Who’s Buying the Midterm Elections? A Bunch of Old White Guys

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/whos-buying-midterm-elections-bunch-old-white-guys

This is the year of the mega-donor: just forty-two people are responsible for nearly a third of Super PAC spending in the 2014 election cycle. Super PACs, meanwhile, are outspending the national parties. The list of would-be kingmakers includes Tom Steyer, the former hedge-fund manager who’s poured out $73 million to elect environmentally friendly Democrats; Michael Bloomberg, who’s distributed upwards of $20 million on behalf of both sides; and Paul Singer, the “ vulture-fund billionaire” and powerful Republican fundraiser.

Take a look at the list of top donors. They might have distinctly different political agendas, but they have one thing irrefutably in common: they’re almost exclusively old white guys. Only seven women made it into the forty-two, and not a single person of color.

One of the things highlighted in the aftermath of Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, Missouri, is how poorly America’s political leadership, from city councils to the US Senate, reflects the diversity of the country. According to data compiled by the Reflective Democracy Campaign, white men make up 65 percent of elected officials—more than twice their proportion in the general population. Only 4 percent of our political leaders are women of color. As Jelani Cobb writes in The New Yorker, the midterm elections won’t right this imbalance between demographics and political representation, no matter which party wins the Senate.

In fact, the midterms suggest that white men are gaining clout, at least behind the veil. As campaign-finance laws erode, political power is increasingly concentrated among the billionaires playing the strings of the electoral marionette—a pool that looks less diverse even than Congress. (Given the prominence of dark-money groups, it’s likely that some of the biggest individual players in the midterms are anonymous. But there’s no indication that secret donors are any more diverse than others.)

[RKP5637]

1. So sad so many Americans that vote can't think for themselves, but rather rely on ads like

they were buying the latest fad for soap.

[kelliekat44]

3. Here is my fix on this...vote for the right "white guys" and learn to vote in state and local

elections. Especially for your judges and state legislatures. It all begins at these levels...that's what the GOP knows and focuses on AND THAT IS WHY THEY WIN!!

[Fred Sanders]

6. The bunch of old white guys have also rigged the system in so many ways and layers it is barely

sporting anymore, only if there is huge turnout.

"Nationally, 2.2 million — or one in every 13 — black adults is disenfranchised, and black adults are four times more likely to lose their voting rights than the rest of the adult population. If current rates of incarceration don’t let up, it’s estimated that three in ten black men will be disenfranchised at some point during their lifetimes. Virginia ranks particularly highly in this regard: One in five black adults is disenfranchised in the state, third only to Florida and Kentucky.

Those numbers, Mitchell says, “are catastrophic. If any community had that kind of disenfranchisement and lack of political power, that would be viewed as ‘oh my god, look at this oppressive government that’s silencing a large swath of this population!’ “But it doesn’t raise that because folks say, well if you’ve been convicted then you must be guilty, and thus you don’t deserve to have this right back. The racialized impact of it is quite clear.”

(When A Chicken Goes Missing, A N....r Loses His Vote)

[kairos12]

8. Here comes the new hidden boss, same as the old hidden boss.

Continue to get fooled again.

Original lyrics by the Who--Won't Get Fooled Again

New lyrics and cover by that hot new group--"Citizens United."

Schedule plays with with group's manager SCOTUS.

[asiliveandbreathe]

9. YES, of course, republicans have used their clout

to infiltrate local boards - as an example, just look at school boards - for the most part those in attendance at SB meetings are gray haired, some parents are engaged, but the gray hairs have the time - now consider, republicans send in a group to talk up their agenda...tada - they take over your school board...

Of course they are paid to do the bidding of the olagarchs - this is where it begins....

message - get involved...vote - because, you get what you vote for -

for all of you focused on the reference to "white man" just look at the "who" and the "data" -

[daleanime]

10. K&R....

[Demeter]

11. They are TRYING to buy the elections

but it's not a done deal.

[MisterP]

13. elections are bought *before* the votes start

[U4ikLefty]

15. Bingo! n/t

[marmar]

12. K/R

[Fumesucker]

14. Oh crap, my credit card got hacked again?

Buying the Midterm Elections, Priceless.