McCutcheon v. FEC v. Dibiase

As a fan of the odd worlds of politics and professional wrestling one cannot help on occasion comparing the WWE with the Beltway. In the late 80s, a bad guy by the name of ‘The Million Dollar Man’ Ted Dibiase was irking fans in their millions by winning titles not through pinning opponents in a match, but through paying others to take their achievements. His false prestige combined with a lack of real contest became universally despised.

Dibiase’s catchphrase, ‘Everybody has a price!’ is one that was effectively broadcast by the Supreme Court in its recent ruling on McCutcheon v. F.E.C.. The decision, which is essentially an extension of Citizens United v. F.E.C., serves to further reduce the limitations faced by corporations and wealthy donors to influence elections through spending. There are some who argue that, through the first amendment, individuals should be able to give as much money as they wish to candidates (or their Super PACs) however there is something fundamentally undemocratic in this principal. It essentially implies a pseudo oligarchic system where the wealthier in society have the right to influence elections more than the poor.

Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks formed ‘Wolf-Pac’ in 2011 in an attempt to counteract court decisions of this nature. The main objective of the group is to pass an amendment to, ‘end corporate personhood and publicly finance all elections’. The necessity of an amendment specifically was compounded by McCutcheon v. F.E.C., both due to the growth in potential spending, and as the decision served as further evidence that the Federal Government would not act against the influence of money. An amendment which bypasses the Government is hence seen as necessary. The Supreme Court’s recent decision as well as the failure of the Disclose Act shows that neither the legislature nor the judiciary will act, while the executive, as the biggest beneficiary, will not act independently of the other party during elections or risk ruining their donation chances for the next cycle.

In short, the influence of money seems set to grow with groups such as Wolf-Pac still the sizeable minority. The door is therefore open for the likes of the comically evil Koch Brothers (who were accused of funding the government to avoid charges for leaking cancer causing chemicals) to decide elections, a fact which is too dastardly even for the whacky world of the WWE. Well, almost…

Obamacare and Spin

An independent poll by Reuters (reported by the Huffington Post here) found that the majority of Americans don’t like the Affordable Healthcare Act with 56% being against the healthcare overhaul that Obama proposed. Furthermore in elections, 45% said they were more likely to vote for a member of congress who campaigned to repeal the act with only 26% voting in the opposite direction. This isn’t surprising for a country built on a laissez-faire mentality, right?
Well, in the same poll when individuals where asked about the provisions actually in the bill they showed overwhelming support. 82% favoured banning insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, 72% backed requiring companies with more than 50 employees to provide insurance for their employees and 61% were in favour of allowing children to stay on their parent’s insurance until age 26. The only provision which didn’t score well in the poll was the Healthcare mandate which 61% of individuals were against. More on this later though.
So, how is it that the core values of Obamacare are desired while the policy is generally still held in contempt? The answer lies in spin and partisan campaigning. Republicans have an opposition rate of 86% while only 25% of Democrats oppose the act. Where the campaigning is being won for the Republicans is in the independents where opposition reached 73%. Since this poll was taken, the negative feeling has permeated to some Democrats (or at least to their voters) with 39 Democrat members of the house supporting an anti-Obamacare Republican bill in November (BBC News).
The actual form of campaigning has come from a strong and consistent anti Obamacare message from both the Republican Party and right wind media outlets like Fox News. Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks argued that the Democrats by comparison have been weak with a serious lack of response. He also points out that the only measure respondents didn’t agree with, the Healthcare mandate, is the part of the bill which is driven by Republican ideology stating Nixon, Bush and Romney have all backed healthcare bills with this mandate in place (video here).
This is hence a classic example of politics beating logic with individuals liking the contents of the bill, but being fooled by aggressive propaganda into responding negatively to the Obamacare brand. Just look at ads like this and you may see why…