Mitch McConnell clarifies that he'd still like corporations to give money to politicians This article really did make me LOL. McConnell is too funny. Basically, he had to walk back a bit when admonishing companies about making political statements. No...no...I really don't want to hear from you but definitely want your money! What do you think?
I don't think any corporation, or any person for that matter should be allowed to donate money. If the poorest among us are not able to influence government in that way, why should the wealthy be able to? Donations keep the powerless silent.
Sure but I don't see democrat politicians making threats against corporations for taking a stance on political issues then saying we still want your money!
I think each should be given a set allowance from the government. Yes, it would be tax payer funded, but I think the evening out of the playing field would be hugely beneficial, and give those who aren't backed by massively powerful special interests a fighting chance. And no use of private fortunes. Once someone declares they are running for office, their finances get carefully tracked to ensure that they only spend money on subsistence and not political favors or other campaign related expenses.
I don't think that is the core issue here. What happened is one day he is saying corporations should stay out of politics to not make public statements on political policies. Then he comes back and says it is fine to give money to political campaigns which has a primary purpose of making public statements on political policies. Why is it OK to give money to a campaign to make public statements and not to their marketing teams or lawyers to make the same or similar public statements? This would be the opposite of PAC/Super Pac type funding. PACs are designed to keep the donors anonymous. You hide your support for a politician or policies. This totally makes it transparent so you know the stance of the donor or corporate donor. I guess it comes down to what your views are on transparency of money in politics. Do you worry about donors getting favors or special treatment from politicians?
That sounds sensible although I wonder if it's workable simply because the rich DO have a more powerful voice in society. It's not just in federal government. It's state and local too. Rich people get a different set of rules for breaking the law. They have the loudest "voice" in whatever they want to opine about. It's not fair but that's the way it goes. And, cheaters will ALWAYS find a way around the rules.
You are definitely correct, but I think it is better than doing nothing. It will give the less powerful at least a little more chance. I'm sure more can be done. But yeah, the #1 obstacle to leveling the playing field is the rich and powerful themselves, who are the ones who decide what rules to implement. So, yeah, at this point it is probably a pipe dream, but I think it is still the right thing to do.
I totally agree with you on this idea. The idea of publicly funded election campaigns have been debated for ages. The group the is vehemently opposed to the idea are the political parties. It would remove layers of corruption and lead to policies more favorable to the voting masses rather than the donors.
There is absolutely no reason for campaigns to go on for years. Other countries manage to do it in a few short months - but here, we turn it into a grand show. Limit the money that can be spent on them, I say!
He's also forgetting how beneficial some of those very same corporations were to Bush and the republicans in 2006 with the Voting Rights Act.
That is the nature of partisanship. People tend to quickly forget how they totally support something when it works in their favor. Did Mitch speak out against the "My Pillow Guy", Chick-fil-A or Hobby Lobby when they spoke on political issues?
I agree with that. They all start campaigning for the next election as soon as they are elected. I've never lived outside the US so I don't know how well the other systems work but the US definitely needs fixing!
Unfortunately, the entertainment of politics is big business in the US - akin to hollywood. So I don't see it being tamed any time soon.
Fortunate Son. When asked how much to give, the answer is more, more, more. It was actually about the Vietnam War
I get his frustration, MLB acting as another mouthpiece to spread Democrat lies. He would neither want laws forbidding companies from speaking their opinions nor giving money to those who share their interests, pro freedom. He handled this poorly.
McConnell has worked hard to keep the flood gates of huge and untraceable donations open and freely flowing. Beyond that his record is one of fighting for pure partisan power, enforcing lock step voting on his Senators with no compromise on issues such as COVID aid, infrastructure, immigration, healthcare and other directions, even when the majority of Republicans wants these features. That IS the context in which one must consider his comments about money and speech.
