The ‘Granny D’ walk to get money out of politics in, you guessed it, Peterborough, will happen this Sunday. According to the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript,
Related: Senate Democrats Announce Plan to Amend the First Amendment ‘cuz Too Much Free Speech
“[A]ctivists, walkers, politicians, elders, youth and friends of Doris plan to gather in Dublin and Peterborough this Saturday to celebrate in Granny D style: They’re going to walk six miles, carrying messages against Big Money politics and corruption.”
We heard a lot about money in politics and evil ‘dark-money’ (the other night) in the Democrat Presidential Debates. A lot of people make a big fuss about this dark money thing. So let’s examine it, shall we?
In Citizens United v FEC (2010 558 U.S. 310) the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that corporations have first amendment rights, as they are assemblies of people. Further, they decided that the government can not restrict these corporations, (also associations and **LABOR UNIONS**) from making independent expenditures in support of or in opposition to candidates for office.
This means, in short, that those evil Koch brothers! can spend as much money as they want to influence elections, as is their first amendment right. It also means labor unions, and left-wing PACs can do the same.
You’ll hear a lot over the next 15 months about how the Democrats want to legislate away Citizens United. Even going so far as to say we need a constitutional amendment to get rid of it.
Yes, a constitutional amendment to erode your first amendment rights. And mine, and everyone else’s.
Senator Shaheen has been spouting off about this lately too, even though she’s a benefactor of “dark money” from labor unions, left-wing PACs, and large corporations herself.
She doesn’t actually want to get rid of this decision unless of course she could do it carefully with a scalpel. Make sure the unions still have this right. She’s not dumb enough to plug the cash flow coming into her re-elect war chest.
Shaheen needs to appease the leftist radicals in her base, the ever-increasing number of primary voters in New Hampshire that are rabid leftists who wouldn’t hesitate to oust her if a more radical than her leftist stepped up to the plate should Shaheen not stay in line with the AOCs in DC.
The ‘solution’ to the ‘problem’? Muh Gubmint, of course!
“As of 2019, 14 states now have a form of publicly-financed elections, which takes power out of the hands of wealthy donors, and returns it to the voters.”
Oh, right. Taxpayers should fund campaigns, and that would TOTALLY eliminate special interests, PACs, donors, big money, dark money, white money, all the money.
Thankfully:
“New Hampshire is not yet one of those states, though the SB 304 Voter-Owned Elections Act is still active in the legislature this term, and Open Democracy plans to redouble its efforts in the coming year. The New Hampshire version would distribute four $25 “Voter Dollars” certificates to each registered voters, which the voter gives to candidates in the governor’s or executive council races, for which big NH donors, out-of-state donors, PACS, and dark money LLCs have been flooding in recent years.”
Twenty-five whole “Voter Dollars” to each registered voter! WOW! That’ll do the trick.
Given the recently passed amendment to the NH Constitution regarding privacy, which further strengthens our first amendment rights, it is only a matter of time before ALL money in #NHPolitics is dark, the way it should be. People should feel free to donate to the candidate of their choice — through their corporation, PAC, or other association, with the government breathing down their back or opening themselves up to leftist violence, extortion, career-threatening ‘activism,’ or more.
