Republicans intent on ending the last vestiges of democracy

[marmar]

from Mother Jones:



On Wednesday, House Republicans plan to rush to the floor a bill that would eliminate the federal government's presidential financing system—in the process, violating recent pledges by the GOP's leadership of increased transparency and debate in Congress. Not one hearing has been held on the legislation, nor has a single commitee debated its merits. If it passes, it will roll back more than 30 years of law born out of the Watergate scandal, eviscerating one of the few remaining protections stopping corporations from heavily influencing, if not outright buying, American elections, reform experts say.

Democratic lawmakers and campaign finance reformers blasted the bill, not only for seeking to kill public financing but for breaking the GOP's campaign promises on transparency and accountability. "This is a sneak attack on the system," says Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). "It's a total break from their public pledge for transparency and openness." Fred Wertheimer, a longtime campaign finance reform advocate at Democracy 21, called the bill "a gross abuse of the legislative process."

House Republicans' much-touted "Pledge to America" bashed Democrats for "limiting openness and debate" during the legislative process and vowed to "ensure that bills are debated and discussed in the public square." The Pledge says the GOP "will fight to ensure transparency and accountability in Congress and throughout government." And in House Speaker John Boehner's first remarks after taking control of Congress' lower chamber, he spoke of a greater emphasis on "real transparency" and "greater accountability." He went on, "Above all else, we will welcome the battle of ideas, encourage it, and engage in it—openly, honestly, and respectfully." ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/01/republican-public-financing-cantor-corporation#

[CanonRay]

1. Gee, Rethugs doing the opposite of what they promised

who'd a though?

[Indydem]

2. Question:

Why don't we just allow anyone (private citizen, organization, company) to donate unlimited amounts to whoever they want and require realtime reporting on the web?

With all of the current laws we have now, we still barely know who funded any of the last dozen or so presidential campaigns on either side, and most candidates haven't accepted public matching anyway, so the system seems pretty damn broken already to me.