The chairwoman of the Federal Election Commission says she's largely given up hope of reining in abuses in raising and spending money in the 2016 presidential campaign and calls the agency she oversees "worse than dysfunctional."
In an interview with The New York Times, Ann M. Ravel says she was determined to "bridge the partisan gap" and see that the agency confronted its problems when she became its chair last December. She said she had now essentially abandoned efforts to work out agreements on what she saw as much-needed enforcement measures.
Instead, Ravel said she plans on concentrating on getting information out publicly, rather than continuing what she sees as a futile attempt to take action against major violations, the Times reported in a story posted to its website Saturday night. She said she was resigned to the fact that "there is not going to be any real enforcement" in the coming election, the newspaper reported.
"The likelihood of the laws being enforced is slim," said Ravel, a Democrat. "I never want to give up, but I'm not under any illusions. People think the FEC is dysfunctional. It's worse than dysfunctional."
I can't say I'm surprised by this in the least, and in fact I assumed that the 2016 campaign season would be a free for all.
However it is painfully clear that having billionaires buying candidates like children choosing puppies from a pet store is destroying our democracy, and something obviously has to be done to change things.
My daughter and I actually got into an argument over this the other day, with her angrily complaining that the Boomers broke the election system, and need to fix it. And with me agreeing with her, but pointing out that since it currently benefits the Republicans that there is no political will to do so.
At this point I am not sure what it will take for the two parties to come together to create a newer, more comprehensive, version of the old McCain-Feingold Act that would have the tools needed to rein in the outright purchasing of candidates, and the multi-millions of dollars being spent by corporations to decide the outcome of elections.
If the boomers broke the election system, the young voters helped them do it by not voting in anything but the federal elections.
ReplyDeleteTouché!
Delete1996
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bloomberg.com/bw/stories/1996-03-31/bob-doles-oil-patch-pals
"Koch has had a history of run-ins with the Justice Dept. and other federal agencies. In 1989, a special congressional committee looked into charges that Koch had routinely removed more oil from storage tanks on Indian tribal lands in Oklahoma and other states than it had paid for. Dole tried to influence the Senate committee to soft-pedal the probe. Nevertheless, after a yearlong investigation, the committee said in its final report, "Koch Oil, the largest purchaser of Indian oil in the country, is the most dramatic example of an oil company stealing by deliberate mismeasurement and fraudulent reporting." The report triggered a grand jury probe. The inquiry was dropped in March, 1992, which provoked outrage by congressional investigators.
Then in April, 1995, the Justice Dept. filed a $55 million civil suit against Koch for causing more than 300 oil spills over a five-year period. Dole and other Senators, however, sponsored a bill now awaiting action in Congress that critics charge would help Koch defend itself against the oil-spill charges.
According to legal sources, Justice is now seriously considering expanding the suit into a criminal case. And the agency is taking steps to link the oil-spill action with a 1989 suit that also involved alleged oil thefts by Koch. That action was filed in federal court in Tulsa by William I. Koch, a disaffected brother of Charles and David, and is still pending."
Subsequently, the Kochs were convicted of the theft of $170,000,000 in oil from Native American and Federal sources.
Today, they are buying the government. After being convicted of such a massive theft, why are they even allowed to vote?
http://www.kochfaqs.com/#9
What a terribly, terribly sad indictment of our country. That would be the United States of Dumbfuckistan.
ReplyDeleteabuses in raising and spending money in the 2016 presidential campaign and calls the agency she oversees "worse than dysfunctional."
ReplyDeleteWE COULD HAVE TOLD YOU THAT
Have the Koch's become to big to fail? They seem to own everything!
ReplyDeletePublic (taxpayer) funded elections with zero or only minimal personal political contributions allowed, and mandatory voting would change elections significantly.
ReplyDeleteThat and abolishing the Electoral College and preventing redistricting abuses would go a long way toward making for fair elections.
Paper-trail voting authentication / verification could make sure the votes get counted accurately.
The U.S. Congress, they best elected body that a billionaire can buy on the cheap.
ReplyDeleteNot only are special interest groups buying candidates and setting policy, another big concern is the ease with which one can start a superpac. Superpacs can raise unlimited funds, do not need the permission of any candidate, require no special skills to set up and are free to disperse their funds on many self-serving ways. Shoot, you can be a high school drop out, have a history of bankruptcies, foreclosure, debt mismanagement....and have strangers sending you money, assuming their politician will benefit from your political savvy. If you collect hundreds of thousands for a Mitt or a Sarah and they don't run, you are not expected or required to return money. It can just be creatively disposed of.
ReplyDelete