions, including ending collective bargaining rights for over one million federal workers in March 2025.
Here's a shocker...
"According to a landmark study published in 2014 by Princeton professor Martin Gilens and Northwestern professor Benjamin Page, the preferences of the typical American have no influence at all on legislation emerging from Congress."And the conclusion...
“The preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.”
In other words, Congress doesn't give a damn what the American public wants. We'll get what these dunderheads--and yes, there are some Democrats--think that we need, and, currently, what is best for the Republican Party. This won't change, folks, until we divorce politics from the big money and return to the system where donations are reasonable and regulated. And there is no way this will happen until the left is in control from state governments to the White House. The GOP has been flying high with t-Rump's steam-rolling administration. But now there is gloom on the horizon...
"The share of Republicans who see the country headed in the right direction has fallen sharply in recent months, according to the September survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Today, only about half in the GOP see the nation on the right course, down from 70% in June. The shift is even more glaring among Republican women and the party’s under-45 crowd."
With only 25% of Americans agreeing that the country is headed in the right direction, a massive shift to the left could be coming...just around the corner. And I do agree, big-spending Democrats will have to be managed.
