If Republicans have had an advantage since the inauguration of Barack Obama as president, it has seemed to be a near monopoly on passion among its base – although the true destination of some of that passion remains to be seen. But Democrats may try to fire their base up with a two-pronged attack on the institutions many rank and filers see as the cause of the financial meltdown.
According to the Washington Post, one avenue of attack will be reining in the financial companies that contributed to the collapse of the economy last fall and required billions in taxpayer money to keep afloat.
The other avenue will be to take what legislative steps are available to keep them and other large corporations from using the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling to drench the airwaves with commercials this year.
One legislative plank we’ve heard mentioned is a ban on advertising from any company that still owes the US money received under TARP.
White House advisor David Axelrod warned of a corporate takeover of the airwaves on the ABC’s “This Week,” according to WaPo. And White House Press Secretary earlier said, “We’ve got important elections coming up. And the question is: Are the special interests going to play a bigger role in those with their contributions than they normally would?”
One goal of the plan would be to force Republicans into the position of trying to defend financial companies at the height of their unpopularity, thus aiding battleground-bound Democratic candidates in the months leading up to November.
RBR-TVBR observation: From our vantage point, it seems almost impossible to stop money from seeping into the political system if that’s where it wants to go. Indeed, it seems impossible to keep it from flooding into the system.
Some have said that Citizens United won’t have all that noticeable of an effect since the cash does already find its way onto the airwaves, one way or another.
At the very least, we will likely be in for some fireworks on this topic throughout the year. Stay tuned.
