America has traded the democratic process of holding elections for a free-spending system that resembles auctions when it comes to choosing the nation’s leadership.
It is no longer that normal Americans are fairly represented in our policymaking process, but only the highest bidders.
The 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision referred to as Citizens United fundamentally changed U.S. election finance laws by saying that corporations and other organizations have a First Amendment right to spend unlimited amounts of money on political campaigns, as long as the spending is independent and not directly coordinated with candidates or political parties.
It allowed for the creation of Super PACs and 501(c)(4)s which can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to support or oppose candidates, often in clear coordination with the candidates and parties.
As a result, the wealthiest Americans and corporations possess immense power to shape our elections.
With billionaire spending on the rise, a string of recent polls is delivering warning signs for Vice President Kamala Harris one day before her critical presidential debate Tuesday evening with just 8 weeks before the balloting ends.
A New York Times/Siena College poll released Sunday showed disgraced former President Donald Trump holding a one-point lead nationally, suggesting the Democratic nominee could be in a closer contest than anyone predicted.
Since losing the 2020 presidential election, Trump has been adjudicated a rapist, found liable for $500 million in business fraud, convicted of 34 crimes, charged with dozens more in three separate indictments, and after he incited a mob of terrorists to attack the Capitol and beat police officers the Republican nominee pledged to grant them pardons.
That’s not to mention his intentions to outlaw abortion, retreat from America’s role as leader of the free world, and extend his 2017 tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the wealthiest people.
Siena College’s poll showed tight races in the seven battleground states, despite the Republican’s focus on personal attacks, including outrageous lies and bizarre policy pronouncements.
Trump said he would give Elon Musk broad power over a government commission to identify changes in federal spending and regulations, after the billionaire South Africa immigrant pledged to spend $145 million in support of the Republican candidate.
Musk owns companies that are receiving vast sums from government contracts and he openly plotted with Trump during a live event broadcast on his social media platform to violate labor laws.
The United Auto Workers filed federal labor charges against Trump and Musk after they made comments applauding the practice of firing employees who threaten to strike, which is illegal under federal law.
Trump and Musk had a rambling, disorganized conversation in August in front of over one million listeners in which they advocated for the illegal firing of striking workers.
“I mean, I look at what you do,” Trump told Musk. “You walk in, you say, You want to quit? They go on strike, I won’t mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, That’s OK, you’re all gone. You’re all gone. So, every one of you is gone.”
Under federal law, workers cannot be fired for going on strike, and threatening to do so is illegal under the National Labor Relations Act.
During a wide-ranging speech in which Trump made some false and ignorant claims, the two money-grubbing plutocrats showed utter disdain for the American working-class and doubled down on discredited trickle-down economic policies.
“When we say Donald Trump is a scab, this is what we mean. When we say Trump stands against everything our union stands for, this is what we mean,” said UAW President Shawn Fain, who is concerned that the race for the White House could go in either direction.
“Donald Trump will always side against workers standing up for themselves, and he will always side with billionaires like Elon Musk, who is contributing $45 million a month to a Super PAC to get him elected,” said Fain. “Both Trump and Musk want working class people to sit down and shut up, and they laugh about it openly. It’s disgusting, illegal, and totally predictable from these two clowns.”
In June, eight former workers at SpaceX, Musk’s rocket company, sued the company and Musk, alleging he ordered them fired after they challenged what they called rampant sexual harassment and a hostile “Animal House”-style work environment at the company.
In January, the federal National Labor Relations Board filed its own complaint against SpaceX based on issues raised by nine fired employees.
SpaceX responded by filing a lawsuit that says the independent agency of the federal government governed by a five-person board is “unconstitutionally structured” and its actions protecting Americans since 1935, are “unlawful.”
It also showed that while 90 percent of voters said they knew everything they need to know about Trump, a smaller 71 percent said they know everything they need to know about Harris.
The recent polls suggest the vice president has more at stake than her foe during the debate, when one of the largest audiences of the campaign season will tune in to consider their choices.
Democrats, who have been through a roller-coaster of emotions following President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate, his exit from the race and Harris’s nomination, are now being confronted with polls that suggest Trump’s neoNazi platform has enduring strength.
At least 69 billionaires with a combined net worth of $570 billion were revealed in filings posted with the Federal Election Commission as fundraisers or donors to Trump’s campaign and related groups.
“We still have some race to run, but here’s the thing that worries me: We’re up against a guy who is a convicted felon, he was a terrible president and he continues to be a terrible human, and this race is still tight as a tick,” said one Democratic strategist. “We never got the expected bounce out of the convention, and I think some folks expected to have a larger advantage going into the final stretch of the campaign.”
Other Democrats said the latest polls could also help Harris and motivate her party but the cash flowing into the GOP campaign operations will be used to influence voters, even if it requires lies, bizarre conspiracy theories and crimes.
New Jersey’s Lisa McCormick said, “Americans must rise up to the responsibility of citizenship,” but polls suggest that they are not listening to her.
The candidates’ debate starts at 9pm today moderated by “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir and ABC News Live “Prime” anchor Linsey Davis.