Various House GOP members are adding in little bits and bobs of campaign finance deregulation into different budget bills, because clearly they think that finding more ways (and more hidden ways) to let people spend their way to political success will favor their party make us all More Free!
Among the featured ideas:
[C]hurches may be able to contribute to candidates without fear of losing their tax-exempt status, furthering President Donald Trump’s promise to “get rid of and totally destroy” a law that forbids such activity.
Yes, what could possibly go wrong with letting churches launder pass on tax-exempt donation directly to political campaigns and candidates. How could that possibly corrupt the political process, or make blur the bounds of church and state (to the detriment of both)?
Remember the reason that churches are tax-exempt because they serve a socially beneficial purpose, in terms of charitable services, and because the power to tax churches could be used to persecute them. The reason is not to let churches as an organization (vs. individual church-goers) donate directly into the political process.
Corporations would be able to ask their employees to donate to unlimited numbers of trade associations’ political action groups instead of limiting employee solicitations to one group per year.
Because companies never, ever strong-arm employees into donating to political causes, and if they solicit for trade association PACs on a regular basis, well, that will just make it harder to detect such shenanigans (with never take place).
Other proposals on the table?
- Prohibiting the IRS and SEC from regulating corporate political spending. Because since it’s no problem, why have anyone regulating it?
- Prohibiting the federal government from requiring federal contractors to disclose their political activities and contributions. Because how could federal contractor political donations possibly lead to corruption in how federal contracts are awarded?
Remember, these are the folk who keep saying they are here to “drain the swamp.” From everything I can see here, they simply want to make it deeper.
Republicans tuck new deregulation of campaign financing into House spending bills – MarketWatch
Everything is already so corrupt none of this matters, you should just expect the corrupt to be corrupt, and that is both sides.
+Marty Marsh I'm prepared to contend against corruption from any side. At the moment, though, in these instances, it's the GOP, and I will not stand back and shrug with a moral equivalency "both sides do it" shrug.
+Dave Hill that is good, I hope to hear more from you when the left acts up. Of course for the most part, I think this is all a dog and pony show, it's the lefts turn tomorrow.
Maybe this is how you get the Reichstag burned? I'm just sayin'.