I guess I don't see a problem with this. There is not a mandate that all businesses support Republicans, and we sure know there are plenty of rich democrats who can give big checks (see Maher, Bill).
I think the Dems aren't happy that turnabout is fair play. The unions ran most elections due their coerced fundraising ability - some folks call them "dues".
It really puts the Dems and Repubs on equal footing: The unions raise money via dues and use it to further the unions interest, which theoretically helps their members (although not all members see it that way - see WI).
The companies do the same thing - which theoretically helps their employees.
I think the problem is, the Republican donors represent those who have worked hard and are successful (overall) - so there is much more money to give.
Frankly that is the way it should be. If you are really for repealing Citizen United, then you should also be for making it illegal for any union to get involved with an election - through money or organizing.
But, CU has made it fair, finally, for both sides. And that has allowed people's true feelings to come out - ala WI.
There is not much future any longer for Freddie the Freeloader.
Well, that certainly explains the conservative view - and benefits it. I don't agree with much of it. If you take out the union money (the shrinking numbers, shrinking dues, shrinking influence - that you guys talk about when minimizing unions when it's politically advantageous to your argument) from most elections, you are usually left with mostly republican/conservative groups and organizations. I think you probably would agree with that. There are examples of this all over, and I think you've probably seen them. And since the ruling, the money has grown dramatically from these groups with a face, and more dramatically from these groups that have no face and we don't know where they come from. Much of it in local and state elections that come from out of the state - we saw this big time in Wisconsin. So, you have secret big money (in many cases) from outside locales and states that are controlling the message. And I guess that is ok with you, as long as they share your views. I think that's selfish, short-sighted, and destroys democracy. You guys want to reshape democracy, which makes our process not a democracy at all, but a plutocracy. Literally, that is where we are headed.
There is nothing fair about what is actually happening. And with more control of elections, there will be reshaping and controlling policy, purely to benefit those who have the money. Things have been pretty even for as long as I remember between unions and conservative groups in the electoral process. Otherwise, wouldn't we always have democratic majorities, Presidents, etc? It just doesn't make sense.
But before you throw this out again ? I would be fine doing away with unions contributing to elections. I?m fine taking as much money out of the process as possible. To say that this ruling ?fixed? things or evened them out for the betterment of the individual is ridiculous. It did just the opposite, except for a select few ?individuals.? Which evidently, is the same as a corporation, which is also ridiculous.
Again, I wasn?t a proponent of the recall. I also don?t see how Barrett would be a great Governor for the state, based on the record I?ve seen in Milwaukee. It?s a much larger issue than that for me. It?s about the people like you and me forever having a smaller voice than ever in our representation. And I don?t know how anyone could argue against that, and I haven?t seen anyone do a decent job of explaining that. The scary part is, before we know what hit us, it could be too late to make any difference.