Are big corporations taking over American elections? It depends
whether you ask liberals or conservatives, who can’t even agree on the
basic facts.
In the liberal universe, big corporations have swallowed politics. Common Cause President Bob Edgar summed up this version of reality at a press conference in March, declaring: “We, the people, will not stand idly by while the country’s major corporations use their massive wealth to buy our democracy.”
In the parallel universe occupied by conservatives, leading corporations are actually playing no role at all in the elections, which are thriving post-Citizens United. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) argued this case at the American Enterprise Institute last month, asserting that “not a single Fortune 100 company contributed a penny to the eight super PACs that supported the Republican primary candidates.”
There’s plenty of room for disagreement over whether unrestricted political money helps or hurts campaigns and whether fixes such as full disclosure would work. But when starting points differ so wildly, it’s time to set the record straight. No matter how you slice it, corporations are spending unprecedented sums in this campaign.
Read more: http://www.rollcall.com/issues/58_1/Rules-of-the-Game-Debate-Over-Corporate-Spending-Spans-Parallel-Universes-215927-1.html?pos=hftxt
In the liberal universe, big corporations have swallowed politics. Common Cause President Bob Edgar summed up this version of reality at a press conference in March, declaring: “We, the people, will not stand idly by while the country’s major corporations use their massive wealth to buy our democracy.”
In the parallel universe occupied by conservatives, leading corporations are actually playing no role at all in the elections, which are thriving post-Citizens United. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) argued this case at the American Enterprise Institute last month, asserting that “not a single Fortune 100 company contributed a penny to the eight super PACs that supported the Republican primary candidates.”
There’s plenty of room for disagreement over whether unrestricted political money helps or hurts campaigns and whether fixes such as full disclosure would work. But when starting points differ so wildly, it’s time to set the record straight. No matter how you slice it, corporations are spending unprecedented sums in this campaign.
Read more: http://www.rollcall.com/issues/58_1/Rules-of-the-Game-Debate-Over-Corporate-Spending-Spans-Parallel-Universes-215927-1.html?pos=hftxt
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