Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Arkansas Politics The advantages of secrecy UPDATE
Posted by Max Brantley on Wed, Jul 28, 2010 at 6:31 AM
Please note Rep. John Boozman's criticism of Senate legislation — filibustered by Republicans yesterday — to require transparency for the Supreme Court-ordered forced liberalization of corporate campaign spending.
Boozman says the legislation is about Democrats doing anything they can to gain an advantage. His quote in morning paper:
“They’re desperate to get anything passed. They’ll do anything they can get an advantage.”
He said it. Openness in campaign finance, and some limits on corporate influence, are advantages to Democrats.
To a Republican, secrecy in campaign finance and unlimited corporate money are advantages.
I get it.
UPDATE: Speaking of Rep. John "Nice Guy" Boozman: The Arkansas Leader reminds us that he is not only heartless about extending aid to the unemployed while advocating tax breaks for rich people, he is also a liar.
Boozman said he was philosophically opposed to extending jobless benefits without countervailing cuts in spending elsewhere.But he was not truthful. When it was a Republican president seeking to stimulate the economy by extending unemployment benefits, he always voted for it, once in 2002, twice in 2003 and twice in 2008. Those were the days when President George W. Bush, aided by a Congress of his own party, was building the massive deficits. Deficits became a big issue only when President Obama inherited them.
Nice guy. If you like them cruel and dishonest.
Speaking of John Boozman, campaign Finance Reform.
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Comments (16)
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Yeh, the Democrats wrote the legislation so only Republican-favoring ads would have to reveal their sourses? What is wrong with people and organizations having to stand beside their public statements. We already know that Republicans are really good at whispering campaigns.
Target is already having to explain why they joined an industry group that is supporting a rightwing Republican governor candidate who has taken positions that are opposite of what Target publically says their company stands for. The backlash is from their own employees. I guess that is why Republicans don't want this information out. It prevents them being two-faced!
These rules are written to give incumbents advantages to maintain their power. It has little to do with reigning in corporations. Incumbents use their franking and other communication privileges and other advantages to maintian power. The original McCain-Feingold legislation was designed to prevent criticism of incumbents right before an election. Given that Democrats are currently in power, they are doing whatever they can do to rig the elections. The US Supreme Court was right to strike down this unconstitutional abuse of power by congress.
Let's not forget to note that the ACLU opposed the Democrat's bill. Democrats wanted to control communications before the election. This bill stinks, and Democrats should be ashamed of themselves.
McCain-Feingold was struck down by the Supreme Court? When did I miss that? ( I admit I don't watch the news everyday.) Is that what you were saying?
Oh yeah I did miss that. I just googled it. Wow, 1st amendment still has a heartbeat in the USA.
Glad to see the wingers here are looking forward to foreign influence in our elections, via secret corporate spending. Most big corporations these days are global and there is no curb on their ability to donate to shadowy PACS and astroturf organizations.
I'm so glad for the tea baggers and Republicans here, that nothing will be done to prevent foreign influence in our elections. That is one of the loopholes of Citizens United - global corporations with foreign owners are able to donate to shadowy PACs and astroturf organizations for or against particular US candidates. If you don't want foreign influence in American elections, then what is your solution?
You mean kind of like in the Clinton days when the Chinese Communists were sending his campaign and Al Gore's millions $$, is that what you mean? Is that what the law was supposed to prevent? Its going to prevent corrupt people from being corrupt? Or I thought that was already against the law. So we need another law on top of the law that they are already breaking? Or should we possibly not keep electing people that are corrupt that will take money from Chinese Communists? The hole to put our heads in is getting crowded.
Asking candidates to reveal their donors is a violation of free speech? Can one of you teabaggers explain this to me? Do you really think foreign money donated to elections should not be disclosed?
You guys should learn to think for yourselfs instead of taking everything Fox News and Boozman says as infallible!!
Hey! Quit picking on John Boozman! He's not lying. He doesn't even know what he said, is saying, will say.....because it all comes from his puppet masters in DC. So when John says one thing and then the other, it's not him, he's just a conduit from which bad things flow.
I remember Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy. Candace's father was so funny when I was a kid and he could make that puppet say anything. I never heard Edgar & Charlie live, so I don't know if Charlie ever accidentally said shit, damn, or hell during a show, but I do know this. If Charlie McCarthy ever uttered a nasty word or spoke unkindly about large breasts or cussed.....it wouldn't have been Charlie's fault because Charlie was just a dumb wooden puppet sitting on someone's knee.
So mind your manners and quit bitching at John Boozman because everything he does is because someone in DC is pulling his strings. Boozman probably takes a dump on his own every morning and I assume he dresses himself, but everything else is puppet work, not his idea, not his fault, he doesn't even know what he's doing people! So lay off the dummy!
Max,
"twice in 2008. Those were the days when President George W. Bush, aided by a Congress of his own party, was building the massive deficits. Deficits became a big issue only when President Obama inherited them." You can do better than this. The Democrats controlled Congress in 2008. This last time the Republicans controlled Congress in 2006 the deficit was $248 and falling. Then the Dems. entered the picture and what is it now? $1.7 trillion.
So how crazy is what the hell? This is a previous post of his:
"I really don't pay much attention to official weather station readings. Because a few years ago I started noticing how corrupted the stations were."
He is just another dumb teabagger who believes everything Fox News says, and doesn't think for himself. The guy such a idiot that he thinks the weather station is corrupt. "corruption everywhere!!" What motives would they have? Are the going to forcast rain on a sunny day so they can have the golf course all to themselves? Come on!!
>>This last time the Republicans controlled Congress in 2006 the deficit was $248 and falling. <<
Dare you to provide a source for that lie.
????
Corrupted means their locations do not achieve NWS standards. It is very simple. The stations are not to be located near building, parking lots, trees, hills, and so on.
eLwood,
Source it the Office of Management and Budget. 2006 (248) 2007(160) 2008(458) 2009(1,412)2010(1,555 est). No lie.
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