Thursday, December 11, 2008

Bailout-Receiving Companies Gave Millions To Dems, GOP

In Canada, businesses and unions are forbidden to give money to politicians and political parties.

But in America, that sort of thing is business as usual. And, predictably, it ultimately stinks.

Story here.

What were major corporations such as AIG, Ford, Citigroup and Freddie Mac doing in the weeks before they asked Washington for taxpayer-funded financial bailouts?

They were donating millions of dollars to underwrite the Democratic and Republican Party conventions.


Oh, and the Hard-Left labor unions also took advantage of a loophole to give money to the (no surprise) Democratic Convention:

(...)unions representing government employees contributed all of their $2.7 million to the Democrats' convention in Denver.

Krumholz said, "By taking advantage of the false distinction between a political party and the committee hosting the party's convention, unions were able to support the Democratic Party in a way that hasn't been allowed since the days of soft money, when labor was among the biggest givers."

Perhaps even in America they don't need that much money to have an election campaign/select Nominees. Just look at the excessively pretentious, expensive nonsense of the Obama campaign. Sheesh, you'd think he was putting on the frigging Olympics, for fecksake, the way one ridiculously extravagant event eerily resembled the Opening Ceremonies of the Bloody Commie Olympics in Red China!

Canada makes do with a lot less. And the financing is now more representative of the true views of Canadians, as opposed to distorted by profit and Hard-Left motives. Parties that don't get much in donations are probably not seen by the People as worthy in the first place anyway, and this makes sense. Parties that can't get support from ordinary Canadians who care about what happens to their country and society don't deserve election, then. No wonder the Conservatives raised so much more than the Liberals did, and won, plus are now way, way, way more popular than the Liberals, and some Liberal Party members are now reportedly actually donating a LOT to the Conservatives to express their consternation at the bizarre behavior of their own Party in joining a coalition with the NDP and separatists. It must be about the People, not the wealthy elites and the oppressive Hard-Left unions deciding for Canada. And America.

Of course, I wouldn't dare presume to tell Americans what to do in their own country, but can point to the experiences of my own, as, after all, Canada is obviously, arguably the most-like-America country in the world despite the puzzling reality of having such a relatively tiny population and economy overall. If one country's experiences can help teach valuable, and potentially transferable lessons, then what would it hurt to at least study and come to understand these lessons to get ideas as to how to apply them at home for the good of one's own country?

And it's my opinion that American democracy would benefit from radical election financing reform, as I believe Canada has demonstrated to work.

Donations to political parties and politicians should come from individual citizens only, and perhaps there should be a reasonable annual limit on how much any one individual can give in a year, so as to prevent the super-wealthy (like Hard-Left activist billionaire George Soros, infamous for his monstrously unfairly disproportionate interference in the democratic processes of America) from unfairly influencing elections, politicians and the Peoples' perceptions.

People, after all, prefer to give money where they believe it's deserved, so...