Bedrijven in de VS krijgen financieel ongelimiteerde greep op de democratie

Supreme Court's 'Radical and Destructive' Decision Hands Over Democracy to the Corporations

One expert calls the Citizens United decision 'the most radical and destructive campaign finance decision in the history of the Supreme Court.'

Alternet, Liliana Segura, January 21, 2010

"The Supreme Court has just predicted the winners of the next November election," Sen. Chuck Schumer announced this morning. "It won't be Republicans. It won't be Democrats. It will be Corporate America."

Het politieke systeem in de VS wordt dus in nog sterkere mate een corpocratie. Griezelig.

Econonoom en nobelprijswinnaar Joseph Stiglitz noemt in een interview in de Volkskrant van 6 januari deze ontwikkeling "verwoestend", ook met het oog op wat juist nodig is om een nieuwe financiële crash te voorkomen: een sterkere staat. Stiglitz: 'Het betekent dat meer dan ooit de weg open ligt voor de financiële wereld om met grote donaties regelgeving af te kopen en de eigen belangen veilig te stellen.

Zie ook:

Americans Rise Up Against the Supreme Court Decision to Create Corporate Frankensteins
By Jim Hightower, AlterNet, February 25, 2010

As you've probably heard, corporations are now 'people' - humanoids[*] that are equivalent to you and me. This miraculous metamorphosis happened on Jan. 21. Accompanied by a blinding bolt of lightning, and a terrifying jolt of thunder, five Dr. Frankensteins on the Supreme Court threw a judicial switch that endowed these pulseless paper entities with the human right to speak politically.

Later toegevoegd:

[Verrassend:] How Super PACs Warped the 2012 Election
Door Steven Rosenfeld, Alternet, 9 november 2012

Amerikaanse bedrijven kopen lokale macht
Trouw, 6 november 2012 

How the Supreme Court's 'Knox v. SEIU' Decision Could Dismantle Union Security Around the Country
Door Mariya Strauss, Alternet, 24 juni 2012

In Knox v. Service Employees International Union, the Supreme Court suggests that the First Amendment is for corporations, not working people and unions. 

Moyers: How the 1% Is Buying Our Democracy
Door Bill Moyers en Michael Winship, BillMoyers.com / Alternet, 15 juni 2012

How Right-Wingers on the Supreme Court Sold Our Democracy Down the River - Again
Door Steven Rosenfeld, Alternet, 25 juni 2012

The Court's right-wing majority refused to look at facts that showed how it erred in its 2010 Citizens United ruling.

Bedrijven VS mogen campagnekassen politici blijven spekken
Trouw, 25 juni 2012 

How the Wealthy Have Turned State Elections All Over America Into Their Own Personal Playgrounds
Door Steven Rosenfeld, Alternet, 24 oktober 2012

2012's unregulated and unrestrained campaign spending isn't confined to the presidential race.  

Why You Can Kiss Public Education (and the Middle Class) Goodbye
Door Thom Hartmann en Sam Packs, Alternet, 14 december 2012

[...] Even though studies show that costly private schools don’t produce any better educational results than free public schools, for-profit schools have popped up all around the nation in recent years because of how valuable they are to corporate America. 

Noot

[*] Associatie: het corpus corporum in De compositie van de wereld van Harry Mulisch.

Movie The Corporation - see review: The corporation as sociopath

Chris Hedges on the Corporatocracy (video)

Are Corporations Using the Internet to Accelerate Our Cultural, Political and Economic Decline?

The Talking Heads of Cable News Are Leading Double Lives as Paid Lobbyists for Corporations

The Economic Elite Have Engineered an Extraordinary Coup, Threatening the Very Existence of the Middle Class

'Quants: de alchemisten van Wall Street' (uitzending VPRO-Tegenlicht 8 februari 2009)

GOP Is Overjoyed At the Unprecedented Influence Corporations Will Now Have in Federal Campaigns

Whose Rights? Challenging Corporate Power

Ruling on Spending May Alter Political Terrain

High court unleashes tsunami of corporate cash with Citizens United Ruling