Foreigners are buying American elections, thanks to the Supreme Court.

[riqster]

Last edited Thu Feb 13, 2014, 04:15 PM - Edit history (1)

http://bluntandcranky.wordpress.com/2014/02/13/foreigners-are-buying-american-elections-thanks-to-the-supreme-court/

"Remember Citizens United? It was a Supreme Court ruling that allowed billionaires and corporations to buy elections. It also created a secret world in which politicos can be bribed with no way for us to bust them for being corrupt.

Oh, and remember how Obama warned that Citizen’s United could open the door to foreign money buying US elections, and the Chief Justice called the Prexy a liar? Well, golly gee whiz, it turns out that President Obama was right. As the linked article says:

In a first of its kind case, federal prosecutors say a Mexican businessman funneled more than $500,000 into U.S. political races through Super PACs and various shell companies. The alleged financial scheme is the first known instance of a foreign national exploiting the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision to influence U.S. elections.

It turns out that although Citizens United did not change the legality of foreign contributions in the U.S., it enabled the type of illegal schemes now being alleged by federal prosecutors.

“Before Citizens United, in order for a foreign national to try and do this, they’d have to set up a pretty complex system of shell corporations,” said Brett Kappel, a campaign finance expert at the law firm Arent Fox. “And even then, there were dollar limits in place. After Citizens United, there are no limits on independent expenditures.”

Got it? Either the Supreme Court intended for this to happen, or they were so shortsighted and pig-ignorant as to ignore the possibility. No matter which, the result is as predicted: foreign nationals are buying American elections and politicians. And this is only one that we caught. Who knows how many other cases there are, buried in the labyrinthian snakepit of American political “financing”?

Thanks to Presidents Reagan, Bush and Bush for stacking the Supreme Court with Raging Righties in Tightie Whities; because of the hyper-partisan Wingnuts on the Court; the integrity and independence of American government has been gravely damaged. Until Citizens United is repealed, none of us can ever know which of our politicians is actually in the service of a foreign national or even an unfriendly government.

Remember this, Gentle Reader: it is because of “Conservative” “Republicans” that our elections are being bought.And they ARE being bought. This could (and likely will) lead to a foreign takeover of our government if we don’t put a stop to it."

Source info at the link.

[leftyohiolib]

1. so now what

[Armstead]

2. Learn to speak other languages so you can communicate with your new masters, I guess

[Scuba]

13. Common Bizspeak Phrases

"Out of the Box"

"Rightsizing"

"Human Capital"

"It is what it is"

"Profit Window"

"Leveraging our investment"

"Maximizing returns"

"Continuous Improvement"

"Zero Based Budgeting"

"Cost avoidance"

[riqster]

15. And the greatest hit of them all:

"You can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs".

Of course, them eggs are us.

[Scuba]

18. How'd I forget that?

[riqster]

3. Work to get The Repubes out of Congress, then legislate some controls.

Oh, and keep putting Dems in the White House so we can take back the judiciary.

[leftyohiolib]

11. scotus is the most important issue

[riqster]

14. It most assuredly is the one with biggest potential impact.

And one that can fuck our national shit up for decades.

[Romulox]

4. As I mentioned in another thread, it's trivial to form a US subsidiary.

If citizenship of the "corporate person" is the controlling factor in buying off elections, it isn't much of one...

[riqster]

8. Yes, and as detailed in some of the links at the blog site,

The problem is exacerbated by the corporate, unlimited, secrecy allowed by Citizens United.

Before, you had to get an army of straw men. Now, one corporate "person" can do the work of thousands of other "people".

[Arugula Latte]

5. Could some enlightened country purchase some elections for us, please?

Netherlands, Sweden -- are you busy? A little help here?

[riqster]

6. Now, that is "make Lemonade" thinking!

And we are getting lots of lemons these days, too...

[Aerows]

17. Norway?

Denmark? Anyone?

[ChisolmTrailDem]

7. Off to the Greatest with ye! nt

[riqster]

9. Yarr, thank ye matey!

[Exultant Democracy]

10. You can tubro charge illegeal donations using any US corporaiton now. Incororate, donate, profit.

Cause in this rapidly changing economy the only investment that makes sense is investing in a crooked politician.

[quinnox]

12. Aren't our politicians already bought, lock stock and barrel, by corporations anyway

These foreigners will have to get way in the back of the line!

[Coyotl]

16. If only foreigners were doing so, but it is corporations doing this instead.

Corporate ownership knows no borders, of course. But it is institutions these actors represent; the interests of the capitalist ventures, not persons, are at work here.

[riqster]

19. Mostly agreed. But in the example referenced,

the foreign commercial interest serves one man and his corruptive actions, regardless of the corporate structure.

The reason for the post was not to let corporations off the hook-rather it was meant to find a way to get the point across to people who don't understand how evil Citizens United truly is.