Geee Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 American Spectator:On matters of war and peace, President Obama likes to lead from behind. On matters domestic, he's content to subcontract grand ideas to congressional Democrats in order that they wreak havoc on our economy. But there's one topic on which Obama stands second to none: campaign fundraising.First, he condemned those who gave undisclosed political contributions. Next, he is taking steps to corrupt the federal contracting process and then he turned a blind eye to his former staffers' creating the means to gather and flow those same undisclosed contributions to his campaign.The drama began with the January 2009 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The high court held a substantial portion of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law unconstitutional. That decision said that barring independent political expenditures by corporations conflicted with the First Amendment.About a week later, in his State of the Union address, Obama castigated the Supreme Court with the justices sitting, as is the custom, close to the presidential podium. Obama said, "With all due deference to separation of powers, last week the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that, I believe, will open the floodgates for special interests, including foreign corporations, to spend without limit in our elections," Obama said. "I don't think American elections should be bankrolled by America's most powerful interests or, worse, by foreign entities. They should be decided by the American people. And I urge Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps correct some of these problems."It was an unprecedented slap in the faces of the justices who sat only a few feet from the president. Justice Alito was apparently so insulted by it that he couldn't refrain from mouthing the words, "Not true," in a memorably-filmed incident.Only a few weeks before last November's election, Obama -- campaigning in Delaware -- said of the undisclosed donors, "They don't have the courage to stand up and disclose their identities. They could be insurance companies or Wall Street banks or even foreign-owned corporations. We will not know because there's no disclosure." He added, "But this isn't just a threat to the Democrats: It's a threat to our democracy." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now