Tag: Republican elected officials

To my Republican friends in Washington

Will you choose Trump over America again?

Five years ago, we all had a hearty laugh when Donald Trump descended the golden escalator to introduce himself and his ugly brand of politics to the American people. We didn’t take it seriously then, and Trump rolled through the Republican field of 17 like he has all his life: By doing and saying things so outrageous and beyond the pale, all anyone could do was stare, mouth agape.

Four years ago, not enough of us believed Trump could actually beat Hillary Clinton. After all, his campaign was a shambles, he was the disastrous human being we all knew him to be, and every major poll showed him getting crushed come November. It was OK to oppose him, because he wasn’t really a Republican, and Clinton, at worst, was status quo antebellum.

Clinton was a well-known force in the insular world of D.C. politics where names and faces at the top might change, but the political bureaucrats were always in place to ensure the machinery of government and patronage sailed smoothly along. Continue reading.

How Citizens United gave Republicans a bonanza of seats in U.S. state legislatures

The following article by Nour Abdul-Razzak, Carlo Prato and Stéphane Wolton was posted on the Washington Post website February 24, 2017:

This week, federal election commissioner and former commission chair Ann Ravel publicly announced her upcoming resignation. She didn’t mince words: “The mission of the FEC is essential to ensure a fair electoral process. Yet since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, our political campaigns have been awash in unlimited, often dark money.”

Citizens United is one of the most controversial Supreme Court rulings of recent years. Issued in 2010, it establishes that “outside spending” in elections qualifies as constitutionally protected speech, effectively removing restrictions that date back to 1947. As a result, corporations and unions have the right to spend unlimited (and largely undisclosed) amounts of money advocating in favor of or against specific candidates. Many, including President Barack Obama, have disagreed with the decision. During the past presidential campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly endorsed this view, referring to the super PACs which emerged as a result of Citizens United as a “total phony deal.” Calls for change have also come from others within the Republican Party. Continue reading “How Citizens United gave Republicans a bonanza of seats in U.S. state legislatures”