In a landmark year for corruption in the state legislature, 2015 saw the arrest and conviction of two of the most powerful political leaders in New York. A crescendo of voices across the state -- from good government watchdogs to lawmakers -- expressed outrage and demanded stronger ethics laws and campaign finance reforms. In one sense, Albany now has the opportunity to put its money where its mouth is -- and all it needs is one signature.
New York is one signatory away from becoming the 17th state in the country to call for a constitutional amendment to negate the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in the Citizens United case, which gave entities such as corporations and unions the same rights as individuals in contributing to electoral campaigns.
A successful bipartisan appeal for a federal constitutional amendment in the State Assembly has yet to be replicated by the State Senate, where 31 senators -- one short of a majority -- support overturning Citizens United to minimize the role of money in politics. While agreement by a majority of each house from New York would only be advisory, like the other states that have reached consensus, a groundswell for negating Citizens United could influence Congress.
15 comments:
"While agreement by a majority of each house from New York would only be ADVISORY..."
....And, guess who controls the Senate. Maybe we'll fix that with the next cycle.
The under the table money is more troublesome than donations that go on public record, how about investigating that. No constitutional amendment required.
We pass laws and amendments but we do not enforce them.
Money talks and the crooked walk.
Ever since the creation of our republic, those with deep pockets have been able to buy in to control government.
Unions all ways gave money,citizens united is not the problem
Corruption and greed,lobbyist,will always run the show
What does the Sup. Ct. decision in "Citizens United" have to do the Silver, Skelos, Smith, etc.?
anon #1
"....And, guess who controls the Senate. Maybe we'll fix that with the next cycle."
If we finally had a true unchecked ONE PARTY government for New York.
That would be great!
We could get this bill passed - and you believe it.
That is how Obamacare became law on the federal level.
"Be careful what you wish for, 'cause you just might get it; You just might get it; You just might get it (get it)." - The Pussycat Dolls
Neither party wants this, and they have a the Senate to blame.
Do you think ALL the unions in this state wants this?
And all the SPENDING bills could pass unchecked.
We could have a $25 or $50 per hour minimum wage. WOW - GREAT
We could take the expressway on our road to Detroit...
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Unions all ways gave money,citizens united is not the problem
Corruption and greed,lobbyist,will always run the show
--------------------------
WRONG, Citizens United was the worst ruling ever, it totally corrupted a system to a few families, where a system already had issues to begin with.
It amazes me all this anti-union that the Republicans love to talk about, in the meantime they are no one else says much about the leaders of corporation. Unions have done much good in this country for the average worker. So you would like to see the average worker screwed but leaders of corporations and the upper 1% take everything.
Yet, the same people who criticize unions will complaint about wage stagnation. You see what happened with the asshole union buster Scott Walker and how he totally fucked up shit big time.
its not always about the spending
jeb bush spent $40 million & trump spent nothin
In one cycle alone my union gave 3 million to the politicians selling us his soul,is agree,they should not be taking money from corporations but unions should not be able to also,some people are fine with unions only,they like that
Unions are a great idea in theory, their leadership, not so much. My union (IAM) gave millions for politics and the local threw us under the bus every other day. Much like the government, the leadership sucks. Power corrupts.
The Citizens United decision wasn't just cynical and wrong, it's turned out to be an abject failure since both political parties have took advantage of it. In a short amount of time, It led to equally abominable McCutchen decision, which gave corporations as persons the right to donate to any candidate in any state that they happen to have a business in but don't actually live in. It basically states that an entity or a franchise also has the same rights as a person.
But as with all bonehead decisions, it has resulted in blowback. As of this day, the leading candidates are Trump and Sanders. Trump using his own money to run and Sanders relying on grass roots instead of shady PAC's.
Sure this legislation may be window dressing, but the tide may be turning to actual transparency and accountability, especially since the busts of Shelly and Dean. And especially since Cuomo is embracing populist causes, but mostly to undermine the Blaz and to precariously cover his tracks from his prior abuses showing favoritism and doling patronage to his developer and corporate donors to keep Preet off his scrawny ass.
@sarc - quoting pussycat dolls? Your comments rule but there are better songs out there to crib from.
In the old "boses are bastards" days, unions were a great way to get workers some financial justice without being abused.
Much later the union leaders became the bastard "boses" ....some worse than the original 1930s variety.
Everytime I watch the film, "On The Waterfront" and look at Lee J. Cobb's portrayal of crooked union boss "Johnny Friendly", I'm reminded of Brian Mc Laughlin (former chief of the all powerful New York Central Labor Council) who just got out of federal prison.
Did anyone watch Cuomo's State Of The State speech?? What a bore. I felt like the guys in this funny video that was recorded at a Trump event:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDML9Cfuw-0
How about term limits?
How long has the Stavisky dynasty held a big fat seat in Albany?
You'd need an industrial crane to move Moby Stavisky out of the Senate chambers.
I wonder wher she's hiding all of her under the table payoffs?
Maybe Dean or Sheldon will rat her put in exchange for a shorter prison term.
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