Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #CitizensUnited
Most recents (24)
Democratic Capitalism - Marriage on the Rocks
bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0…
bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0…
@SenSanders
#GreenDemocraticSocialism
"In (the US) three people own more wealth than the bottom half of all Amercan society"
"A system ruled by greed and rigged against ordinary people"
It's OK To Be Angry About Capitalism
hive.co.uk/.../Its-OK-to-…
#GreenDemocraticSocialism
"In (the US) three people own more wealth than the bottom half of all Amercan society"
"A system ruled by greed and rigged against ordinary people"
It's OK To Be Angry About Capitalism
hive.co.uk/.../Its-OK-to-…
The wife of the special counsel #JackSmith donated to Joe Biden’s campaign & was one of the producers of Michelle Obama’s documentary for #Netflix.
ijr.com/top-investigat…
ijr.com/top-investigat…
#JackSmith, recruited by Merrick Garkand from the ICC to prosecute President Trump, was complicit in IRS targeting conservative non-profits, together with notorious Lois Lerner.
aclj.org/radical-left/b…
aclj.org/radical-left/b…
According to a witness testimony, #JackSmith initiated a meeting with Lois Lerner to discuss "enforcement" against conservative groups engaging in politics in the aftermath of #CitizensUnited SCOTUS decision.
justthenews.com/accountability…
justthenews.com/accountability…
Today marks the 13 year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s disastrous decision in #CitizensUnited v. F.E.C. which opened the door for billionaires and corporate America to buy influence and power in Washington.
Here are 10 ways the decision has eroded our democracy: a thread 🧵
Here are 10 ways the decision has eroded our democracy: a thread 🧵
Outside groups have spent over $9 billion in federal elections since the #CitizensUnited decision 13 years ago.
Over $1 billion in undisclosed and untraceable dark money was spent in the 2020 election cycle alone.
Trump's tax evasion scheme is nothing compared to the 350 American companies hoarding corporate cash offshore.
@Apple: $215B stashed in Ireland.
-Taxes owed $65.4b
@nikestore: $10.7B stashed in Bermuda.
-Taxes owed $3.6b
@amazon : in 2021 $5.2 stashed.
/1
@Apple: $215B stashed in Ireland.
-Taxes owed $65.4b
@nikestore: $10.7B stashed in Bermuda.
-Taxes owed $3.6b
@amazon : in 2021 $5.2 stashed.
/1
Others:
@Google
@Microsoft
@IBM
@generalelectric
@Cisco
@Oracle
@Pfizer
@exxonmobil
@Chevron
@WalmartInc
@PepsiCo
@ProcterGamble
@McDonaldsCorp
#JohnsonJohnson @JNJNews
There are more companies cheating all Americans out of paying their fair share in taxes.
/2
@Microsoft
@IBM
@generalelectric
@Cisco
@Oracle
@Pfizer
@exxonmobil
@Chevron
@WalmartInc
@PepsiCo
@ProcterGamble
@McDonaldsCorp
#JohnsonJohnson @JNJNews
There are more companies cheating all Americans out of paying their fair share in taxes.
/2
Small mom & pop businesses are not on the list. They (we) are the backbone of the U.S. We need to end #citizensunited & #lobbying in our politics. The imbalance of taxes and loopholes is staggering.
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1/ My starting point for #SupremeCourt jurisprudence since 2000 is a telling quote from Joel Klein's "The Natural" in which a Republican Senator concedes to Clinton that Republicans don't believe in government, but they love power. 
2/2000: #BushvGore, the Supreme Court stays the Florida recount with any opinion justifying the stay and then reverses the Fla. Supreme Court recount order as violating the Equal Protection Clause in a per curiam opinion that can't be cited as precedent.
3/2002: President Bush signed the #McCainFeingold campaign finance reform law, which foolishly included a restriction on the use of independent expenditures for commercials 60 days before an election.
1/ #NorthCarolina Could Be Next in Joining Initiative to Restore Balance Between State and Federal Government theepochtimes.com/north-carolina… North Carolina could be joining the Convention of States using Article V of the United States Constitution. #NoConCon
2/ "In March 2021, the North Carolina House passed House Joint Resolution 233, which calls for the state to be added to the convention, now leaving it up to the Senate to follow the House’s lead."
@clearing_fog @davetroy 🧵WV v EPA
"in an unusually muscular assertion of power, [SCOTUS] agreed to review the now-revoked plan"
"the court's 6-justice conservative supermajority has been itching to limit the power of regulatory agencies, & potentially even the power of Congress"
npr.org/2022/02/28/108…
"in an unusually muscular assertion of power, [SCOTUS] agreed to review the now-revoked plan"
"the court's 6-justice conservative supermajority has been itching to limit the power of regulatory agencies, & potentially even the power of Congress"
npr.org/2022/02/28/108…
@clearing_fog @davetroy 2/ NPR Feb 28, 2022⤴️:
"In recent cases, the conservative court majority has begun to outline something it calls the 'major questions doctrine,' which could hamstring the authority of all agencies, from the EPA to the SEC to Federal Reserve Board." (more)
ballotpedia.org/West_Virginia_…
"In recent cases, the conservative court majority has begun to outline something it calls the 'major questions doctrine,' which could hamstring the authority of all agencies, from the EPA to the SEC to Federal Reserve Board." (more)
ballotpedia.org/West_Virginia_…
@clearing_fog @davetroy 3/ "[T]he major questions doctrine requires Congress to specifically authorize new policies or directions, even when the language of a statute gives an agency broad power."
Which means regulatory agencies would be merely paper-pushers, needing Congress to enact rules/policies.
Which means regulatory agencies would be merely paper-pushers, needing Congress to enact rules/policies.
PARALLELS INT'L is registered in:
~ a Yacht Harbor⛵️ in Malta
~ Switzerland
~ USA, 'incognito'
Patent Attorneys for Parallels/PLESK include:
~ Charles Knobloch
~ Aaron Hendelman
~ a Yacht Harbor⛵️ in Malta
~ Switzerland
~ USA, 'incognito'
Patent Attorneys for Parallels/PLESK include:
~ Charles Knobloch
~ Aaron Hendelman
Charles Knobloch on 'Social Responsibility'
Make Money or Else
Make Money or Else
By the way, Ref: charlesknobloch.blogspot.com
They're doing it again
'NotCitizensUnited' but 'found at the same place'
'Stop Biden', by 'Citizens United'
Sound familar?
Sound familar?
Some worry that making changes to the filibuster (there are more than 160 already) will make the Senate more polarized—more like the House—undermining the stability of federal policy. /1
This concern is driven by how polarized our politics has grown. To prove the point, Mitch McConnell (using comic-villain language) threatened to burn down the Senate if Democrats alter the filibuster to pass critical voting & democracy reforms. /2
Of course, this concern is overblown: the filibuster has not saved the Senate from becoming dysfunctional & polarized or ensured stable federal laws and policies. /3
The sinister story of Kyrsten Sinema's turn to conservatism and political corruption alternet.org/2021/10/kyrste… A "made woman," like the old mafiosi--Willing to do whatever it takes, compromise whatever principles she had, for the wealthy right-wing PACs unleashed by #CitizensUnited
Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema received the legal maximum of donations from several known GOP donors, new FEC filings show businessinsider.com/kyrsten-sinema… Donors previously donated to pro-Trump PACs and a PAC to elect Republicans to the Senate.
If (per the Gospel of St Romney), "corporations are people (my friend)," what kind of people are they? In 2003, Mark Achbar's documentary "The Corporation," made the compelling case that corporations are sociopaths (and hey, look, there's a sequel!).
thecorporation.com
1/
thecorporation.com
1/
If you'd like an unrolled version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
pluralistic.net/2021/10/12/no-…
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pluralistic.net/2021/10/12/no-…
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Ted Chiang says corporations are a procedural version of the genocidal Skynet AI that haunts the Terminator franchise:
buzzfeednews.com/article/tedchi…
Or, as @cstross calls them, "Slow AIs":
antipope.org/charlie/blog-s…
3/
buzzfeednews.com/article/tedchi…
Or, as @cstross calls them, "Slow AIs":
antipope.org/charlie/blog-s…
3/
This week on my podcast, I read my latest @locusmag column, "Tech Monopolies and the Insufficient Necessity of Interoperability." It presents a theory of change to get us to a world of aggressive, trans-industry, global trustbusting.
locusmag.com/2021/07/cory-d…
1/
locusmag.com/2021/07/cory-d…
1/
Most industries are monopolized. Whether we're talking about athletic shoes or pharmacy benefit managers, the path to monopolization is the same: companies buy up small competitors, merge with major ones, and use their investors' cash to subsidize anticompetitive attacks.
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2/
The reason they're able to get away with it is that for 40 years, the world's been in the grip of a dangerous economic delusion: that the only basis for fighting monopolies is "consumer welfare." That is, monopolies should only be considered harmful if they make prices go up.
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America has a poverty problem. So in 2017, why did Senate leadership vote for a GIGANTIC TAX BREAK for the wealthiest Americans at a time when they LEAST needed it while America’s people suffered as poverty levels rose through the roof? (Stealing from @profwolff on @jimmy_dore.)
When wealth disparity threatened to cause civil unrest, FDR made the bold move of hiring all the unemployed Americans & PAID THEM a fair wage to work.
He demanded the wealthiest Americans give some blood to avoid ruin.
He demanded the wealthiest Americans give some blood to avoid ruin.
FDR taxed the wealthy to hire Americans who were falling through the cracks. Millions of them. He did it in order to PROTECT big companies from dying (and a potential revolution) once they impoverished their CUSTOMERS/WORKERS with crushing wealth disparity.
It worked.
It worked.
Yesterday’s #Acquittal of Fmr. President Trump (by senators representing barely 1/3 of the country) underscores the urgent need to repair American democracy, beginning with swift passage of the landmark #ForThePeopleAct (a/k/a #HR1 and #S1) brennancenter.org/our-work/polic…
#HR1 includes the most ambitious expansion of voting access for eligible voters since the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Automatic + same day voter registration. Restoration of voting rights to the formerly incarcerated. Expanded early + mail voting. A commitment to restore the #VRA
Never forget that the #CapitolInsurrection was spurred by lies about “voter fraud” that have driven increasingly brazen #VoterSuppression efforts, primarily targeting Black and brown Americans. Trump harnessed these lies to try an overturn the election, but he didn’t invent them.
‼️SCOTUS’ #CitizensUnited ruling allows UNLIMITED, ANONYMOUS money to support political campaigns—aka #corruption—so we don't know all who bankrolled the rally that led to the deadly #TrumpInsurrection.
Just like 2016 Trump’s campaign.
FOLLOW THE MONEY and #EndCitizensUnited.🤬
Just like 2016 Trump’s campaign.
FOLLOW THE MONEY and #EndCitizensUnited.🤬
The really bad part about DARK MONEY: *no one* other than those directly involved with funneling the dirty money into campaigns knows who’s bankrolling.
It could be a US billionaire...or a foreign national. Once the $$ are here in the US, it’s easy to funnel $$ into politics.🤬
It could be a US billionaire...or a foreign national. Once the $$ are here in the US, it’s easy to funnel $$ into politics.🤬
Jeb Bush’s Super PAC got nailed with a YUGE $390,000 fine for soliciting >$1 million from #China nationals.
The Citizens United ruling LEGALIZED #corruption, loosening rules to allow hostile foreign powers to launder $$ to support US political campaigns.🤬
#EndCitizensUnited
The Citizens United ruling LEGALIZED #corruption, loosening rules to allow hostile foreign powers to launder $$ to support US political campaigns.🤬
#EndCitizensUnited
Today marks 11 years since #CitizensUnited—when SCOTUS opened the floodgates for billions in dark money to pour into our elections + corrode our democracy. (1/4)
Our political system is fundamentally broken, and at the core of this deep rot is money. Show me a supposedly “unfixable” problem in Washington and I’ll show you the political corruption standing in its way. (2/4)
When the NRA wants to block changes to our nation’s gun laws, it pours money into elections to ensure members of Congress vote against even the most common sense reforms. The story is the same with polluters. Insurance and drug companies. Oil companies. The list goes on. (3/4)
Today is the eleventh anniversary of the Supreme Court’s #CitizensUnited v. FEC decision: a thread.
Eleven years after the Supreme Court put a for sale sign on U.S. elections, our democracy has been corrupted to favor those with the biggest checks at the cost of the American people, and as we saw on January 6, it is more fragile than ever.
The voices of everyday families are overpowered by special interests and corporations are funding seditious members of Congress and dark money groups that organized and incited a violent and deadly assault at the United States Capitol Building.
THREAD: So...Newsom appointed @AlexPadilla4CA to be our next Senator.
We were part of a campaign pushing for a progressive appointment. Part of that campaign was sending prospective candidates questionnaires, and Padilla (well, a surrogate), filled his out
Here's what we got:
We were part of a campaign pushing for a progressive appointment. Part of that campaign was sending prospective candidates questionnaires, and Padilla (well, a surrogate), filled his out
Here's what we got:
Padilla claims to support decisive climate policy such as #GND2030, banning fracking, ending development of the fossil fuel infrastructure, and direct emission regulation. Padilla views climate change as ‘an existential crisis’.
What did @AlexPadilla4CA say on voting rights? Priorities include: a constitutional amendment to overturn #CitizensUnited, reinstating the #VRA, banning photo ID laws as well as dramatically expanding early/vote by mail options.
Our executive director, Jasmine Banks, was contacted to comment on this piece. Her comment did not make the final edits, and we are sure you can imagine why wsj.com/articles/charl…
This article is a gaslight to the highest degree. It is not unlike what we've seen Trump do to our nation-- say one thing and attempt to coerce us to believe their words over what we've witnessed and lived.
Maya Angelou taught us that when someone shows us who they are, we should believe them the first time. Koch's investments have material outcomes. Those outcomes demonstrate what he believes. Budgets are moral documents.
Well I woke up to the realization that the democrats have jumped the shark. They no longer have any compunction even pretending like they want to win the election. The decision to invite a cop onto the November ticket (even a 'black' one) cements their idiocy. #FuckBiden
I was delighted to watch #Tulsi2020 take down @KamalaHarris in the start of primary season. She's done little to defend working people from the banks. Failed to go after @stevenmnuchin1 for his part in the forclosure crisis. She thought the way to address truancy was to attack..
working parents and throw them in jail, rather than addressing the underlying systemic issues. She smoked pot for years while enabling her departments to continue to arrest black and poor people for the same thing. She is so out of touch with what needs to happen to accect..
❗ THREAD ❗
This week marks the one year anniversary of the U.S. House passing #HR1 - the #ForThePeople Act. This landmark legislation is the biggest political reform package proposed in Congress since Watergate and would improve our democracy for ALL Americans.
This week marks the one year anniversary of the U.S. House passing #HR1 - the #ForThePeople Act. This landmark legislation is the biggest political reform package proposed in Congress since Watergate and would improve our democracy for ALL Americans.
The #ForThePeople Act deals with ethics, campaign finance, voting rights, and gerrymandering.
While Mitch McConnell & the @SenateGOP have refused to even bring the bill up for a hearing or vote, states across the country are already implementing many of the reforms in #HR1.
While Mitch McConnell & the @SenateGOP have refused to even bring the bill up for a hearing or vote, states across the country are already implementing many of the reforms in #HR1.
One of the key reforms in #HR1 is a new small donor-focused public campaign finance system that gives everyday people a bigger voice in politics and limits the power of special interests. These types of programs have passed & worked in states & localities across the country.
"Bernie doesn't smile enough"
"He's too angry"
Alright @TheDemocrats how about we just gaze on a few gifs (everyone else, feel free to add your favorite gifs and memes). Better?
#NotMeUs #FeelTheBern #BernieSanders #BernieSanders2020 #BernieIsTheFrontRunner #BerninForYou
"He's too angry"
Alright @TheDemocrats how about we just gaze on a few gifs (everyone else, feel free to add your favorite gifs and memes). Better?
#NotMeUs #FeelTheBern #BernieSanders #BernieSanders2020 #BernieIsTheFrontRunner #BerninForYou
We all know how important it is to swag
Well four years later, he's still got it
@TheDemocrats, can't you see the swag levels?
#NotMeUs #FeelTheBern #BernieSanders #BernieSanders2020 #BernieIsTheFrontRunner #BerninForYou
Well four years later, he's still got it
@TheDemocrats, can't you see the swag levels?
#NotMeUs #FeelTheBern #BernieSanders #BernieSanders2020 #BernieIsTheFrontRunner #BerninForYou
A wink
He's happy and he knows it
See the joy just jumping off the gif, @TheDemocrats?
#NotMeUs #FeelTheBern #BernieSanders #BernieSanders2020 #BernieIsTheFrontRunner #BerninForYou
He's happy and he knows it
See the joy just jumping off the gif, @TheDemocrats?
#NotMeUs #FeelTheBern #BernieSanders #BernieSanders2020 #BernieIsTheFrontRunner #BerninForYou
