Republicans are bringing a case before the Supreme Court that has the potential to eviscerate what few remaining restrictions on campaign finance we have left.

  • AmericanEconomicThinkTank@lemmy.world
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    11 hours ago

    Lmao there’s always something a little funny, in the greek sense of the word, about seeing the continuing unending appetite for further loosening of the chains on what are essentially political rabid dogs.

    Sure, it’s always going to have been a goal for these, most honored gentlemen but a small sliver of my mind still has sone hope for rational thought from them. Too much an optimist I guess.

  • Hemingways_Shotgun@lemmy.ca
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    1 day ago

    Legitimate question as a non-american.

    If the country is just a series of “united” states, each with their own supreme court and their own election laws, What stops a state from simply declaring that federal supreme court decisions have no authority within their borders?

    My understanding is that the whole system of U.S goverment is basically the the federal government governs by the consent of the individual states.

    So why not stand up and say “This federal court is a rubber stamp for a buffoon and they have no legitimacy in the state of whichever

    I’m pretty sure I realize that it would kick off a constitutional crisis, but if the alternative is more of this shit, what have they got to lose at this point?

    • MajorasMaskForever@lemmy.world
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      10 hours ago

      In short: sometimes nothing at all, sometimes self survival

      In practice, when a state becomes a part of the United States it concedes total independence, giving itself to the jurisdiction and control of the federal government. In exchange, a state is given representation in the federal government to influence what laws make up that control and because after a few different rounds of early government structures post colonial independence, the federal government was kneecapped in terms of the types of laws it can pass. If a law passes Congress and survives a legal review by the federal courts, strictly speaking a state has no choice but to agree and cooperate. At best a state could work with other states to repeal laws a single state doesn’t want/like.

      The vast majority of the time states operate in relative good faith and follow federal law. When a state does openly defy the federal government, it depends on the exact law being ignored. Marijuana is illegal on the federal level where mere possession of it lands you in jail, but many states turn a blind eye to citizens using it and states like Colorado make bank off of taxing the sale of it. This kind of stuff happens a lot and the executive branch makes a judgement call on if it’s politically worth punishing a state in defiance.

      This current administration has proven repeatedly to be very vindictive and retaliates against even the perception of defying their rule. The last time a state continued defiance against the federal executive branch this nation threw itself into civil war and lost 2% of its population in the process.

    • neidu3@sh.itjust.works
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      1 day ago

      I think I have a 20$ bill in my stash’o’misc-foreign-jimjams-I’ve-accumulated-on-my-travels. But given the current state of the US, I guess a terminally online scandinavian dork owning the country isn’t so bad in comparison.

      I promise I’ll be less corrupt than most administration’s. I’ll probably just collect dues in the form of semi-monthly street tacos at TJ Birria Y Mas down in Stafford, Houston TX.

      And maybe a crate of Blue Moon. Other than that, keep calm and carry on, underlings.

      Oh, and you can refer to me as King, as 50% of the populace seems to be into that these days. But I don’t think the same 50% would be very happy with the king’s decrees.

  • RagingRobot@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    It isn’t already? Because it pretty much happens all the time anyways. If you say superpac that makes it ok though.

  • IninewCrow@lemmy.ca
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    1 day ago

    It’s a Plutocracy … or Oligarchy

    Democracy was born with severe disabilities, lingered for a while, survived in a coma for a long time and it died years ago.

  • workerONE@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    The interesting thing is that businesses rely on accurate information in order to make informed decisions. If you read the financial times ft.com you will find reliable information. Doesn’t a factory need healthy workers? Yet the factory owner can make the claim that healthcare is coming out of his pocket and then advocate against it. They’ve been persuaded by emotional arguments not based in facts. There are unqualified people operating businesses and making high level decisions. But at the highest levels, that mismanagement cannot be tolerated. The people supporting this bullshit are just running along trying to hold things together for as long as they can until they fall apart.

    • CaptainBlinky@lemmy.myserv.one
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      1 day ago

      Oh you mean unlimited bribery and money laundering?

      Precicely. It won’t really change anything. Dark money already destroyed what little we had of a democracy.