Mo money, mo money, mo money...

[NCcoast]

I just got an email from democrats.org telling me how Romney out raised Obama by $16 million in May. And then, there's the super pacs.

I'm not going to suggest to anyone that we not dig as deeply as we can to support our side but we need to think about, where we are, and why we're there.

This is the game that Republicans chose for us to play because this is the game they can win. If Wisconsin teaches us anything it's that with unlimited money you can buy enough turd polish to even make a steaming pile like Walker look like an acceptable option. And that says a lot about the power of money. Republican policies, by their very nature, favor a minority of the population. So, in a fair fight, they'll loose every time. The area in which they have an overwhelming advantage in is money. So they set out to make the game about money and they have succeeded brilliantly. Corporations are people, money is speech, and the free speech of corporate persons will not be abridged, it won't even be open to scrutiny. That's the game they wanted and that's the game they got. What you just saw in Wisconsin is the future of American politics. That is the new reality.

If we don't fight now we are going to live in a one party dominated system completely rigged to represent the interests of a moneyed elite. For most of us that future is going to be a hellish nightmare.

The strategy has to be 'get the money out of politics' Period. Full Stop.

That's it, that's the game. Comprehensive campaign finance reform. Publicly funded elections of a brief duration. Free air time for debates on OUR airwaves and by cable companies WE license. That is the thing we have to set ourselves to. If we let the game continue to be about money they will bleed every one of us dry and kick our butts mercilessly while doing so. Until we set ourselves doggedly to that singular critical task we're just going to be spinning our wheels and getting nowhere.

[AndyA]

1. I agree. Looks like we're stuck for now.

We can't cut off donations to Democrats, but we can sure funnel more money to those who are more progressive.

Citizens United has to be dealt with. I agree very strongly about publicly funded elections, that's the only way to get the very best people in Congress. The people with the best ideas don't stand a chance, because they can't come up with the money to run a competitive race. We also need transparency in where the money comes from, and in the voting process. Having machines with no way of verifying results has to stop.