It’s true: millions in dark money has been spent to tilt courts right

[tulc]

It’s true: millions in dark money spent to tilt courts right

After the Supreme Court agreed this term to hear a Second Amendment case brought by an NRA affiliate, several Senate Democrats cried foul.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and four other Democratic senators took the unusual step of filing a friend-of-the-court brief imploring the court’s conservative justices to resist right-wing activist pressure. These groups aim to reshape the judiciary to reflect their undisclosed financiers’ interests, the Democrats argued, on everything from expanding the Second Amendment to weakening unions and eroding voting rights.

To influence the court’s composition, Whitehouse said, a combined $34 million in "dark money" went toward both blocking President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland and confirming President Donald Trump’s two Supreme Court picks, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

In a follow-up to the legal brief, Whitehouse in a Sept. 6 Washington Post op-ed described the money as follows:

"One unnamed donor gave $17 million to the (Leonard) Leo-affiliated Judicial Crisis Network to block the nomination of Judge Merrick Garland and to support Gorsuch; then a donor — perhaps the same one — gave another $17 million to prop up Kavanaugh."

It can be difficult to trace the path of anonymous political spending with precision, and we wanted to know the factual basis for Whitehouse’s claim. The evidence we found about the money’s origins, and where it went, backed it up.

tulc( )

 

[JackRT]

Scary isn't it?? Its not the law, its not democracy ---- it's the money.

 

[JohnAshton]

the money

 

[JIMINZ]

better than the left leaning it was

 

[timewerx]

Scary isn't it?? Its not the law, its not democracy ---- it's the money.

It's what I've been telling so often here. Probably most money in the world is spent for evil purposes.

And the love of money is the beginning of the long and painful road to 3rd world.

You may not feel it individually, but let the love of money infect the leadership, authorities, law enforcement and it's a road without turning back.

Look at countries who have turned their backs on this evil love of money - they have eliminated poverty, prostitution, corruption!

Who is the real neighbor to the Lord here? these "Atheists" or the pious Christians who are very much in love with money?

 

[Sketcher]

Kavanaugh is not "right".

 

[prodromos]

It’s true: millions in dark money spent to tilt courts right

tulc( )

How much money have the Democrats spent to tilt the courts left?

 

[tulc]

How much money have the Democrats spent to tilt the courts left?

Shouldn't you start a thread about that if that's what you'd like to discuss? This thread is about what's in the OP.
tulc(just a suggestion)

 

[tulc]

better than the left leaning it was

Huh...so you like the idea of some people buying the Supreme Court? Because whether you're "right-leaning" or "left-leaning" the idea of the people who will be determining what rights you may or may not have for the next 20+ years should give you pause. It's not actually a "left/right" thing, it's a loss for everyone when your rights among those being sold off to the highest bidder.
tulc(because they just as easily take rights away if the money people decide that's what they want)

 

[prodromos]

Shouldn't you start a thread about that if that's what you'd like to discuss? This thread is about what's in the OP.
tulc(just a suggestion)

It is completely relevant to the OP.
It was, of course, a rhetorical question, intended to make people aware of the hypocrisy of the Left complaining about the Right doing the same as what they are doing. Why would you have a problem with that?

 

[JohnAshton]

The hypocrisy of the alinksy-like actions of the Republicans are obivous as always. The comment should have read is just "How much money have the Republicans spent to tilt the courts to the right?"

 

[tulc]

It is completely relevant to the OP.
It was, of course, a rhetorical question, intended to make people aware of the hypocrisy of the Left complaining about the Right doing the same as what they are doing. Why would you have a problem with that?

So
A) it wasn't an actual question and really had nothing to do with what was in the OP?
and
B) it was apparently simply meant to distract from the fact that the Republicans sold Supreme Court seats to the highest bidders?
tulc(props to prodromos for pointing out that's what he was doing)

 

[FenderTL5]

It is completely relevant to the OP.
It was, of course, a rhetorical question, intended to make people aware of the hypocrisy of the Left complaining about the Right doing the same as what they are doing. Why would you have a problem with that?

Of course both side are involved.
For me, there's two considerations to be made; first, should we try to remove the money from the equation altogether (that would be a democratic argument) or should we remove all campaign finance regulation and open government up to the highest bidder(s), which would seemingly be the GOP position.
The challenge; could money even be removed?
If not, are we better off conceding to the melee of millionaires.