Old white guy power, and other election topics

Who’s Buying the Election? A Bunch of Old White Guys by Zoe Carpenter for The Nation.

Speaking as an old white guy, I do not feel represented by the rich people who finance the election campaigns.  And I can say the same is true of my old white male circle of friends.

The problem with our system of campaign financing is that it is dominated by a tiny group of super-rich people, less than 0.1 percent of the population, whose economic interests run counter to the rest of us, including the vast majority of us elderly white males.

Making this elite more diverse will not change this.  What’s needed is to reduce its power.

Two Charts on Why the Obama Economy Sucks by Ian Welsh.

Ian Welsh points out that the percentage of working-age Americans with jobs fell and remained low all through the Obama administration, as did median household income.  Although the election is influenced by many factors, Republicans would not have a shot at controlling the Senate if economic conditions were better for most Americans.

Now the Democrats did not create the recession, nor are they responsible for the fact that it is much worse than a normal economic downturn.  And it is true they face obstruction from Republicans in Congress and on the Supreme Court.  But what have they done, or tried to do, or talked about doing, aside from a modest economic stimulus plan, that would make things better?  It seems to me they’ve swallowed the meme that reducing the budget deficit takes precedence over putting Americans to work.

It’s Cheaper to Buy a Judge Than a State Senator by Joe Pinsker for The Atlantic.

Spending on state judicial elections increased ten-fold from 2002 to 2012.  Political advertising campaigns demand judges who are more severe to defendants in criminal cases.  But the aim of the advertisers, it seems to me, is to get judges who are more lenient to corporate and business defendants in civil cases.

Wall Street Democrats’ wake-up call: Why center-right policies make for horrible politics by Luke Brinker for Salon.

Ted Cruz’s big (awful) plans: Why a clash is coming if GOP wins a majority by Jim Newell for Salon.

Rand Paul’s Millennial Quest: A Little Libertarian, a Lot of Something Else by Adele Stan for the American Prospect.

Ad Spending Tops $1 Billion; Dark Money Groups Buy Significant Share by Robert Maguire for OpenSecrets.

A Flood of Late Spending on Midterm Elections, From Murky Sources by Nicholas Confessore and Derek Willis for the New York Times.

Jim Crow Returns by Greg Palast for Al Jazeera America.

Millions of minority voters are disenfranchised because they have the same first and last names as somebody else (even if middle initials are different, or one is “Sr.” and the other is “Jr.”

Voting fraud frenzy threatens a core American liberty by David Horsey for the Baltimore Sun.

Democrats: Vote or We’ll Kick Your Ass by Carl Campanile or Natalie O’Neill for the New York Post.

GOP to Iowans: Your Neighbor Will Know If You Don’t Vote Republican by Judd Legum for Think Progress.

Russell Brand is wrong: Voting really can change things for the better by Sean McElwee for Salon.

Don’t be content to vote for the lesser evil, but do vote.  If voting didn’t matter, nobody would be trying to prevent people from voting.  As the man said, voting does not accomplish political change, but it is the beginning of political change.

Tags: Barack Obama, Democrats and Republicans, elderly white men, election 2014, Rand Paul, Republicans and Democrats, state judgeships, Ted Cruz, voting restrictions