Concerns over money in politics straddle the political divide

By KAREN PARKER | County Line Editor

If Donald Trump is not named the Republican nominee for president, he promises us that a regular old donnybrook will occur at the convention in Cleveland. Ah, yes, we have those fond memories of 1968, when the Democratic Convention in Chicago became unraveled, with antiwar protestors tear-gassed in the streets and loaded into paddy wagons as quickly as the Chicago police could shove them in. We lived about 15 minutes away from the action, but, alas, my newly minted husband did not favor a road trip to see it. Okay, maybe it would not have been such a good idea.

My Baby Boomer generation has enjoyed a front-row seat to many protests over the years. We have had sit-ins, stand-ups, lay downs, hunger strikes, and possibly food fights. For the most part, the instigators and participants were young people. They have endless energy, they don’t bruise easily, and when shoved to the ground, they tend to bounce. How would this work at a Republican convention? Will old, overweight white guys sling their martini glasses at one another? Will the lady delegates slip off their spike heels and gouge one another’s eyes?

With all this threat of madness and mayhem, I am sure Cleveland is rethinking why it thought hosting the convention was such a great idea. It is common knowledge that Democrats are easily unhinged, while Republicans are country-club polite and play by the rules. But then this is a presidential race like none of us have ever seen before.

How ironic that the two candidates stirring the pot are senior citizens. Donald Trump is 69, and Bernie Sanders is 74. Where are the young rebels? Certainly not in Wisconsin. When the governor and the legislature passed Act 10, yanking the rug out from under teachers, did they go out on strike? No, they went to the capitol to sing protest songs. And then, once laughed at, a good share of them went home and quit paying their union dues. It’s hardly a group to inspire fear in even the most crooked legislator.

There are, evidently, a few diehards still willing to register a protest. To this point, the national media has given very little attention to a protest staged inWashington D.C. this week. Thousands of Democracy Spring supporters marched 140 miles from Philadelphia to D.C. to to demand that Congress take immediate action to end the corruption of big money in our politics and ensure free and fair elections in which every American has an equal voice. They were, of course, met by members of Congress offering them hot towels, foot baths and tea and sandwiches. Oops, no scratch that. Sometimes it seems the land of the free and the home of the brave barely extends beyond a brief few words said to kick off the football game.

No, the protestors, whose behavior was characterized as peaceful, were met with the Capitol Police. Reportedly 400 were arrested, many of them elderly and some in wheelchairs. Those taken into custody will be charged with “crowding, obstructing and incommoding.”

I don’t even know what “incommoding” is, but I can imagine that it is a real danger to the public when done by elderly people in wheelchairs.

The origin of Democracy Spring is not clear. Some connect it to the Occupy Wall Street movement of a few years back, while ultra-conservative publications charge it is nothing more than theater funded by move on.org, a liberal lobbying group aligned with Democrats.

But concerns over money in politics clearly straddle the political divide, and citizens of all stripes are lifting their voices in protest of the Supreme Court ruling, Citizens United, that gave corporations the same voice as people. It did not get much attention in the press, but in the April 5 election, Janesville and Beloit voters enthusiastically supported a referendum calling on lawmakers to amend the U.S. Constitution to reform campaign finance laws.

About three-fourths or more of voters in Janesville and Beloit supported the resolution — 83 percent of 17,650 voters in Janesville and 74 percent of 7,215 voters in Beloit. The cities join several dozen Wisconsin communities that have passed the resolution either by a common council vote or a referendum.

The 2010 court ruling marked a new era in political campaigns, with a flood of increased spending. It also set off enduring debates about whether organizations should have the same freedoms as individuals and whether financial contributions are equal to free speech. The resolution states that only human beings — not organizations — are endowed with constitutional rights and that spending is not equivalent to speech.

The resolution also directs the clerks of Janesville and Beloit to forward copies of the 295-word resolution to state and federal representatives with instructions to enact legislation to advance its goals.

It’s hard to say if any of this will do any good, but we are not likely to be thrilled with the results of doing nothing either.

I am inclined to agree with Democracy Spring participants when they say, “If the status quo goes unchallenged, the 2016 election — already set to be the most billionaire-dominated, secret money-drenched, voter suppression-marred contest in modern American history — will likely yield a president and a Congress more bound to the masters of big money than ever before.”

It’s something to think about.

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