http://robertreich.org/post/27128864190
The Selling of American Democracy: The Perfect Storm FRIDAY, JULY 13, 2012 Who's buying our democracy? Wall Street financiers, the Koch brothers, and casino magnates Sheldon Adelson and Steve Wynn. And they're doing much of it in secret. It's a perfect storm: The greatest concentration of wealth in more than a century - courtesy "trickle-down" economics, Reagan and Bush tax cuts, and the demise of organized labor. Combined with. Unlimited political contributions - courtesy of Republican-appointed Justices Roberts, Scalia, Alito, Thomas, and Kennedy, in one of the dumbest decisions in Supreme Court history, "Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission," along with lower-court rulings that have expanded it. Combined with. Complete secrecy about who's contributing how much to whom - courtesy of a loophole in the tax laws that allows so-called non-profit "social welfare" organizations to accept the unlimited contributions for hard-hitting political ads. Put them all together and our democracy is being sold down the drain. With a more equitable and traditional distribution of wealth, far more Americans would have a fair chance of influencing politics. As the great jurist Louis Brandeis once said, "we can have a democracy or we can have great wealth in the hands of a comparative few, but we cannot have both." Alternatively, inequality wouldn't be as much of a problem if we had strict laws limiting political spending or, at the very least, disclosing who was contributing what. But we have an almost unprecedented concentration of wealth and unlimited political spending and secrecy. I'm not letting Democrats off the hook. Democratic candidates are still too dependent on Wall Street casino moguls and real casino magnates (Steve Wynn has been a major contributor to Harry Reid, for example). George Soros and a few others have poured big bucks into Democratic coffers. So have a handful of trade unions. But make no mistake. Compared to what the GOP is doing this year, Democrats are conducting a high-school bake sale. The mega-selling of American democracy is a Republican invention, and Romney and the GOP are its major beneficiaries. And the losers aren't just Democrats. They're the American people. You need to make a ruckus. Don't fall into the seductive trap of cynicism. That's what the sellers of American democracy are counting on. If you give up on our system of government, they win everything. This coming Monday, for example, the Senate has scheduled a cloture vote on the DISCLOSE ACT, which would at least require that outfits like the Chamber of Commerce and Karl Rove's "Crossroads GPS" disclose who's contributing what. Contact your senators, and have your friends and relatives in other states - especially those with Republican senators (who have been united in their opposition to disclosure) - contact theirs. If the DISCLOSE ACT is voted down, hold accountable those senators (and, when and if it gets to the House, those House members) who are selling out our democracy for the sake of their own personal ambitions. * * * HAPPY BIRTHDAY WOODY Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie (July 14, 1912 - October 3, 1967) By <http://www.folkworks.org/author/kathleen-masser/40104> Kathleen Masser On Saturday, less than a mile from where Woody Guthrie once lived, a crowd gathered at El Centro del Pueblo in Echo Park to celebrate what would have been the troubadour's 100th birthday. The day-long event featured local bluegrass, folk, blues, jazz, and hip-hop performers and was presented by the Trailer Trash Project, which operates out of a vintage trailer to bring free concerts, plays, and exhibits to neighborhoods around Los Angeles. Guthrie's musical legacy extends well beyond This Land Is Your Land. His more than 3,000 songs include The Ballad of Tom Joad, inspired by John Steinbeck's novel "The Grapes of Wrath." When Steinbeck heard the song, he wrote to Guthrie, saying, "You're a real bastard. What it took me an entire novel to do, you wrote in one song." _____ LOCALS CELEBRATNG WOODY'S BIRTHDAY Jones <http://www.folkworks.org/images/stories/2012_July/Jones.jpg> Blues guitarist S.S. Jones, co-founder of the Skid Row Musicians Network. Holter <http://www.folkworks.org/images/stories/2012_July/Holter.jpg> Guitarist, songwriter and author Darryl Holter. Spencer <http://www.folkworks.org/images/stories/2012_July/Spencer.jpg> Singer-songwriter, guitarist Walter Spencer UnknownBanjo <http://www.folkworks.org/images/stories/2012_July/UnknownBanjo.jpg> Unknown banjo player _____ No virus found in this message. 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