Here is Bill Moyers’ response to the recent Supreme Court decision not to revisit Citizen’s United. Check out the full clip, which only runs 6 1/2 minutes.
Three things don’t go together: Money. Secrecy. Democracy. And that’s the nub of the matter. This is all a sham for invalidating democracy in the name of democracy. It’s the trick authoritarians always use to hide their real intention — in this case absolute power over our public life and institutions: the privatization of everything. The Supreme Court is pointing the way. Instead of mitigating the worst excesses of both the state and the private sector, the Court has taken sides. Saying to the massed wealth of the one percent: America is yours for the taking, for the buying.
http://billmoyers.com/
There really is nothing to add to something so shameful and tragic.
The First Gates 
I have long held all campaigns should be supported by a simple checkmark on tax returns giving one or two dollars to the party of one’s choice or to a pool that would be divided equally between qualifying candidates. I don’t think there should be huge donors be they unions, businesses, or individuals. And campaigns should be limited to running for only two months before an election. That would, in and of itself, limit the amount of money candidates would need to raise. We are all suffering from campaign fatigue. November can’t come fast enough for me. Obama has been campaigning since he took the oath of office and the Republican party has been running against him that long. Enough already!
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It’s a strange world when some of the best political commentary you hear comes from the Comedy Channel. Your comments echo some things Dan Rather said when he was a guest on the Colbert Report. His suggestion though, was that those public funds be used to present series of weekly, one hour debates before the election – real debates, not the reality-TV version we get nowadays. Discussions with panels that ask real questions, and moderators who keep the candidates on track.
Unfortunately, I think as long as Citizens United stands, it guarantees that reforms based on reason and fairness don’t stand a chance. The entities that have won the power to buy elections won’t surrender it easily…
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