Virginia Foxx And Billy Kennedy Have Exactly Opposite Views On Corporate Dominance Of Election Finance

Yesterday we talked a little about the blatant way conservatives thumbed their noses at voters in regard to campaign finance. They just flat-out refuse to go along with even the most modest reforms. One of the most reform-minded Democratic candidates running for Congress this year, North Carolina farmer and carpenter Billy Kennedy, is vying for a seat currently held by one of Congress' most arrogant and stubborn relics of mindless corruption, Virginia Foxx. Needless to say, she voted against the DISCLOSE Act. Like many of the self-serving corporate shills on both sides of the aisle-- remember, Blue Dogs were as opposed to reform as Republicans-- Foxx was shrieking that reforming the system is "unconstitutional." I asked Billy for a guest post on how he sees it and why he differs so fiercely with such a "constitutional scholar" like Foxx.

"The case of Citizens United v FEC was heard by the Supreme Court back in January. When all was said and done, the Court ended up changing the law so that corporations can now spend as much as they like on political campaigns without even identifying themselves. That’s right-- average working people get the short end of the stick. Again.

So the US House has now just passed the “Disclose Act,” a law which will at least require that these corporations tell us who they are when they put their fancy, high-dollar commercials on TV that attack anyone who would dare come up against them. The “Disclose Act” could most certainly be better than it is. If we didn’t have so many politicians in Washington beholden to corporate interests, we’d surely have gotten a better bill in the end, but the bill is at least a start.

Even so, I wasn’t surprised to hear Rep. Virginia Foxx rail against the “Disclose Act” on WPTF radio Thursday. I wasn’t surprised because Rep. Foxx’s record is pretty clear on this kind of thing. Her take is that working people need to get in line and work longer hours for less money and be thankful they’ve got any job at all. Corporations and rich people, on the other hand, deserve better because they’re the ones providing jobs for longer hours and less money. It sounds like code for "we can't do it because it's too complicated."

It’s worth noting that Rep. Foxx never said a word on any radio stations when the Supreme Court made sure individual Americans’ rights came up short against corporate rights. She wasn’t on talk radio, outraged, when Americans woke up one morning to find out they’d been sold out by corporate interests again. Not at all. The only thing on this whole issue that got Rep. Foxx in a tizzy and made her want to “sit down and cry” (as she said on the radio) was that someone in Washington was actually trying to do something about it. Rep. Foxx didn’t show up at any radio stations the morning after corporations stole the peoples’ power in the dead of night. But she showed up pretty quick to be outraged when some brave folks in Washington tried to reclaim it.

Rep. Foxx has been in Washington too long. She’s forgotten what she’s supposed to be doing up there, and she will say anything to be re-elected. It’s time to send her home."

Blue America stands fully behind Billy Kennedy in this race. I hope you'll join us in helping him fund a grassroots people's campaign. Remember, Virginia Foxx was one of the Republicans who Joe Barton surreptitiously funneled Big Oil cash to through his sleazy money laundering operation, the Texas Freedom Fund. He's slipped her $5,000 so far-- on top of the $52,100 Big Oil executives and lobbyists gave her openly-- and she has delivered big time for their pals at Big Oil. Not one time since she gotten into Congress has she ever opposed Big Oil's agenda. And, in fact, she can proudly boast to having the worst voting record in the entire House of Representatives when it comes to clean water, oceanic conservation, and consumer protection. There isn't a race in the country that would be a cleaner break with the corruption and malevolence of elite power over regular folks than the one pitting Billy Kennedy against Virginia Foxx.