editorials

For the 100th time, it's nobody's business who I donate to. The only reason liberals want these laws is so that they can find out who donated to causes THEY don't like, and then harrass and boycott them. Look at what they did to Target. The liberals went nuts when they found out Target donated to a group they didn't like, and threatened, harrassed, and boycotted Target. To their shame, Target wound up caving like cowards. And THAT is why donations should be private. If they are not, then such disclosure laws will have a chilling effect on free speech. The US Supreme Court has already ruled most 'disclosure' laws are unconstitutional, yet Minnesota foolishly passed some anyway. Even worse, an incompetent activist judge then rules that the laws are OK anyway. After his embarrassing reversal, Judge Donovan Frank needs to immediately issue an injunction blocking such laws, then get it right and rule that Minnesota's laws are unconstitutional. Time for Frank to take the hint from the 8th Circuit.

The two things that corrupt democracy the most are secrecy and money. When you combine the two, even more damage is done. Public disclosure of campaign contributions doesn't limit one's free speech, it only holds them accountable for that speech. They can still say whatever they want but must also accept the consequences. Accountability is the part politicians and some wealthy donors don't want.

So minn12, does anyone who disagrees with you constitute a liberal? This seems to be an issue both sides should welcome. How do you know I am not the front man for Hezbollah, here in the US, contributing money to a candidate I can pay off to begin making laws more favorable to the people I represent? Wouldn't you want to know that? If Target makes a donation you don't agree with, it is your right to protest. Unless you want to limit rights. What is the problem with people marching and displaying their disagreement? If you want make sure everyone who votes is doing so legally, why wouldn't you want to know who our politicians are taking money from? Seems like a no brainer, but then us independents see that, the extremists can't/don't want to.

Given the HUGE amounts of money that are being thrown around in this election, I can't imagine why anyone would NOT want to know who is giving them. I want to know if a candidate has grass roots support or is being financed by one or two millionaires. Is the money coming from one industry? Perhaps I don't want to shop at a store that is using the money I give them to fund things I totally disagree with. This is supposed to be a democracy, not an oligarchy. Are these donors ashamed of who they are supporting?

It probably won't make much difference - people never check the facts in an ad anyway -- For example, I would bet that most people who saw the ad with Obama speaking to Jaynesville workers in early 2008 and then being blamed in the ad for not saving it because that Jaynesville plant was closed in April 2009 - didn't check the dates to see that Obama was not in office in 2008 - 60 days before it closed, as GM was dying. (but Ryan had 14 years to get it done, BTW - it's in his district)