Conservatives Now Seek To End Disclosure Rules For Political Donations

It is not enough that the Republican Party and the big money that owns the Republican Party is polluting our so-called democracy with unlimited Citizens United money, now these predators want to eliminate disclosure rules for political donations.

(Above—Woodrow Wilson is on the no longer issued $ 100,000 bill.)

From The Los Angeles Times—

“During their long campaign to loosen rules on campaign money, conservatives argued that there was a simpler way to prevent corruption: transparency. Get rid of limits on contributions and spending, they said, but make sure voters know where the money is coming from. Today, with those fundraising restrictions largely removed, many conservatives have changed their tune. They now say disclosure could be an enemy of free speech. High-profile donors could face bullying and harassment from liberals out to “muzzle” their opponents, Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a recent speech. Corporations could be subject to boycotts and pickets, warned the Wall Street Journal editorial page this spring….The anti-disclosure campaign was joined by libertarian legal advocacy centers, such as the Institute for Justice, founded in 1991 with seed money from trusts controlled by billionaire brothers Charles and David H. Koch. Starting in 2005, the institute began sponsoring studies that argued disclosure laws were ensnaring ordinary citizens in red tape and inviting reprisals.”

The  American right steals the labor and time of American workers by helping to create a climate where  fair compensation and needed benefits are often not offered in exchange for hard work, they do everything they can to make sure that access to health care for millions of Americans will be denied or difficult to obtain, and they work tirelessly to ensure that our political process will be captive to the selfish interests of the most powerful.

Yet according to Mitch McConnell, these powerful forces are victims even as they plunder the nation and steal the efforts of working men and women. It is just like a bully to plead that he is in fact the victim.

If an everyday man or woman who is having a hard time in life asserts that some outside circumstance is a part of his or her troubles, the reply from the right will be an Ayn Rand quote and being told to take responsibility for your actions

Surely any protests against big donors to odious causes can be easily enough repressed by our evermore militarized police.

There are no limits to the power that the most wealthy will seek by ownership of the Republican Party and by stacking the courts with activist far-right judges.

What steps will you take to fight this power and to make progress in the more helpful direction of fair wages and an open and transparent politcal system?

Here is an article in The Nation about efforts to pass a constitutional amendment to overtrun Citizens United.

The work of freedom is up to each of us.