Wealthy Controlling Politics - Oligarchy

Conservatives would have you believe that liberals are all communists and offended by wealth. I can tell you I don’t have a problem with rich people, I do have a problem with rich people who use their money to control our government. That’s why I’ve long supported public campaign financing or at least reasonable limits on how much any individual or group can donate to a political campaign. Frankly I’d like to see a campaign donations limited to just the people who live in the district that the candidate is running in since I don’t think my elected officials should be beholden to anyone but the people they represent.

Did you know that in Texas there is no limit to how much can be donated any political campaign by a single person, that goes from the office of Governor all the way down to city council or school board? That means some oil billionaire from west Texas can finance the campaign of a school board candidate right in your town. It happens all the time and has had consequences like firing a school principal that was perceived as not adhering to the billionaire’s agenda.

Many voters don’t know that all candidates whether city council, county commissioner or all the way to governor are required to file campaign finance reports showing who their donors are and how much each donor gave and those reports are public record. I’d advise you to take a look at them for every candidate before you vote so you know who is influencing your elected officials.

Retiring Texas Senator (R), Kel Seliger, has compared the state of affairs here in Texas to the Russian Oligarchy because two Texas billionaires essentially control the state legislature by using their vast wealth to fund political campaigns across the state often providing more than 80% of a candidate’s campaign budget. Even when their candidate loses in the primary they win because they have dragged the other candidate in their preferred direction.

These kinds of wealthy individuals don’t just make direct campaign donations, they also don’t millions to political action committees (PAC’s) and Super PAC’s that use innocuous names to obscure their true agenda to the public. Often Super PAC’s are created for the sole purpose of hiding the source of their funds so that the voters don’t know whose agenda they are working toward.

This is a national problem but there is a terrific story on what’s happening in Texas that was shown on CNN a few weeks ago and is now available on YouTube so you can watch it when you have time. Take 45 minute to watch Deep in the Pockets of Texas. The report covers Farris Wilks and Tim Dunn, how their money controls how legislators vote and what their agenda is. These two men aren’t content with just the legislature though and fund school board candidates and city council candidates all over the state as well as presidential candidates in order to further their agenda. The two billionaires’ agenda is just a scary as using wealth to advance that agenda.

For the record, I’m no happier about billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros making big donations to Democratic candidates than I am Wilks, Dunn, and others making huge contributions to Republican candidates.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - August 31, 2022

Elections Matter - For the People Act

I often hear the phrase "elections matter" when suggesting that a judicial appointment or new law has been either especially good or bad. Last week that phrase took on an additional meaning when Maryland congressman, John Sarbanes introduced H.R. 1, the For the People Act which is designed to clean up corruption in Washington, make it easier to vote, and give the American people more power in our democracy. The bill was written because elections matter - and elections matter because without the 2018 election resulting in the Democratic Party majority in the House this bill wouldn't have seen a chance for passage. All 236 Democrats have co-sponsored the bill but not a single Republican cares enough about the right of the people to free and fair elections or open and honest representation.

H.R. 1 makes critical reforms across three key areas: voting rights, campaign finance, and ethics and accountability.

On voting rights H.R. 1 expands access to the ballot box by attacking cumbersome registration systems, limited voting hours and many other barriers. The bill requires automatic voter registration in every state, ensures that individuals who have completed felony sentences have their full rights restored, expands voting by mail and early voting and otherwise modernizes the U.S. voting system.

 H.R. 1 fights back against attacks on voting rights like eliminating polling sites in minority communities and gerrymandering by committing Congress to build the record necessary to restore the Voting Rights Act, prohibiting voter roll purges like those seen recently in Texas as well as Ohio, Georgia and elsewhere and ensuring that discriminatory voter ID laws do not prevent Americans citizens from exercising their rights. The bill also ends partisan gerrymandering to prevent politicians from picking their voters. The bill enhances federal support for voting system security, particularly paper ballots - which our county commissioners had the foresight to address with our new voting machines.

On campaign finance, H.R. 1 addresses super PACs and dark money in politics by requiring any organization involved in political activity to disclose its large donors. Since the Citizens United decision nearly a decade ago wealthy donors and special interests have been able to hide their spending in networks of “social welfare” organizations that aren't required to report where the money came from.

H.R. 1 levels the political playing field for everyday Americans by creating a multiple matching system for small donations thus restoring the right of the American people to exercise their will in a world where the wealthy currently have overwhelming influence. The bill will break the stranglehold special interests have on Congress so that the American people are served once again.

H.R. 1 tightens rules on super PACs and restructures the Federal Election Commission to break the gridlock and enhance its enforcement mechanisms and repeals regulations that prevent government agencies from requiring commonsense disclosure of political spending.

The bill also addresses the revolving door between government and lobbyists and boardrooms which is where much of the shenanigans originate. H.R. 1 also closes registration loopholes for lobbyists and foreign agents, and ensures watchdogs have sufficient resources to enforce the law.

In all H.R. 1 is great start on restoring government power to the people, sadly while it is sure to pass the House, Mitch McConnell has already boasted it won’t ever even be voted on in the Senate claiming it’s a power grab. Well if that’s true it’s a grab by the people and Mitch and his Republican enablers like John Cornyn should watch their step.

In 2020 elections will matter once again.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - March 15, 2019

It's Not About Healthcare, It's About Campaign Contributions

Once again the Republican Party is leading the charge to take away access to health care from 30 million or so Americans. The leadership is attempting to rush the bill through with minimum scrutiny in order to meet a September 30 deadline for acting with only Republican votes.

When eight months and countless hours of hearings in multiple committees in both the House and Senate had been held prior to the vote on the Affordable Care Act Republicans screamed that the bill was being voted on before anyone knew what was contained in it. Now that Republicans control congress their efforts to take away health care from tens of millions of Americans, 11 million of whom are so poor they qualify for Medicaid, there will be only one hearing and it will be in the Homeland Security Committee which has never held a hearing on healthcare or much of anything else that isn’t about security from terrorism. There will be no witnesses testifying other than the senators who developed the legislation, so no one will hear from health policy experts or the people who will be affected. Make no mistake about it, this is a backroom deal and the goal is to give tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires who don’t need or deserve those breaks.

Unlike Texas, about half the states accepted federal funds and expanded Medicaid. Some of those states are represented by Republican Senators that have already stated that they will vote to take away that funding. Just eliminating Medicaid expansion means 11 million Americans will lose their healthcare. Sure they can still go to an emergency room when they’re really sick or injured but that treatment only covers stopping them from dying right then it doesn’t cover prescription anti-biotics or blood pressure medicine and it doesn’t cover follow up care to insure that a wound hasn’t become infected.

Even Republican governors like John Kasich of Ohio and Bill Walker of Alaska oppose the repeal because they know that doing so will hurt their constituents. Walker is seen as key to getting the bill passed this time as he’s believed to have influence over Sen. Lisa Murkowski, one of the three Republicans to vote no last time.

You’d think that at least some Republican Senators might shy away from voting for something that will hurt their constituents so severely but what you don’t know is that a network of wealthy donors has made repeal of the Affordable Care Act and the tax breaks that depend on it a condition of them providing $300 million to $400 million for the 2018 election cycle. In other words no tax breaks, no campaign donations. If Congress fails to repeal the network, led by the Koch brothers, will likely spend much of those funds on primary challengers and make an example of those Republicans who stood in the way.

That’s the problem with our campaign finance system; it’s obvious that these wealthy donors expect to get what they want for their money and just as obvious that our elected leaders are willing to give it to them but it isn’t illegal, even though it is antithetical to a healthy democracy.

 Published in the Seguin Gazette September 22, 2017

Cornyn Votes Against the Interests of the American People - A Letter to the Editor

Last Thursday Sen. John Cornyn (R) was one of 42 U.S. Senators who voted to prevent the people of the United States from even having the chance vote on restricting campaign donations that currently influence our elected officials. He is part of the problem and not part of the solution.

The American people overwhelmingly support action to limit the amount of money that corporations, unions and other organizations can spend on elections. Public support is also bipartisan as shown a 2010 Peter Hart poll 68% of Republicans, 82% of independents, and 87% of Democrats support such an amendment. A 2012 Associated Press poll showed that 81% of Republicans, 78% of independents, and 85% of Democrats want to limit corporate, union, and other outside spending.

If John Cornyn refuses to act in the interests of the people he needs to be fired. Dr. David Alameel would make a fine replacement.