MYSTERY$$$- The Big Three secret funders of the $75 million campaign to trash Democratic candidates

[kpete]

CORPORATE "MYSTERY MONEY" MAKES A MOCKERY OF OUR DEMOCRACY
The Big Three secret funders of the $75 million campaign to trash Democratic candidates



......................"We operate like a hedge fund. We look for opportunities where we can invest and make a difference." -- Steven Law, CEO of American Crossroads, a corporate front group created by Karl Rove to pour tens of millions of dollars into negative campaigns to defeat Democrats.

................



........ today's proponents of corporate plutocracy have simply elevated money itself above votes, establishing cold, hard cash as the real coin of political power. The more you spend on politics, the bigger your voice is in government, making the vast vaults of billionaires and corporations far superior to the voices of mere voters. Indeed, politicians (Republicans and Democrats alike) rarely speak to ordinary people anymore. They talk to Big Money, and when elected, Big Money talks to them.This distortion of America's democratic ideals was decisive in last year's elections, and its anti-democratic punch will be breathtakingly worse in 2012. This is no accident of history. Corporate powers--working through a web of hirelings that includes political operatives, lawyers, lobbyists, politicians, pundits, academics, and astroturf groups--have been pushing relentlessly for years to get to this point. None have been more determined than the Koch boys--Charles and David.


......................

Apologists for this perversion of the democratic system insist that it's fair because progressive groups also are free to set up secretly financed campaign fronts. Two problems with that dodge: (1) progressives don't have unfathomable corporate treasuries to draw from; and (2) progressives don't believe in clandestine campaign funding and are generally proud to tell voters who they are. Last year, the 10 biggest secret funds laid out $115 million for their campaigns. One hundred and eight million dollars of that was spent by corporate fronts that hide their donors. In fact, the great bulk of it ($75 million) was spent by 'the Big Three':

1) US CHAMBER OF COMMERCE--$32,851,997.
2) AMERICAN ACTION NETWORK--$26,088,031.
3) CROSSROADS GPS--$17,122,446.


The rest:
http://current.com/10p694c

[xchrom]

1. recommend

[Snoutport]

2. kr important stuff!

[drm604]

3. K&R

:kick:

[drm604]

4. There has to be a way to fight this.

We have to find a way.

[madrchsod]

5. "...and all your money won`t another minute buy..."

it`s up to us to make sure the message is heard. whether it`s one on one,letter to the editors,volunteering for a candidate.

the kock brothers spent a lot of bucks in wisconsin and what did they get on their return on investment? look at what did the folks in wisconsin who went to the people with grievances against the kock brothers candidates. the people`s organizations raised around 3 million and counting...look at that return on investment.

[Enthusiast]

20. "dust in the wind.....

all we are is dust in the wind."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH2w6Oxx0kQ

[Historic NY]

9. Yeah you'd think there must be laws broken somewhere...???

[TygrBright]

6. Isn't Crossroads GPS that Issa wackjob? n/t

[BrklynLiberal]

7. I fear that enough of the American public is so stupid, that this can work...

[mountainlion55]

8. plutocrats are nuts!

These plutocrats are so blinded by greed and avarice that they don't even see the reality of our dying eco-systems. Good luck with all that money when the eco-system collapses. All I can say is "Zeitgeist Move Forward". :hippie:

[donheld]

10. k & r

[rhett o rick]

11. Karl Rove is Niccolo Machiavelli reincarnated. nm

[Enthusiast]

21. It sure looks that way.

At least he studied and adopted Machiavelli's worst traits.

[Prof Lester]

27. No. Machiavelli was a brilliant observer of the reality of his day..

Karl Rove is just a nasty little thug.

[rhett o rick]

31. But Karl is following Niccolo's methods quite effectively. And with

the unlimited wealth allowed by Citizen's United, he will have a field day in 2012.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

12. K & R

[bertman]

13. Rec and kick.

[chollybocker]

14. As always, thanks, kpete. /nt

[cantbeserious]

15. Corrosive Forces - Money And Politics

eom

[lonestarnot]

16. Money to burn, maybe it should be burned.

[Octafish]

17. 'Vast Right Wing Conspiracy' is how Ms. Clinton put things.

Bartcop calls it the "BFEE" for shorthand. They all work towards the same goals.

[tavalon]

18. So, Koch, Rove and still more Koch

I wanted that in one of the scan lines but it's no surprise to me.

[Enthusiast]

19. K&R!

RECOMMENDED!

[Skidmore]

22. Crossroads = Rove and his Rolodex.

[fasttense]

23. And if Karl Rove had been prosecuted for outing a CIA agent, or failing to

answer to Congress, then we would not be having this problem now.

All the problems the Democratic party are facing today can be traced back to their failure to prosecute criminals. From the day Nancy Pelosi said Impeachment of the bushes was off the table, to the don't look back stance of Obama, to the habitual ignorance-of-a-crime-is-an-excuse Holder, they insured the RepubliCON/Fascist party would get richer and more powerful.

It is the Democratic party's unwillingness to hold the rich accountable to the laws of the land that have made the rich so powerful.

[florida08]

24. Ed talked about these RW think tanks last night

They in all 50 states..called the State Policy Network




An organized effort to bring down democrats
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/42758036#42758036

[catgirl]

25. K&R

[amyrose2712]

26. K&R.

[stevenleser]

28. K&R

[Kurovski]

29. K&R

Thanks, kpete. You are the best at consistently bringing the best stories.

[WillyT]

30. K & R !!!

:kick: