Bias Campaign Donation Laws Give Preference to Big Labor
Next year’s Congressional, Gubernatorial, and Senate elections promise to be exciting with the Republican comeback officially underway after convincing wins in New Jersey and Virginia. Democrats, many of whom rode the anti-Bush wave into office, are sure to face tough races from newly invigorated Republicans.
The difference in these sure to be close elections may very well come down to a candidate’s ability to raise money. During a campaign, a candidate’s cash determines everything from the staff they can hire to the mediums they will message with. Bob McDonnell highly praised Virginia gubernatorial campaign used expensive text messaging technology to turn out voters. Such luxuries would not have been possible except for the massive amounts of money he raised.
In 2010, Democrats will once again call upon their most ardent contributors, big labor- who donated a whopping 450 billion dollars to Democrats in the 2008 election cycle, to propel them to victory. With some multinational unions containing over two million members, the influence exerted by unions is comparable only to that of corporations.
Yet, eight states prohibit corporations from contributing directly to candidates in state elections while allowing unions tomake such political donations. Current murky fundraising laws only strengthen big labor’s ability to influence elections.
“In Tennessee, unions can give up to $2,500 to candidates for statewide office and $1,000 to legislative candidates. In Connecticut, unions can contribute up to $3,500 to gubernatorial candidates, $1,000 to Senate candidates and $250 to House candidates. And in Iowa, unions can make unlimited campaign donations.”
With 87% of all union donations going to Democratic candidates, Republicans are at a disadvantage in states that do not allow corporations to directly donate to campaigns. Differences made between corporations and unions in the realm of campaign contributions are largely arbitrary, both are enormous self-interested organizations. Unlike unions, though, corporations create jobs and wealth for their shareholders through voluntary transactions for goods or services. Unions, on the other hand, survive by coercing workers to join their ranks while simultaneously destroying jobs.
Keep an eye on Democratic candidate’s cash in Montana, Minnesota, Iowa, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Massachusetts and Connecticut, the eight states which allow direct candidate contributions but bar corporations from identical donations. Union stuffed war chests just might provide Democrats the extra push they need to win in 2010.
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Labor unions in our state have fixed everything from drain commissioner elections to the Presidency. They will stop at nothing - soon we'll see labor talking heads on the supreme court.
>> Carol November 24, 2009 24:29 pm
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