01-21-2018, 02:36 PM
(01-21-2018, 06:21 AM)Kinser79 Wrote:(01-23-2017, 03:12 PM)X_4AD_84 Wrote: The opposite. No Russian money, no NRA money, etc, etc.
Only tax payer funded candidates allowed.
The rumors of Russians spending money on the election are over blown and even if they did they probably spent it in favor of HRC in 2016 as she is a known intitity and thus predictable. As of yet the only credible evidence is that some Russians bought some adds on Facebook. So unless you want to ban ads on facebook (and thus their revenue stream) that isn't happening.
You have responded to a post from nearly a year ago. The problem isn't that the Russians bought ads on Facebook; the problem is that they deliberately misrepresented themselves. I would not have a problem with Exxon-Mobil, or even Toyota buying advertising space for promoting their political agenda -- so long as they make clear who they are. I expect an apartment owner to warn tenants that if the millage increases, then so will rents. Cheap rent or better schools -- take your pick. But as a rule, I prefer that those who buy the ads disclose themselves and hence the sources of the ads. The Russians who put in the advertising pretended to be Americans. American election laws prohibit foreigners from making campaign contributions that include the purchase of advertising.
Speaking of the Narodni Rifle Association... ahem, officially National Rifle Association... it apparently served to funnel funds from Russian oligarchs and mobsters into the Trump campaign and the GOP in general. This is a recent exposure.
Quote:The rest of it will result in only establishment candidates being presented unless an insanely rich person is driven to run for president or other office through self-funding.
For someone who yells loudly about being anti-authoritarian and anti-totalitarian this policy would result in both an authoritarian and totalitarian government. I'm unsure if this is due to a lack of self-awareness, paranoia or a more basic ignorance of the law of unintended consequences.
Thankfully we usually don't write laws on the whims of the ignorant, unaware or mentally ill, well, unless one lives in Commiefornia.
The nexus between big money and politics has developed to the point that for all practical purposes, lobbyists now run Congress. Government by lobbyist is a novel form of undemocratic rule.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.