"The Selling of American Democracy: The Perfect Storm" Robert Reich at the Huffington Post

The Selling of American Democracy: The Perfect Storm

Robert Reich at the Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/the-selling-of-american-d_b_1671479.html

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Unlimited political contributions -- courtesy of Republican-appointed Justices Roberts, Scalia, Alito, Thomas, and Kennedy, in one of the dumbest decisions in Supreme Court history, Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, along with lower-court rulings that have expanded it.

Combined with...

Complete secrecy about who's contributing how much to whom -- courtesy of a loophole in the tax laws that allows so-called non-profit "social welfare" organizations to accept the unlimited contributions for hard-hitting political ads.

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This coming Monday, for example, the Senate has scheduled a cloture vote on the DISCLOSE ACT, which would at least require that outfits like the Chamber of Commerce and Karl Rove's "Crossroads GPS" disclose who's contributing what. Contact your senators, and have your friends and relatives in other states -- especially those with Republican senators (who have been united in their opposition to disclosure) -- to contact theirs. If the DISCLOSE ACT is voted down, hold accountable those senators (and, when and if it gets to the House, those House members) who are selling out our democracy for the sake of their own personal ambitions.


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