Obama Warns of Corporate Takeover
U.S. News
Published: Aug. 21, 2010 at 6:01 AMWASHINGTON, Aug. 20 (UPI)
U.S. President Barack Obama Saturday warned of a "corporate takeover" of democracy and said Republicans want the public kept "in the dark" on campaign funding.
In his weekly radio and Internet address, the Democratic president found fault with a Supreme Court ruling that permits corporations, unions and other organizations to spend "unlimited amounts of money to influence our elections."
"They can buy millions of dollars worth of TV ads -- and worst of all, they don't even have to reveal who is actually paying for them," he said.
"A group can hide behind a phony name like 'Citizens for a Better Future,' even if a more accurate name would be 'Corporations for Weaker Oversight.'"
He blamed GOP leaders for killing legislation this summer that would require "corporate political advertisers to reveal who's funding their activities."
"But the Republican leaders in Congress said no," Obama said. "In fact, they used their power to block the issue from even coming up for a vote.
"This can only mean that the leaders of the other party want to keep the public in the dark.
"Well, we cannot allow the corporate takeover of our democracy," he said, while urging Americans to "challenge every elected official who benefits from these ads to defend this practice or join us in stopping it."
My personal opinion is,
ReplyDelete"If British Petroleum is an example, you would have to believe the President. They donated millions to all candidates, even President Obama. Strangely, they did not have an audit or a safety inspection for years.
Campaign donations on such a huge scale are constantly being made by large corporations, foreign and domestic, and could well be the greatest threat to the Republic since the Civil War.
In my eyes, it is a wholesale sell out of our voting power. Politicians make promises that their constituents want to hear. They put on fantastic shows for the public, rallying their support. When they win, they promptly march off to Washington and forget the voters that sent them there. From then on, the elected begin to repay their base of large contributors by voting for issues that favor them.. not US.
No sentient free thinking individual could believe that some large heartless business giant donates huge sums to hundreds of candidates because they like their politics. They give to Democrats, Independents and Republicans alike because they expect something in return. Even Foreign Governments do it. The sad fact is... They get what they are after.
Open your eyes...it's a sell out on a grand scale. When it is done on a small scale it is called, "A Protection Racket". Gangsters of all types engage in it today.
President Obama is right... This practice needs to stop. Campaign contributions from any source, for any reason, need to be severely limited. Our elected officials are voted into office to represent the people, not the special interests. This past Presidential election has proven that small donations, made by individuals on the internet, can fund a mega-million dollar campaign. Large special interest donations are not needed to continue the democratic process.
If the President actually believes what he is saying, he needs to return all the large corporate campaign contributions that he has received. If he were to start with the money B.P. donated, it would be a fantastic beginning for this effort. A showing on that scale, by our President, would convince the people that he is sincere and rally support for this cause.
I can't wait for it to start."