Shaheen Pushing People's Pledge, But it's Just More Speech Intimidation - Granite Grok

Shaheen Pushing People’s Pledge, But it’s Just More Speech Intimidation

Shaheen Koch and a Smile
Is Jeanne Shaheen #addictedtokoch ?

Senator Jeanne Shaheen can’t run on anything she has done because 99% of it ties her directly to an unpopular president and his even more unpopular health care law.  There are no coat-tails.  No leadership, Shaheen is a follower.  And the momentum is against her.   So why not take a populist position on campaign spending and see if you can get the press to carry your water for you?

I love that game.  When NH Senate candidate Paul ‘Hot Dog’ Hodes (who lost to Sen. Ayotte) played the I’m an outsider card, I buried him with dozens of posts showing his ties to all the inside money DC has to offer.  Shaheen?  Same problem.  So while she is telling New Hampshire to tell Scott brown to take the people’s pledge (even though Brown isn’t even running yet), I figured we should take a look at what that really means and frame that in the context of her typical campaign donor spending profile.

The most important point of the People’s Pledge is this…

If an independent third party group spends money on TV, radio, or online supporting a candidate, that candidate has agreed to pay 50% of the cost of airing that ad to a charity of the other candidate’s choice.

The pledge has nothing to do with “outside money.”  It is actually a call to make a candidate pay a price for political speech funded outside the candidates own campaign chest. Something they have no real control over.  Though, what is to stop top donors to SuperPAC’s giving money to a candidate to cover the cost of a donation based on a third-party ad campaign?  Nothing.   And there is no way to prove coordination so what exactly is accomplished?

It would favor connected incumbents like Shaheen, particularly in tight races.

A coordinated barrage of third-party ads by either candidate near enough to election day could tip voter confidence toward a candidate who after winning, would be free to collect more money to pay any “fine” as a result of the pledge.

So the pledge is actually crap painted with populist rhetoric that simultaneously advances two things Democrats want.  To further regulate or intimidate speech they can’t control, and to promote the notion that political speech that happens beyond the control of politicians and their campaigns is dangerous to Democracy.

Rich corporations, Unions, Consortiums and international conglomerates are inclined to support large statist enterprises of which they are key players.  This makes Democrats their favored special interest because Democrats are corporatist allies.  So the People’s Pledge scheme plays into their shared agenda of less competition and more regulatory control to keep challenges to market dominance trapped in unfertile soil.  As long as Progressives from Both Parties control the levers, the ruling class can have its way with our tax dollars.

The irony, of course, is that Brown is not all that different from Shaheen.  He has similar connections, interests, and ideas about the role of government.  He will not suffer for taking the pledge.  But I’d suggest he not do it simply because it is a form of speech intimidation, and no Republican should endorse that in any form, even though he did in his loss to Liz Warren.

So this pledge is pretty toothless in my opinion, because if the concern is outside money, then Shaheen would already be in big trouble.  Limiting it to third-party “interference” if you will, removes any fear Shaheen might have of answering the question–who pays her freight, the answer to which is EMILY’s list, MoveOn.org, and out-of-state law firms and lobbyists.

Anyway, just for fun, here are Jeanne Shaheen’s 2014 top 21 donors to date.  Note that the only one that is not from out-of-state is Shaheen and Gordon, the family Law firm.

 

EMILY’s list – Washington DC (Abortion/Progressive Policy)

Votesane PAC – Non-partisan donation portal

Thornton & Naumes – Boston MA – Massachusetts Injury Attorney’s (more laws)

Liberty Mutual Insurance – Boston MA. (Profit rose 110% in 2013…hmmmm.)

Marriott International – Bethesda MD (Hotel’s etc.)

Holland & Knight – Boston MA – Law Firm  (more laws)

Shaheen & Gordon – The Shaheen Family Law Firm  (More Lawyers)

Genesee & Wyoming – York PA (Railroads)

Honeywell International – Morristown NJ (Defense, Energy, Transportation…)

Speedway Inc  ?

Patton Boggs LLP –  Washington DC Lobbyist/LAW Firm (heavy Hitter)

Cisco Systems – Sacramento CA (Computers / Internet)

DLA Piper – Boston MA International Law Firm (more laws)

Priority PAC – Arkansas – Mark Pryor (D-AR) Leadership PAC

Beacon Capital Partners – Boston MA – (Real Estate Investment)

Comcast Corp – Philadelphia PA (c/o Washington DC Lobbyist/Heavy Hitter)

Wilmerhale Llp – Boston MA (Law firm/Lobbyist)

Capitol Counsel – Washington DC (Government Relations/Lobbyist)

Petroleum Marketers Assn – Arlington VA (Petroleum Lobbyist)

Emergent Biosolutions – Rockville MD – (Biopharmacutical)

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