tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310158610197025977.post7399905438641727743..comments2023-04-13T07:18:14.262-07:00Comments on Courierwatch: Editorial: Court decision raises public money concernsSteven Ayreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15663818104866997062noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310158610197025977.post-77641536081093315782011-07-02T12:13:04.937-07:002011-07-02T12:13:04.937-07:00Let us look at this in an efficient markets sort o...Let us look at this in an efficient markets sort of fashion:<br />If carpet bombing elections with tons of anonymously compiled cash didn't work, these special interest groups wouldn't bother carpet bombing elections with cash gathered from secret donors.<br />The money would be spent doing something else.birther t. bagurnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310158610197025977.post-62758523063749060052011-07-01T18:28:50.510-07:002011-07-01T18:28:50.510-07:00Yes, I am pulling your chain, and I apologize for ...Yes, I am pulling your chain, and I apologize for that. But I believe the American voters - the ones who actually vote - must be given a little credit for some intelligence. You seem to have some, and I can't believe you and I are the only ones.David Lundynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310158610197025977.post-77977552112281352222011-07-01T18:07:21.674-07:002011-07-01T18:07:21.674-07:00Now you're just yanking my chain.Now you're just yanking my chain.Steven Ayreshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15663818104866997062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310158610197025977.post-33146588435090182562011-07-01T17:37:24.459-07:002011-07-01T17:37:24.459-07:00But you are not one of those who believes the big ...But you are not one of those who believes the big lie, are you? I'll bet not. But are you the only one who doesn't believe the big lie? Are the rest of the voters THAT susceptible to the big lie? Really? Is it even possible that the underdog, who would receive public funding, would not engage in his/her own big lie? And is that "big lie" just something that goes against your or my or anyone else's personal beliefs?David Lundynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310158610197025977.post-5599286265720376132011-07-01T16:51:03.573-07:002011-07-01T16:51:03.573-07:00It's easy to blame the victim, as many people ...It's easy to blame the victim, as many people deserve those descriptions relative to electoral politics. But a torpid voter isn't likely to vote.<br /><br />The problem is diseducation. Money buys elections by convincing the voter to accept a given viewpoint as true and useful. While it's not that hard to wedge the truth so that it amounts to a lie, we're living through another fad for the Big Lie -- balls-out, unvarnished lying on a large scale. This tactic is only effective when you have the organization and resources to ensure that the same lie comes from many mouths.Steven Ayreshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15663818104866997062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310158610197025977.post-15372703496159402632011-07-01T16:24:18.482-07:002011-07-01T16:24:18.482-07:00And the explanation for that "unfair advantag...And the explanation for that "unfair advantage" is that people are sheep, are unable to think for themselves, succumb to the overwhelming propaganda put forth by the corporate candidates? What other explanation is there? Torpor, sloth, apathy. You choose.David Lundynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310158610197025977.post-60544713355856734912011-07-01T15:51:01.126-07:002011-07-01T15:51:01.126-07:00Do corporations buy elections? Not in the cash-for...Do corporations buy elections? Not in the cash-for-vote sense, that's way too inefficient. But there's no question that money is more that statistically significant in election outcomes, and by protecting money as speech, the Supreme Court clearly acknowledges that. <br /><br />If I thought the money they spend to get what they want is a sure purchase, I wouldn't be living in this country, trust me. But it's abundantly clear that corporations have an unfair advantage in electoral politics and subsequently outsized and very negative influence on our political process. <br /><br />This will not last. The only question is whether it will eventually take armed insurrection to change it.Steven Ayreshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15663818104866997062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310158610197025977.post-41568456901980305682011-07-01T15:10:42.517-07:002011-07-01T15:10:42.517-07:00I don’t agree with the Supreme Court ruling that c...I don’t agree with the Supreme Court ruling that corporations are people and entitled to the same rights and constitutional protections as people, but this only validates my premise that the Constitution says what it says, but it means what the Supreme Court says it means, and what you and I think it should mean doesn’t mean squat. Regardless, the answer to the problem lies in your last paragraph, i.e., the answer lies where it always has: in the people. Corporations apparently can spend as much as they like in an effort to “buy” elections, but do they really buy elections? Spend more money, sure, but buy elections? Do you know any citizen voters who have actually received money or any other compensation for having voted one way or another? Does anybody know any such voters? I for one have never been offered any money for my vote. Are we constantly bombarded by political ads denigrating one side of an issue or another? For sure. Do the corporations and big money candidates overwhelm the airwaves and the print media in an election year? Again, for sure. But to suggest that this fact is “buying votes” is to suggest that we as voters are merely sheep and incapable of overcoming the problem. Sorry, but I am not a sheep. Nor do I believe that the candidate who is not funded by organized fundraising committees should go to the State and simply ask for matching funds to compete with the other guy. The answer, Steve, as I said, lies in your final paragraph and at the ballot box. It lies with the people, the same place it always has.David Lundynoreply@blogger.com