The happiest countries have universal healthcare,unemployment benefits, free college, reproductive rights and maternity leave. The rich pay taxes.

They don't have mass shootings, Citizens United or Donald Trump.

Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell bluntly warned Republican senators in a private meeting not to sign on to a bill from Sen. Josh Hawley aimed at limiting corporate money bankrolling high-powered outside groups, telling them that many of them won their seats thanks to the powerful super PAC the Kentucky Republican has long controlled.

According to multiple sources familiar with the Tuesday lunch meeting, McConnell warned GOP senators that they could face “incoming” from the “center-right” if they signed onto Hawley’s bill. He also read off a list of Senators who won their races amid heavy financial support from the Senate Leadership Fund, an outside group tied to the GOP leader that spends big on TV ads in battleground Senate races. On that list of senators: Hawley himself, according to sources familiar with the matter.

McConnell has long been a chief opponent of tighter campaign finance restrictions. But there’s also no love lost between McConnell and Hawley, who has long criticized the GOP leader and has repeatedly called for new leadership atop their conference. Just on Tuesday, Hawley told CNN that it was “mistake” for McConnell to be “standing with” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, in their push to tie Ukraine aid to an Israel funding package.

Hawley’s new bill, called the Ending Corporate Influence on Elections Act, is aimed at reversing the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision that loosened campaign finance laws – an effort that aligns the conservative Missouri Republican with many Democrats. Hawley’s bill would ban publicly traded corporations from making independent expenditures and political advertisements – and ban those publicly traded companies from giving money to super PACs.

In an interview, Hawley defended his bill and said that corporate influence should be limited in elections.

“I think that’s wrong,” Hawley told CNN. “I think it’s wrong as an original matter. I think it’s warping our politics, and I see no reason for conservatives to defend it. It’s wrong as a matter of the original meaning of the Constitution. It is bad for our elections. It’s bad for our voters. And I just think on principle, we ought to be concerned.”

According to a list of Senators obtained by CNN, McConnell singled out a number of lawmakers who benefited from his outside group over the last three cycles: Mike Braun of Indiana, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Susan Collins of Maine, Steve Daines of Montana, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Katie Britt of Alabama, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Eric Schmitt of Missouri, Ted Budd of North Carolina, JD Vance of Ohio and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.

In 2018, Hawley benefited from more than $20 million from McConnell’s group.

McConnell’s office declined to comment.

I was wondering why everyone overlooked the most IMPORTANT line in that movie 😳

Repealing citizens United would maybe stick it to Mattel for watering down the message of the movie.

Our reporting sheds additional light on how the two men, one a judicial kingmaker and the other a mysterious but prolific donor to conservative causes, came together to create a political war chest that will likely supercharge efforts to further shift American politics to the right.

[…]

“To my knowledge, it is entirely without precedent for a political operative to be given control of such an astonishing amount of money,” said Brendan Fischer, a campaign finance lawyer at the nonpartisan watchdog group Documented. “Leonard Leo is already incredibly powerful, and now he is going to have over a billion dollars at his disposal to continue upending our country’s institutions.”

What a fucking joke End Citizens United has turned into.

Can you please share this so people from the USA who follow/interact with you might see it? Claudia De la Cruz is a 2024 USA presidential candidate with the Party for Socialism and Liberation and she is actively trying to help Palestine. Thank you!

Of course!

"Claudia De la Cruz and Karina Garcia are running for President and Vice-President as the candidates of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Claudia De la Cruz is a mother, popular educator and theologian born in the South Bronx who has spent her life organizing for justice for working people at home and to end U.S. empire abroad. Karina Garcia is a Chicana organizer, popular educator and mother who has spent her entire adult life fighting for the rights of immigrant workers, women and the whole working class." https://votesocialist2024.com/ (their candidate website)

🙏🏻🍿🇺🇸

Apartheid Clyde promotes nazis.

Two progressive groups want the Federal Election Commission to investigate Fox Corp. and former President Donald Trump's 2020 campaign for breaking campaign finance laws.

On Friday, End Citizens United PAC filed a complaint with the FEC arguing that Fox Corp. Chair Rupert Murdoch broke the law when he shared Joe Biden's campaign ad and debate strategy with Trump adviser Jared Kushner.

The exchange of confidential information was first made public this week in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation case against Fox News and the Fox Corp. According to a filing citing Murdoch's sworn deposition, the Fox boss admitted to providing a preview of the ads with Kushner before they were public, as well as sharing Biden's debate strategy during the 2020 campaign.

End Citizens United PAC, a group that pushes for campaign finance reform, shared a copy of its complaint exclusively with NBC News. According to the group, the maximum penalty is five years prison time and fines of 200% of the value of the contribution.

“Fox Corporation’s blatant and cavalier act is a prohibited corporate contribution. The commission must immediately investigate,” wrote End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller.

The filing said the Trump campaign also broke the law by not disclosing the in-kind contribution. Neither Fox Corp. nor the Trump campaign immediately returned requests for comment.

Media Matters for America also filed an FEC complaint Friday against the two entities, alleging that Fox made "illegal corporate in-kind contribution."

Dominion has sued Fox News and Fox Corp. for $1.6 billion, arguing it defamed the voting systems manufacturer by knowingly broadcasting baseless fraud claims about its election equipment. Fox News has defended its coverage and criticized the defamation suit as "baseless."

Capitalism

We used to be the greatest manufacturer on Earth. Now we just manufacture Billionaires.

I am so upset rn