political fundraising

in a previous post i noted my objection to the decision in citizen united v. FEC that essentially determined that corporations have free speech rights akin to individuals and therefore could not be stifled in their political contributions.

in recent weeks, president obama and other prominent democrats have been complaining about the chamber of commerce's political advertising and making accusations that our political system is being influenced by shadowy figures and possibly foreign entities. of course, this is without any proof whatsoever. the chamber of commerce denies using foreign money. factcheck.org can't find any wrongdoing. in fact, when obamas senior advisor david axelrod was asked for evidence of the chamber of commerce using secret foreign money the best response he could provide was "well, can you show me evidence that it's not?" so now the focus has moved to the chamber revealing their list of donors. however, being a tax exempt organization the president knows that the chamber is under no legal obligation to do so.

it is interesting that there is a demand for donor lists. in 2008, obama made a pledge to use public campaign financing but then quickly backtracked on that pledge when he saw how much more money could be raised via private funding. with this private funding came a closer inspection of the source of these funds. go here to see a thorough list of articles that illustrate the pledge and possible foreign sourced funds being given to the obama campaign.

opensecrets.org has an excellent breakdown of where all the campaign cash is coming from this campaign season.
here's a snapshot:
** 53% of all business contributions go to democrats
** 53% of all ideological contributions go to democrats
** 93% of all labor contributions go to democrats

considering the majority of campaign contributions are being steered towards the democratic party, the white house complaints about the chamber of commerce just seem like sour grapes that the chamber doesn't agree with the administrations policies. or is it really a realization and fear that the chamber's anti-administration message has become more resonant with the public?

//

wasted toll money

in previous posts ive discussed the cost per mile that every state spends on their roads. ranked #1 is new jersey at and astounding $749,000+/mile. those must be some mighty fine roads!

then i see this article today about the new jersey turnpike. i guess its no wonder that tolls continue to go up for taxpayers.

Auditors say the New Jersey Turnpike Authority wasted $43 million on unneeded perks and bonuses. In one case, an employee with a base salary of $73,469 earned $321,985 when all payouts and bonuses were included.
...
The biggest expense uncovered in the audit was $30 million in unjustified bonuses to employees and management in 2008 and 2009 without consideration of performance.
...
The Comptroller's Office audit released Tuesday says taxpayers also paid $430,000 for free E-ZPass transponders and nearly $90,000 in scholarships for workers' kids.
...
the excesses happened as tolls increased on the Turnpike and Garden State Parkway in 2008. They're slated to rise again in 2012.

but people continue to vote for the same people and never learn the lesson.

//

silly season

the election season always brings out both the best and worst from politicians, their supporters and all the talking heads analyzing it. it always reminds me of that monty python sketch, "election night special" featuring the results between the sensible party and the silly party.


and the state of new york is certainly getting their fill of entertainment this fall with the cast of characters running for governor. one of them is jimmy mcmillan representing the "rent is 2 damn high" party.

jimmy mcmillan















another is kristin davis, a former madam, representing the anti-prohibition party. she states as her qualifications that she is the only candidate that can manage all the "whores" in the legislature.

kristin davis
















on the one hand its good to see that any citizen can turn in the paperwork and run for office. on the other hand, when you have a debate and are required to give equal time to every group, it seems, well...just plain silly sometimes.


//