The American Politburo

[g5000]

There have been at least half a dozen major campaign finance reforms either enacted by Congress or ordered by the US Supreme Court since 1970. And yet despite all these efforts by the do-gooders, the re-election rate of a US Congressman remains unchanged at about 98 percent since at least the 60s. For a US Senator, it has remained unchanged at over 80 percent since the 80s.

Reelection Rates Over the Years | OpenSecrets

This means a Congressman or Senator pretty much has to die or retire before you get a new one.

These people have become so confident in their re-election abilities that even getting caught smoking pole in an airport men's room does not cause them to step down immediately. Not even getting caught wearing diapers in a New Orleans whorehouse isn't enough to get rid of one of these pigs any more. Not even getting caught willfully breaking tax laws or taking bribes is enough to shame them into resigning on the spot. These scum have us believing they are the best people to serve us!!!

We have an American Politburo.

Sure, the Soviet Politburo members received 98 percent of the popular vote (wink-wink) while our Politburo members do not, but that is a distinction without a difference. Once in office, they are firmly entrenched and immovable.

And just like their Soviet counterparts, the American Politburo decides who our Supreme Leader will be. Our competing factions don't kill each other off, and the losers don't mysteriously end up in insane asylums, but the results are the same. Mitt Romney was selected by the Red party establishment as their candidate long before the first primaries. The primaries were theater for the rubes.


How is this American Politburo able to ensure their permanency? Easy.

In the People's House, congressional district gerrymandering ensures a very stable and predictable outcome for each party. A Senator has to win the entire state, and that is why their re-election numbers are slightly lower.

However, even a Senator has more than an 80 percent chance of re-election. And just because your congressional district is drawn to favor your party, that alone does not ensure the guy currently occupying that seat will win again and again and again.

So how do we cement the odds?

Money. Lots and lots of money. An incumbent has the entire establishment behind him or her. But not just the establishment, but industry, too.

Industry? Yes, industry. Truckloads of cash come from industry.

Why does industry give this money to an incumbent?

Because the incumbent is able to fuck with the tax code. He has the power to insert all kinds of government giveaways in the form of subsidies, credits, deductions, exemptions all under the heading of "tax expenditures".

The income tax code started out at 15 pages. Today, it is over 17,000! Every single day for at least the past 10 years, a new tax expenditure is added to the tax code by your representatives for their friends. And every tax break has to be paid for by someone else. By you. And it adds to the debt, which means that much more borrowing from China. All for the purpose of holding onto their seats.

The government is now deciding what refrigerator you must buy by giving you a tax deduction for buying refrigerators made by their friends. The government does this for an amazing array of commercial products.

If you don't buy the right products, you are paying more taxes than the people who do. Didn't buy a house? You have a MUCH bigger tax bill. Didn't have any kids? You have a MUCH bigger tax bill.

If you don't buy the right stuff or behave in the right way, you are effectively penalized for it.

So it was not a big leap to penalize you for not buying the right health insurance.

This is all your fault. You have been letting the Politburo get away with this for your entire adult life.


Another campaign revenue channel is opened up with regulatory authority. Our boys in Congress have worked very hard to usurp state regulatory authority and concentrate all the power at the top. Once you control all the power, you get to dole it out or withhold it from your friends. They must pay for you to relax the rules under which they operate. Or they must pay for you to increase it on their enemies. Are you a greenie who hates Big Oil? Give your Senator big bucks to increase regs on Big Oil. Are you a coal industry magnate? Give your Senator big bucks to oppose alternative energy subsidies.

Here's a great example. Section 117 in the Commodities Futures Modernization Act:

This Act shall supersede and preempt the application of any State or local law that prohibits or regulates gaming or the operation of bucket shops

Not one "states rights" harpie made a single noise over this.

This was an act which loosened up regulations for Wall Street. Ask yourself this question: Why does a bank need to be exempted from gaming laws and state laws against bucket shops? When you answer that, you have stumbled onto one of the causes of the crash. The usurpation of state regulatory authority over banks.


See, when you take power away from 50 state attorneys general, and concentrate it all at the federal level, you make regulatory capture that much easier to achieve. You make the tit-for-tat cash-for-favors exchange that much easier.


You've been letting them get away with this your entire adult life.


98 percent re-election rate.

That's ALL of them, folks. Not just the other team. ALL of them.

They are all in cahoots.

Look at those numbers. Look at the tax code. Look at the regulations.

The scheme is right in front of you.

Stop being a partisan rube regurgitating what they want you to regurgitate. YOU ARE BEING USED!!!

 

[nodoginnafight]

Good post.
Election finance reform sounds like the ticket.
Now who do I call to get that moving????

 

[zeke]

Plutocracy is what we live under. It ain't so bad as long as you stay on the good side of the plutocrats.
But you really do have to watch out for yourself.

 

[g5000]

Good post.
Election finance reform sounds like the ticket.
Now who do I call to get that moving????

Election finance reform has already been tried. Again, and again, and again, and again.

It has NO EFFECT on the re-election rate of an incumbent.


The answer is to ban all tax expenditures and to minimize the concentration of regulatory authority at the federal level.

If a Congressman cannot put a tax break in the tax code, then an industry group has absolutely no incentive to give him any campaign cash for doing so. See how that works?

Plus you get the added benefits of being able to lower everyone's tax rates and being absolutely positive that everyone who earns the same income you do pays the identical amount of taxes you do. It does not get more fair than that!