U.S. Elections: Candidates Are Bought As Wars Are Sold

Source: Global Times
Christopher Williams

US democracy up for grabs by moneybags under new laws

People got rich because of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Now, swords are being sharpened for Iran. How many players in the Middle East and elsewhere are interested in seeing this happen? All they need to do is pick up the phone or write a check, and it gets closer every day.

The story begins in 1886, with an obscure court case in California, Santa Clara County vs. Southern Pacific Railroad. In that Supreme Court decision, a corporation was deemed to have the same legal protections under state law as any individual would have. It was originally intended to be used for enforcing a real-estate contract. But fast-forward to 2010. The Supreme Court decided in a new case, Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, that corporations had the right to make unlimited financial contributions for political purposes, just as a person does. 

Corporations and individuals are still limited to $2,500 in direct contributions to a political campaign for federal office. But they may give unlimited funds to a Political Action Committee (PAC), as long as that PAC is not “officially” part of the campaign which they support. 

In reality, it means that the PAC can spend whatever it wants as long as they maintain the fiction that they are acting independently. So now we have a Republican presidential primary in full swing, with vast amounts of corporate money being poured into the PACs which support the major candidates. Some of that money is publicly disclosed. But there are also non-profit 501(c) organizations that do not have to say where the money came from. 

Why should you care? It means that candidates are no longer being elected, even in the limited sense that they were before. They are being hired, bought and paid for by their supporters whose interests do not in any way reflect the concerns of average citizens. They are supported by energy companies, drug companies, media companies, insurance companies, arms merchants, and bankers. 

The candidate will be a de facto lobbyist for the industries that hired them. And they will enact policies supporting only those industries, regardless of the will of the majority. If you’re a citizen concerned about global warming, or gun control, or abortion, or social justice and human rights, well, tough. You can’t afford to play this game, which is estimated will cost $2 billion or more by the time of the general election in November.

The priorities of the corporate world, and the ultra-rich, will be to secure more power and control for themselves. But this does not extend only to US companies or US citizens. The many loopholes in the law now allow foreign citizens, companies, and even nations to directly inject money into campaigns that will support their vested interests. 

Israel, for one, will use its considerable clout to insure that whoever is the next president will advocate for them and against countries like Syria and Iran, which will in turn have an impact on China’s foreign policy. Secret or undisclosed financial influence will extend to issues like copyright infringement and intellectual property and censorship, all subjects about which the US and China may have one clear public policy and another quite different clandestine one.

It is impossible to predict exactly how this Supreme Court decision will affect the current and future election cycles. It is a matter that is hotly contested and is being openly challenged by state legislatures and concerned citizens who clearly see the threat it poses to participatory politics. To reverse it would require a constitutional amendment, a legislative effort so difficult and convoluted that it’s virtually unthinkable, or a radical change in the makeup of the Supreme Court and a new case hearing. 

But don’t think for a moment that this decision and its consequences are limited only to one country. That country happens to still be the wealthiest in the world, and to control the largest military on the planet. And that country has not hesitated to use its military to further its goals, even when actively opposed by large sections of the population. 

People got rich because of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Now, swords are being sharpened for Iran. How many players in the Middle East and elsewhere are interested in seeing this happen? All they need to do is pick up the phone or write a check, and it gets closer every day.

The author is a Guangdong-based freelance writer and marketing consultant from the US. christopherw314@gmail. com