The FEC, Designed To Fail.

       The F.E.C., the Federal Election Commission, was set up 40 years ago after the corruption of Watergate, by Congress. The FEC is made up of three Democrats and three Republicans. Can you guess how functional the FEC is? It's even more dysfunctional than Congress itself, and apparently it was designed to be that way, according to a story in the New York Times today.
       Democrats on the Commission see numerous violations of campaign law, but Republicans see no problem. They say that no action is better than overly aggressive steps that could chill political speech. There is complete deadlock of this Commission set up to see that we get fair and honest elections. But in 2016, because the FEC is unable to take any action, candidates from both parties seem to think they can do as they please with virtually no danger of being found guilty of any infraction. Ya know what? They're right.
       This is mostly caused by the Citizen's United decision of the Supreme Court. We can expect to see ten billion dollars spent on the 2016 campaign. When people like the Koch brothers intend to spend $889 million on the campaign, just how would you have any say? And of course the Koch's aren't alone, deep pockets from both parties will be spending, not to determine the outcome so much as to buy influence from Congress and the Presidency.
       If you were running for Congress and somebody gave you a suitcase full of money, or more likely a set of suitcases, after the election, wouldn't you feel obliged to listen favorably to that friend's wishes? Of course you would. After all, you'll be wanting another set of suitcases for the next campaign. You might even use the emptied suitcases to pack clothes for one junket or another, right?
       So if Congress intended for the FEC to be nonfunctioning, then doesn't it stand to reason that Congress wanted a wide open, shoot-um-up, wild west election process? A no holds barred, fight to the finish culture, right? But how does that help the citizenry? I can see how it helps politicians and deep pocketed donors, but how does it help you or me? I hope you don't think you'll get better representation.