Is this gov’t by the people, for the people?
In his historic Gettysburg Address, President Abraham Lincoln spoke somberly of the horrific sacrifice that had been made by so many so “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
I do not believe that this is the government of the people, by the people and for the people that Lincoln described, and that our Founding Fathers had earlier fought so hard to create:
Republican superPACs and other outside groups shaped by a loose network of prominent conservatives – including Karl Rove, the Koch brothers and Tom Donohue of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce – plan to spend roughly $1 billion on November’s elections for the White House and control of Congress, according to officials familiar with the groups’ internal operations.
That total includes previously undisclosed plans for newly aggressive spending by the Koch brothers, who are steering funding to build sophisticated, county-by-county operations in key states. POLITICO has learned that Koch-related organizations plan to spend about $400 million ahead of the 2012 elections – twice what they had been expected to commit.
Just the spending linked to the Koch network is more than the $370 million that John McCain raised for his entire presidential campaign four years ago. And the $1 billion total surpasses the $750 million that Barack Obama, one of the most prolific fundraisers ever, collected for his 2008 campaign.
As the piece notes, both Obama and Mitt Romney are expected to raise hundreds of millions of dollars on their own, to fund their own campaigns. As usual, much of that money will come from special interests seeking favors from those they help to elect, and neither party is immune to money’s gravitational pull.
However, that money will at least be traceable back to its source, and the campaigns and the candidates can at least be held accountable by the voter for how they conduct themselves in the public sphere. Neither is true of the money that will pour into superPACS. It is being raised anonymously and will be spent anonymously, with the clear intention of buying not just influence but control.
And while Democrats will attempt to compete — Politico reports that the main pro-Obama superPAC hopes to raise $100 million — the clear financial advantage will belong to conservatives. That advantage will loom particularly large in Senate and House races, where a few spare million can make a very big difference in the outcome.
If your goal is victory for a party calling itself “Republican,” that advantage is a wonderful thing. However, if by “Republican” you mean a small-government party that does not intervene in the marketplace on behalf of immensely powerful special interests, I would suggest that you look more closely at this Trojan Horse being welcomed inside your city walls. People who make billion-dollar investments have a funny way of expecting to profit from said investments.
In time, if the system is not reformed, Democrats too will be forced to bend a knee to those who believe that big money justifies having a big voice, and only the naive would believe that that such a power once unleashed can easily be reined in. It will be government of the people, by the people and for the people only in the sense that, well, corporations are people.
– Jay Bookman
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562 comments Add your comment
"Liberal Chicks are UGLY"'s Mamma is FUGLY
May 30th, 2012
5:39 pm
…aside from accidentally messing up the close-quote business of course.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
May 30th, 2012
5:39 pm
I was in Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Toronto last week on vacation.
I was in Indianapolis last weekend but I wasn’t on vacation — I was working. I drove the winning car in the Indy 500.
Thulsa Doom
May 30th, 2012
5:40 pm
Kamchak,
Not true. I asked him rhetorically ‘If you think….”. Its not a statement of what he thinks. Its a rhetorical question and or statement and if he disagrees with my statement or wants to clarify what he does and doesn’t think then he can proceed.
“IF” is one hell of an important qualifier. And that’s why when he copied and pasted what I said he purposely left out the word “IF” in a dishonest effort to change what I said. That’s nothing more than blatant dishonesty and if it wasn’t then he wouldn’t have truncated it to begin with.
"Liberal Chicks are UGLY"'s Mamma is FUGLY
May 30th, 2012
5:40 pm
Hey, how about those unions? Has anyone mentioned that they are every bit as powerful and skary as the evil rich corporations? huh?
also too SOROS!
Thulsa Doom
May 30th, 2012
5:41 pm
I thought Kam was diving to the bottom of the Marianas trench in a pair of speedos last week. Who knew he was in Indy?
ragnar danneskjold
May 30th, 2012
5:43 pm
“Freedom” is an alien concept to democrats. They believe they should be able to enslave and nobody should have the right to complain. “Money” is almost as effective against such a controlling mindset as are rifles, which the leftists also would ban.
Oblama
May 30th, 2012
5:43 pm
I don’t care a hoot about who does what with who as long as children aren’t involved and whatever is going on is voluntary. I just believe that marriage is between ONE man and ONE woman. My morals are based on “The Bible”. I have nothing personal against “gays”. I don’t hate. I am against abortion because it is discrimination against the yet born. They are humans too and have the right to live. DNA proves they are human.
That Black Guy
May 30th, 2012
5:44 pm
“Liberal Chicks are UGLY”"’s Mamma is FUGLY
May 30th, 2012
5:38 pm
Evenin’. Anyone find my new screen name offensive?
_______________________________________________
Offensive, no
Immature, oh yes
Oblama
May 30th, 2012
5:45 pm
gone today – here tomorrow. …. flailing away.
"Liberal Chicks are UGLY"'s Mamma is SEXUALLY UNAPPEALING TO ME
May 30th, 2012
5:47 pm
Immature, oh yes
better now, TBG?
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
May 30th, 2012
5:47 pm
Not true. I asked him rhetorically ‘If you think….”. Its not a statement of what he thinks.
Well let us get in the wayback machine and revisit this post, shall we?
And if you think a rank and file union member is going to go strolling into Mr. Hoffa’s office and tell him how he thinks or wants his union dues to go to then bring me back one a them chocolately unicorns from liberal fantasyland. Considering that he pays dues his influence in on union matters is practically nil- not much if any more influence than a corporate employee and no more influence than a corporate shareholder who like a union voter can also vote.
I’d say that your implication is very clear. You were suggesting that JHM thinks “a rank and file union member is going to go strolling into Mr. Hoffa’s office…”
The “if” don’t even enter into it.
You would have a point had you left off the bit about chocolatey unicorns.
Alas, hoist on your own petard.
stands for decibels
May 30th, 2012
5:48 pm
eh, what the hey, I like my old name better, maybe I’ll keep it around awhile.
Doggone/GA - 999.999.999.999 (preserving my anonymity)
May 30th, 2012
5:48 pm
“Offensive, no
Immature, oh yes”
Revealing more than you ever thought it would? Hell yes.
Oscar
May 30th, 2012
5:48 pm
ragnar danneskjold
May 30th, 2012
5:43 pm
___________
How is the weather on Jupiter today. Or what ever distant planet you are on.
josef
May 30th, 2012
5:48 pm
OBLAMA
One man and one woman…is that one at a time or one til death do you part? We gotta make sure we roll back them iniquitous divorce laws…and you have nothing personal against gays? So long as they know and keep in their place, eh?
pogo
May 30th, 2012
5:49 pm
As for the “seperation of church and state” that the liberals have espoused to rever for years, that was all blown away today by US Attorney General Eric Holder. Here are two employees of the federal government, Holder and an IRS Director who was present, telling a roomfull of black preachers how they can preach partisan politics in the pulpit without losing their tax exempt status. Where is the ACLU in all of this? Silent. Where is the liberal outrage? Silent. We the taxpayers are paying Holder and the IRS rep’s salaries and here they are lecturing these preachers on how to cheer for the Obama team without jeopardizing their tax exempt status. I guess the seperation of church and state only applies if the religious leaders involved are not black, doesn’t it?. We’ve all known this for years but the event today brought it out into the open. I mean, Clinton actually went into black churches to preach politics. It appears that there are a seperate set of liberal rules pertaining to the black churches. To plan and execute something this juvenile and stupid, I have to feel that the Obama campaign is in the panic mode. When you have 25% of the working age population that has given up on even looking for a job I guess desperation tactics are all you have.
Brosephus™
May 30th, 2012
5:50 pm
They BOTH @ 3:56 pm
You should hear the stuff I think that I DON’T type out.
—————————
Doom
How many politicians are forced to own up to their mistakes and their policies which wreak havoc or end up inhibiting economic growth? Where is their accountability?
You tell me… Seems as though nobody wants to own up to THEIR mistakes and choose instead to blame everyone else. Just as you’re doing with unions. I’m not saying that you made the mistakes yourself, but you seem to neglect the fact that there are two sides at the table during bargaining talks.
I gotcha. So unions don’t help or support left wing political causes or candidates. Thanks for clearing that up for me.
No, you don’t gotcha. That’s not what I said and you damn well know it. What I said is that the SCOTUS has ruled that union dues can not be used for purposes other than collective bargaining duties for those who do not wish to have their union dues used as such.
Did corporations run up 16 trillion in debt sir? Did they? Answer the damn question Bro.
Yeah, they did. Are corporations not persons? Have corporations not enjoyed the benefits of personhood since the turn of the century in the 1900’s? Has not the damn near entirety of that debt been run up since? So, yeah they ran it up just as every other person in this country has a responsibility for it. However, since you wanna shift the damned goalposts. Why not respond to exactly what the hell I stated instead of trying to put words in my mouth.
If you can’t respond to what I say, then don’t waste my f**king time with your bullsh*t responses. I’m not one of the “libs” you think you can toy around with. I’ll call your bullsh*t out for exactly what it is.
” That’s why it’s called bargaining. Obviously, the MBA’s can’t bargain worth a sh*t, and it’s evident with the CEO packages passed around.”- More wealth envy. As if CEO pay is what bankrupts companies.
WHere in the hell did you get wealth envy? WHy don’t you try to read what I wrote instead of what you THINK I wrote. If the people at the table can’t bargain worth a damn and end up with a crappy deal, that has nothing to do with wealth envy.
I tell you what, Doom. Don’t bother to respond to what I write until you actually read what I write instead of what those damned voices in your head tell you what they think I wrote. You’ve built a straw earth with that response that I should not have even given the damned decency of a response.
Wilmer "Redneck" Convert (R--and proud of it)
May 30th, 2012
5:53 pm
I thought Kam was diving to the bottom of the Marianas trench in a pair of speedos last week. Who knew he was in Indy?
Well, best I can tell, Kam is everywhere. And the best part is, he knows every word Thomas Jefferson ever wrote or spoke.
That Black Guy
May 30th, 2012
5:54 pm
“Liberal Chicks are UGLY”’s Mamma is SEXUALLY UNAPPEALING TO ME
May 30th, 2012
5:47 pm
Immature, oh yes
better now, TBG?
______________________
josef
May 30th, 2012
5:54 pm
FORMAL BLACK GUY
Looks like Pogo missed mine and your exchange earlier, eh?
stands for decibels
May 30th, 2012
5:55 pm
Revealing more than you ever thought it would? Hell yes.
naw, I knew I’d get bored and drop it in a few minutes going in, actually.
(I was toying with “‘Liberal Chicks are UGLY’’s mother is the TARGET OF AN UNFAIR BROAD-BRUSH CHARACTERIZATION!” but, well, you know.)
JamVet
May 30th, 2012
5:57 pm
Re, the troll with the idiotic name,
Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I’m fairly sure that I have never seen that person ever actually contribute anything intelligent to this forum.
For some people, playing the role of a “LOOK AT ME!!!”, teenage brat is as good as it gets, I guess…
stands for decibels
May 30th, 2012
6:00 pm
Re, the troll with the idiotic name,
well, that certainly narrows it down…
USMC
May 30th, 2012
6:01 pm
Foreshadowing???
Artur Davis, former prominent Obama backer, leaves Democratic party
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-artur-davis-former-prominent-obama-backer-leaves-democratic-party-20120530,0,269770.story
People are waking up to Comrade Obama’s incompetence!
josef
May 30th, 2012
6:01 pm
SFD
@ 6:00 p.m.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
May 30th, 2012
6:01 pm
Help! I’ve truncated and I can’t get up!
stands for decibels
May 30th, 2012
6:01 pm
and honestly, I’d make blatantly trollish screen names a bannable offense, along with a lot of stuff Jay would never do.
I mean, when you’re deliberately picking a fight literally every time you post, you really can’t expect to be treated civilly by most, now can you?
G Mare 71(PLEASE VOTE NO ON TSPLOST)
May 30th, 2012
6:02 pm
Yes, Jamvet, I agree. He is not only stupid, but also NASTY.
Doggone/GA - 999.999.999.999 (preserving my anonymity)
May 30th, 2012
6:02 pm
“naw, I knew I’d get bored and drop it in a few minutes going in, actually”
Hate to tell you…but since it reveals more than you KNOW, you can’t really refute it…since you don’t know how much it reveals to begin with. It doesn’t matter how short a time you used it, it still reveals much more than you’ll ever know.
josef
May 30th, 2012
6:03 pm
Never asks for whom the bull trolls, it trolls for thee…
Thulsa Doom
May 30th, 2012
6:05 pm
Kamchak,
Joe Mama is a big boy. If he disagrees with my statement then he can very easily clarify it without accusing folks of dishonesty. And if you don’t think the word “IF” is a big qualifier then he need to go to the same comprehension school as Bill Clinton where you learn the definition of what is is and what “IF” means as a qualifier.
Furthermore let me show you how this works. Ya see the statement below is an implication from Brocephus to me that I seem to act or believe since we are talking about implying that corruption is only a union problem. I did not call Bro dishonest because he implied that this is what I believed. See how that works. I simply addressed it head on without accusing him of dishonesty or of telling me what I believe or yadda yadda yadda. Joe mama just got reduced to being a crybaby is all and then even further reduced to truncating my statement to bolster his weak ass point.
Doom
“1) Enron, Arthur Andersen, Lehman Brothers… YOu act as though corruption is limited to one specific organization.”
USMC
May 30th, 2012
6:07 pm
Jay Bookman’s (& Comrade Obama’s) wet dream coming true in France:
France to cap top pay:
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/0e1b6b50-aa79-11e1-9331-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1wORBvV00
Bravo, Bolsheviks!
stands for decibels
May 30th, 2012
6:08 pm
it still reveals much more than you’ll ever know.
dang DGA, you’ve got me there. I surrender.
I haven’t read all the on topic replies, but I wanted to answer Jay’s headline question directly before I forget — because I did give it some thought.
I think it all depends on what you think “the people” means. I think some believe “the people” is a general majority, a consensus opinion, perhaps. Some think “the people” is a mere majority of voters at any given time. Others think “the people” is “the folks who control the majority of the dollars directed at a given campaign or issue.”
I guess the problem is, we don’t even know what “the people” means, do we?
and with that deepness, I’m off to run in this allegedly dry heat. Later, maybe… excellent evening to all whether I’m back or not.
JamVet
May 30th, 2012
6:08 pm
stands, G Mare and josef, LOL.
That guy is a perfect fit for the misfits and castoffs at Kyle’s.
Love the Hemingway reference jonix…
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
May 30th, 2012
6:09 pm
Furthermore let me show you how this works.
SoCo brilliantly illustrated how it works.
In fact, he just handed you your ass.
josef
May 30th, 2012
6:10 pm
Thulsa
And if you disagree with him in terms he can understand, he does a Del and he just won’t talk to you no more, so there! And Sue Ellen won’t even pull up her hoop skirt and mud wrestle with me anymore. I guess I must be doing something right, after all!
They BOTH suck
May 30th, 2012
6:10 pm
Oblama
Toronto is a nice city. Ottawa not bad. I like Montreal.
Heard Vancouver was great, but I haven’t made it there
G Mare 71(PLEASE VOTE NO ON TSPLOST)
May 30th, 2012
6:14 pm
Kamchak & Josef & JamVet, thank you for helping to keep me sane & laughing in this increasingly incompressible world.
And my earlier post of “yep” was in support of the even earlier poster who said that Rove is a liar & a traitor. I want to add Cheney(the shootist) to that.
That Black Guy
May 30th, 2012
6:15 pm
josef
May 30th, 2012
5:54 pm
FORMAL BLACK GUY
Looks like Pogo missed mine and your exchange earlier, eh?
____________________________________________
Wouldn’t be the first time.
That Black Guy
May 30th, 2012
6:16 pm
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
May 30th, 2012
6:01 pm
Help! I’ve truncated and I can’t get up!
_____________________________
Thulsa Doom
May 30th, 2012
6:19 pm
” I’m not saying that you made the mistakes yourself, but you seem to neglect the fact that there are two sides at the table during bargaining talks.”
You may have missed it bro but I blamed a good deal of the mess on politicians in the case of public unions. You might want to re read that part.
Did corporations run up 16 trillion in debt sir? Did they? Answer the damn question Bro.- Doomy
Yeah, they did.- Bro
Sorry Bro but the correct answer would be govt ran up 16 trillion in debt. Its no surprise though that a liberal would come to the bizarre conclusion that it was corporations who enacted things like SS and Medicare and that it was corporations and not govt who ran up the debt.
“If you can’t respond to what I say, then don’t waste my f**king time with your bullsh*t responses.”
Then don’t come at me with completely jackass statements like corporations ran up a 16 trillion dollar debt. You really went off the deep end with that loonyness. Geez
” I’m not one of the “libs” you think you can toy around with. I’ll call your bullsh*t out for exactly what it is.”
And I call out your complete BS for what it is- like the one about corporations running up 16 trillion in debt. Does total and complete BS get any deeper than that?
Bro just don’t bother posting to me anymore if you feel its a waste of your effing time. Simple.
Thulsa Doom
May 30th, 2012
6:20 pm
I’m the only white man in a 100% black neighborhood!
A classic that never gets old.
They BOTH suck
May 30th, 2012
6:20 pm
sheets
Thulsa Doom
May 30th, 2012
6:23 pm
josef @ 6:10,
Are you referring to Joe mama in that post?
josef
May 30th, 2012
6:24 pm
G-MARE
“Life is a banquet, and most poor fools are starving to death”
—Auntie Mame, a Grand Old Dame
Which, incidentally is what Unmentionable says y’all should call yourselves, given the acronym!
Brosephus™
May 30th, 2012
6:24 pm
Then don’t come at me with completely jackass statements like corporations ran up a 16 trillion dollar debt. You really went off the deep end with that loonyness. Geez
A jackass question gets a jackass statement. What in the hell does $16 Trillion in debt have to do with what we were talking about? Explain that one to me oh wise, great and all knowledgable one. I purposefully gave you a dumbass answer because your dumbass question had nothing to do with what you challenged me on. As I said, read what I write, and not what you think I write. Ask questions on what I say and not what you think I say, and you’ll get a response.
You should know by now, I don’t play the partisaned bs here. At the same time, I’m not gonna let somebody question my viewpoint with assertions that I did not make. You were the one who went off the deep end. You need to check your ego sometimes bro, and that’s on the serious.
josef
May 30th, 2012
6:27 pm
THULSA
Who else?
“I’m the only white man in a 100% black neighborhood!”
Hmmm…..make that 99 44/100…
Jay
May 30th, 2012
6:35 pm
And USMC, you have no earthly idea how silly that feigned outrage makes you seem, do you?
Poor little lad, getting all heted up over nothing like that. He has a fragile constitution, that one.
Thulsa Doom
May 30th, 2012
6:37 pm
Brocephus,
No point talking to you when you’ve just degenerated into a whole lot of swearing and cursing. Go get an ice cream and cool down. No kool-aid though. You’ve had enough of that.
Thulsa Doom
May 30th, 2012
6:41 pm
josef,
That’s what I thought but was just making sure. Joe Mama will be back to take some potshots tomorrow. He lives for it. I’ll ignore him for the most part but he just keeps wanting attention. I think I get under his skin more than even Bruno.
G Mare 71(PLEASE VOTE NO ON TSPLOST)
May 30th, 2012
6:48 pm
Just now on CNN: liberal group in AZ says, in response to birthers, “Prove that Romney is not a unicorn.” “You can’t make this stuff up.”
Happy Walker
May 30th, 2012
7:37 pm
union $
Joel Edge
May 31st, 2012
3:17 am
“Democrats too will be forced to bend a knee”
Democrats are already wearing kneepads now. Thanks, Jay. That was my early morning laugh.
Adam
May 31st, 2012
8:26 am
Thulsa: Not true. I asked him rhetorically ‘If you think….”. Its not a statement of what he thinks
There’s really not much I can do with this statement except laugh at the irony….
Adam
May 31st, 2012
8:30 am
Brosephus: What I said is that the SCOTUS has ruled that union dues can not be used for purposes other than collective bargaining duties for those who do not wish to have their union dues used as such.
And that right there should have buttoned up the argument against unions in general quite nicely. But not when you JUST WANT UNIONS GONE.
Whiiiiiine! I don’t want to have to actually TALK to these people…. I just want a workforce. The more machine-like and subservient the better!
Joe Hussein Mama
May 31st, 2012
9:28 am
Doom — “Joe Mama, Sorry ma’am but everyone can see”
Sorry, Thelma, but you don’t speak for anyone but yourself.
“where you truncated my statement in order to lie about what was said. You lied, you got caught, and everyone can see it.”
You mean your “point” that I ‘knew to be true?’ Sorry, I did no such thing, and you know that to be true.
Joe Hussein Mama
May 31st, 2012
9:32 am
Doom — “I’m cool with it.”
It’s pretty clear that you’re not.
“But the man lied and I showed how he did it plain as day.”
Sorry, Doom; I did no such thing and you know that to be true.
“He’s just mad he got caught.”
Oh, sonny, I can’t be mad at someone with an argument as lame as yours.
“If you’ll notice he kept dancing around the fact that he truncated what I said in his copy and paste and once he was caught red handed he just kept dancing and trying to make jokes around it.”
Sorry, nothing doing. You dishonestly misrepresented my argument and then kept dancing around the word “if,” Doom. Your “if” argument is as pathetic as Clinton’s equivocating over the word “is.” If anyone was caught red-handed, it was you and you’re just trying to play wounded because you’ve run out of arguments regarding the topic that was actually under discussion.
Joe Hussein Mama
May 31st, 2012
9:32 am
I hate when I forget to close my own tags.
Joe Hussein Mama
May 31st, 2012
9:34 am
Doom — ““IF” is one hell of an important qualifier. And that’s why when he copied and pasted what I said he purposely left out the word “IF” in a dishonest effort to change what I said. That’s nothing more than blatant dishonesty and if it wasn’t then he wouldn’t have truncated it to begin with.”
You talk like Bill Clinton. You should be ashamed of yourself.
Joe Hussein Mama
May 31st, 2012
9:38 am
Doom — “That’s what I thought but was just making sure. Joe Mama will be back to take some potshots tomorrow. He lives for it.”
Doomy, don’t bother making yourself out such a tough guy. You Navy boys don’t even know how to AIM.
“I’ll ignore him for the most part but he just keeps wanting attention. I think I get under his skin more than even Bruno.”
You’ve got it all wrong, Sonny. You and Bruno are my chew toys.
Joe Hussein Mama
May 31st, 2012
9:41 am
josef — “And if you disagree with him in terms he can understand, he does a Del and he just won’t talk to you no more, so there!”
Actually, it’s got more to do with you being an intemperate jackass (with several sore spots and a bad temper) who leaps to conclusions and then slings insults.
Fortunately, I knew better than to enable your poor behavior, and so I walked away. Would that you’d show the same level of maturity.
lovelyliz
May 31st, 2012
9:46 am
Republicans have a very narrow definition of who qualifies as “people”
BTW most of us don’t count