Posts Tagged Midterm Elections Of 2010
2012 Presidential Campaign Proved That Billionaires Could NOT Control Result!
Posted by Ronald in News and Politics on November 7, 2012
The Koch Brothers, Sheldon Adelson, and other billionaires spent tens of millions of dollars in 2012 to make our country a plutocracy, and failed.
Linda McMahon spent $100 million to “buy” a Senate seat in Connecticut and failed.
Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman spent $100 million each to “buy” the Senate seat and Governor’s chair in California in 2010 and failed.
So the Citizens United Case in 2010 failed to change our system as much as we feared, and the Court looks horrible, and it is time for them to accept a case and reverse themselves IMMEDIATELY!
Theodore Roosevelt was right 100 years ago—the powerful plutocracy should NOT control our political system!
Republican Run State Governments, Their Social Agenda, And The Effect On 2012 Elections
Posted by Ronald in News and Politics on April 22, 2012
Many states witnessed Republican takeover or consolidation in the Midterm Elections of 2010, but now, 18 months later, the record of those states run by Republicans could come back to haunt them and lead to Democratic victories across America.
Of course, many states have Republican Governors whose voters have “buyers remorse” over, including Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who faces a recall vote on June 5. But also, there is a lot of discontent with other “Bully” Governors, including Rick Snyder of Michigan, John Kasich of Ohio, Rick Scott of Florida, Paul LePage of Maine, Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania, and in some polls, Chris Christie of New Jersey. Meanwhile, Andrew Cuomo of New York, Martin O’Malley of Maryland, and Dannel Malloy of Connecticut are among the Democratic Governors looking great in the polls.
The Republican controlled state legislatures proceeded to pass laws on social issues, including gay rights, abortion, gun rights, laws against teaching of evolution, and laws allowing invasion of privacy of women’s bodies.
States including Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arizona, Wisconsin, Florida, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Maine have passed all kinds of laws that will cause a revulsion among Independents, women, Hispanics and Latinos, and young voters
Even the American Legislative Exchange Council, a business backed group which promotes conservative laws at the state level, has recognized how there could be a reaction against the right wing extremism in many states, and is now focusing on economic issues.
It will be interesting to see how this all works out in November, regarding state legislatures.
Reverberations Of The Citizens United Supreme Court Case: Sheldon Adelson, The Koch Brothers, And The Destruction Of American Democracy!
Posted by Ronald in News and Politics on January 24, 2012
Two years ago this week, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 vote, decided that corporations were “people” and had a right to “freedom of speech”, meaning unlimited ability of groups and individuals to spend money and form Super Political Action Committees.
As a result, the Koch Brothers (Charles and David) spent enough money in contributing to state and congressional races to be able to bring about a Republican House of Representatives and many Republican state governments in 2010, leading to the turmoil of the Tea Party Movement in the past year.
Now Sheldon Adelson, an extremely wealthy casino owner in Las Vegas, along with his wife, have contributed $10 million to the Newt Gingrich candidacy, so that he can compete against Mitt Romney, and it has led to the Gingrich success in South Carolina.
Our political campaigns are being “bought” by wealthy people, and distorting the concept of American democracy, making our political system a mockery!
Action must be taken as soon as possible to overcome this horrible Supreme Court decision, but even if it occurs, this year’s election has already been besmirched by the corruption of the extremely wealthy who are doing everything they can to make the government their private possession!
Two Year Anniversary Of Citizens United Supreme Court Case: The Corruption Of American Politics A National Tragedy
Posted by Ronald in News and Politics on January 21, 2012
Two years ago, the Supreme Court, controlled by a conservative majority of 5-4, made a decision considered among the worst ever in their history.
After a century of regulation of corporate involvement in political campaign fundraising and advertising, the majority, claiming freedom of speech, allowed corporations and labor unions to have totally free access to spend and promote candidates and parties.
On first blush, some might have thought that it was not such a bad decision, as labor unions were permitted to do the same as corporations. On second thought, it became noticeable that labor unions could not compete with corporate money, and the result was the distorted political atmosphere of the midterm 2010 Congressional and state elections, which led to the success of the Tea Party Movement and the right wing direction of many state governments and the US House of Representatives. This has created a stalemate in Congress, and attacks on labor, the elderly, the poor, minorities, and the environment in many state legislatures, and the widespread attempt to limit the right to vote by discriminatory voter registration laws.
We have witnessed the damage done, and the continual enrichment of the top one percent in America, and the Super PACs are in operation, poisoning the political atmosphere for the 2012 election campaigns for President and the Congress, as well as many state governments.
Our democracy is being lost, negating a century of reforms under the Progressive Era, the New Deal, and the Great Society.
A move is on to attempt a constitutional amendment to overrule the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, but that is not going to be easy, and meanwhile, or maybe for good, we are seeing corporations regain complete control of government at all levels, and bringing us back to the Gilded Age of the late 19th century.
This is a national tragedy of massive proportions!
Republican State Governments Attempting To Create Hurdles For Voting In 2012
Posted by Ronald in News and Politics on October 5, 2011
One of the manifestations of the election in 2010 of Republican Governors and state legislatures around the nation is that they have been busy passing restrictions and hurdles on the basic right to vote, in order to discourage or prevent likely Democratic voters from being able to participate in the Presidential and Congressional races of 2012.
More than a dozen states, including Florida, have passed laws requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls, cutting down early voting periods, and putting new restrictions on voter registration drives.
About five million voters could be affected, mostly poor, young, college students, and African American, but also disabled, rural, elderly and homeless, all of whom tend to vote Democratic.
The claims of voter fraud, of people voting who are not who they say they are, has been shown to be almost totally untrue, and to have had no effect on elections, but making it more difficult to vote WILL have the effect of deciding close elections!
The Department of Justice is investigating these laws, in order to determine if they violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and it seems likely some will be overturned by such investigation, as well as by some referendums being conducted in this fall’s election.
It is not a good sign when governments try to cut back on the right to vote, particularly when it is promoted by one party against likely voters of the other party!
A Horrifying Scenario: A Tea Party Republican Congress And President–What It Would Portend!
Posted by Ronald in News and Politics on August 26, 2011
Any sane, centrist oriented American, who might be disgusted with and frustrated by how the federal government is working these days, and therefore is tempted to join the Tea Party Movement that has taken over the Republican Party in the House of Representatives and in many state governorships, needs to realize what would happen if the Right wing tilt that began in the midterm elections of 2010 went all the way to a dominant Tea Party Republican House of Representatives, Senate, and a President Perry or Bachmann!
The purpose is not to promote horror and fear, but to make people realize, based on the agenda of the Tea Party Movement, what would happen without any barrier in the way, such as one of the legislative bodies or the Presidency being in the hands of the Democrats.
In no special order, the following would be likely:
1. The repeal of the Obama Health Care Plan in its entirety
2. The privatization of Medicare over ten years
3. The cutting of Social Security benefits over time
4. No government assistance for home owners in trouble on their mortgages
5. No federal limits on greenhouse gases, and the elimination of the Environmental Protection Agency, and therefore no limits on strip mining of coal or regulations on oil drilling
6. A “war” on labor unions, and the elimination of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, plus the end of the minimum wage laws
7. The elimination of the Consumer Product Safety Commission and lack of regulation of big business and banking, regarding consumer rights, including the right to lawsuits for malpractice or discrimination
8. The cutting back or elimination of the federal Departments of Education, Housing and Urban Development, Commerce, Transportation, Energy, and Health and Human Services, or agencies within those cabinet agencies at the least, as well as the Federal Reserve Board
9. Promotion of anti abortion legislation to end legal abortions
10.Enactment of laws to discriminate against gays, and return “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in the military
11. Restrictions on immigration, and deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants
12. Promotion of Christianity in all areas of government institutions and activities
13. Refusal to raise the debt level, and ruthless cutting of government programs to deal with the elderly, the poor, racial minorities, and the disabled instead
14. Further cutting of taxes on the wealthy and corporations
15. Promotion of a right wing based education system in the areas of science and history in the schools
16. End of funding for National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting System.
17. Cutbacks on civil rights enforcement for African Americans, Hispanics and Latinos, and native Americans, and total end of affirmative action programs
18. Growing hostility and confrontations with the Islamic world, as part of the Christian crusade against Muslims
19. Civil liberties limitations in the name of public safety against domestic terrorism, including against social media and public demonstrations of protest against government policies
20. Making the Supreme Court more right wing than it is now, guaranteeing the longevity of conservative Republican Tea Party policies for a generation or more
Can anyone reading this list NOT be terrified at the thought of a Tea Party Republican dominant Congress and President?
This is why it is ESSENTIAL that at the worst, we have a divided Congress as we had under President Ronald Reagan from 1981-1987, with a Democratic House and Republican Senate and Republican President, with the House under Speaker Thomas “Tip” O’Neill preventing the worst excesses of the Reagan agenda, and in the process, actually making Reagan look a lot better in history than he would have without a Democratic House of Representatives.
And based on the present situation we face, it is clear that it would be better to have a Democratic House and Republican Senate, the opposite of what we have now, as the House has greater impact and control over spending and the budget. A Republican Senate, as has occurred five times in the past century, is far less negative and destructive than the present experience with a Republican House!
While hating to think of a Republican Senate, it seems likely now with only four seats needed to gain control, while for the Democrats, regaining 25 seats for a majority in the House, seems more than likely to occur!
So a split government the opposite of what we have now might be the best scenario, if not an all Democratic controlled Congress and President, to avoid the nightmare of a Tea Party Republican dominated government!