Democracy For Sale?

This is what happens when a Supreme Court made up of five conservative makes decisions that benefit other conservatives, never mind the consequences to the country.

Not content to simply hand George W. Bush the 2000 presidential election, the justices voted 5-4 to allow corporations and practically anyone with an unlimited amount of money to fund political ads that attack or support causes and candidates in an election year.  Funding through political parties would remain illegal.

That means corporations, if they wanted to, can spend whatever it wants to influence the elections of everyone from the President of the United States to the local dog catcher.  And they can also weigh in on whether or not hot-button issues such as health care reform or same sex marriage becomes law.  Which gives themselves a significant advantage over not-so-well-funded organizations that might have an opposing view.

Yes, we know this has been going on forever.  Lobbyists representing top companies and organizations routinely try to convince lawmakers to see things their way.  And some of those elected officials have been known to put a little corporate cash into their bank accounts.  Nothing new here, except the Supreme Court just made it legal.

For Republicans, this is a win-win.  Being the party of big business, its candidates can now expect oodles of money to come their way and eventually dominate politics for years to come.  For Democrats, who usually rely on unions for their support, the impact of the ruling is not so good.  Unions have been losing members, money and clout for decades through concessions to big business.  And the moment any of these elected officials grow a spine and refuse to take corporate money, they risk being outspent and outwitted by better-funded opponents.  The parties might risk being more irrelevant than they are now.

The corporations claim that they wouldn't use their money to exert their influence over the political process, because they don't want to offend the consumers who buy their products.  Which begs the question:  Since when has big business actually cared about consumers?

Keith Olbermann made a rather alarmist rant about the Court's ruling Thursday night, painting a bleak picture of America under the control of corporations.  This all sounds rather depressing, until you realize that Olbermann's broadcast airs on General Electric-owned MSNBC.  And his sponsors include drug companies and the petroleum industry, which makes him no different than most other newscasters on TV.

Members of Congress are talking about limiting the effects of the Supreme Court's ruling by passing emergency laws.  But do they really want to do that?  Baby needs a new pair of shoes, you know.

If there was ever a Political Golden Rule, it should be updated.  The rule should now read:  "He who has the gold makes the rules, and anyone who disagrees may do so at their peril".