CD's blog

Sept. 24, 2010- Last January, in the Citizens United case, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations were free to spend unlimited sums to support or oppose candidates for office. Eight months later, how's that working out? Michael Luo and Stephanie Strom report in the New York Times:

Interviews with a half-dozen campaign finance lawyers yielded an anecdotal portrait of corporate political spending since the Citizens United decision. They agreed that most prominent, publicly traded companies are staying on the sidelines.

Sept 24, 2010: In this first post-Citizens United election, voters are the victims of a democracy crime that the government seems unable, or unwilling, to stop despite it occurring right before our eyes.

Political operatives, like Karl Rove, are misusing the tax laws to create organizations that allow for anonymous and unlimited donations from corporations and the super-rich in order to determine the outcome of the mid-term elections in violation of election and tax laws. See American Crossroads Watch.

Oliver Willis- Sept. 24, 2010: American Crossroads’ new TV ad in Ohio that bolsters former GOP Rep. Rob Portman’s Senate candidacy and message on jobs appears to be in violation of FEC coordination regulations, but a recent precedent shows that the group could escape without a fine.

FULL STORY HERE:

MORE ON THIS STORY:

NYT, Sept 18, 2010: For all the headlines about the Tea Party and blind voter anger, the most disturbing story of this year’s election is embodied in an odd combination of numbers and letters: 501(c)(4). That is the legal designation for the advocacy committees that are sucking in many millions of anonymous corporate dollars, making this the most secretive election cycle since the Watergate years.

By Fred Wertheimer -

September 17, 2010: Ever since the 1972 Federal Election Campaign Act passed, public disclosure of the money used to influence elections has been a cardinal rule of U.S. politics.

Voters’ right to know who is behind the money spent trying to sway them was firmly established by the Supreme Court’s 1976 decision in Buckley v. Valeo, which upheld the constitutionality of campaign finance disclosure laws.

But now, secret money has returned to U.S. politics and is flooding the 2010 congressional races.

By Kevin Zeese-

In the First Election After Citizens United, Voters Need to Beware and Organized to Combat Massive Power of Concentrated Corporations

This is the first election after the Citizens United decision which gave corporations complete freedom to spend as much money as they want to influence the outcome of elections.

Citizens beware. Citizens get active. Citizens get organized. Our fragile democracy is at grave risk.

Group offers $100,000 for ‘information leading to the arrest and conviction of Karl Rove’

The campaign is being conducted by American Crossroads Watch, an offshoot of Velvet Revolution, which promotes issues key to many progressives activists and represents the political will of dozens of organizations and unions nation-wide.Amid the launch of a new campaign to encourage greater scrutiny of the right-wing "American Crossroads" groups known to many as the "shadow RNC," an activist organization declared that it would give $100,000 to any person who comes forward with "information leading to the arrest and conviction of Karl Rove."

Watchdog Groups Launch New Campaign to Stop Karl Rove's Dirty Tricks and Dirty Money in This Year's Elections 

AmericanCrossroadsWatch.org Files Criminal Complaints, Offers Reward, Creates Ads, And Launches Boycotts