From John Goray
Monroe
To the editor:
The Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling has unleashed a flood of cash into our electoral processes that is having a profoundly negative effect on our country.
Quite simply, our democracy cannot survive the current assault upon it by unlimited amounts of cash. When the rich can spend as much as they wish to affect congressional outcomes, is it any wonder that it is their wishes that Congress listens to and not those of ordinary citizens? In fact, recent studies show that unless you're among the wealthiest Americans your interest (and opinions) will not be represented in Congress at all.
Unfortunately, this has led a vast number of Americans, who correctly feel their vote means very little, to choose not to vote at all, thinking perhaps that elections are not important. At the same time, wealthy folks like the Koch brothers are investing ever greater sums of money to influence elections. They are not spending billions because they think elections are unimportant, nor are the goals they seek likely to benefit you and me. Convincing people that they are powerless is their greatest weapon. Hopelessness and apathy are their allies.
It might be supposed that most "public servants" entered politics with the idea of "serving the public." Unfortunately, it is not long after arriving in Congress that our representatives find themselves riding two horses, one representing the public interest and the other representing big money. The path these two horses take inevitably diverges. This leads to a very uncomfortable psychological and ethical position for the public servant who must appear to represent the public while in reality they are working for big oil, big pharmaceutical companies, the military industrial complex, or Wall Street. The members of Congress who can hold on to their ideals while managing to win elections becomes smaller in every cycle. The cash the special interests provide comes to mean more than the public interest. The constant need for our Congressional representatives to be "dialing for dollars" rather than governing has contributed mightily to governmental dysfunction. Our people in Congress no longer have the time for personal interaction with each other that good government requires. We have seen a dramatic drop in civil discourse in Congress and ridiculous levels of polarization and gridlock. It is time for this nonsense to stop. To do something about this contact Jeanette Kelty, Monroe Coordinator, Move to Amend, at 608-293-0266.
Monroe
To the editor:
The Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling has unleashed a flood of cash into our electoral processes that is having a profoundly negative effect on our country.
Quite simply, our democracy cannot survive the current assault upon it by unlimited amounts of cash. When the rich can spend as much as they wish to affect congressional outcomes, is it any wonder that it is their wishes that Congress listens to and not those of ordinary citizens? In fact, recent studies show that unless you're among the wealthiest Americans your interest (and opinions) will not be represented in Congress at all.
Unfortunately, this has led a vast number of Americans, who correctly feel their vote means very little, to choose not to vote at all, thinking perhaps that elections are not important. At the same time, wealthy folks like the Koch brothers are investing ever greater sums of money to influence elections. They are not spending billions because they think elections are unimportant, nor are the goals they seek likely to benefit you and me. Convincing people that they are powerless is their greatest weapon. Hopelessness and apathy are their allies.
It might be supposed that most "public servants" entered politics with the idea of "serving the public." Unfortunately, it is not long after arriving in Congress that our representatives find themselves riding two horses, one representing the public interest and the other representing big money. The path these two horses take inevitably diverges. This leads to a very uncomfortable psychological and ethical position for the public servant who must appear to represent the public while in reality they are working for big oil, big pharmaceutical companies, the military industrial complex, or Wall Street. The members of Congress who can hold on to their ideals while managing to win elections becomes smaller in every cycle. The cash the special interests provide comes to mean more than the public interest. The constant need for our Congressional representatives to be "dialing for dollars" rather than governing has contributed mightily to governmental dysfunction. Our people in Congress no longer have the time for personal interaction with each other that good government requires. We have seen a dramatic drop in civil discourse in Congress and ridiculous levels of polarization and gridlock. It is time for this nonsense to stop. To do something about this contact Jeanette Kelty, Monroe Coordinator, Move to Amend, at 608-293-0266.
