Tag: Tom Steyer

Dem Noodles

Tom Steyer, Michael Bloomberg, Citizens United, free speech, money,

Though skipping Iowa and New Hampshire, Michael Bloomberg’s advertisements are ubiquitous on television and YouTube seemingly everywhere in America.

“New Hampshire voters to Steyer: Make it stop!” reads a Politico headline sparked by that taller, poorer billionaire’s unbearable barrage of spots.

At Reason, Eric Boehm notes that Bloomberg and Tom Steyer — both very rich and both running for the Democratic nomination for the presidency — are proving that money cannot buy elections. “Given how Bloomberg and Steyer have struggled to gain traction despite their willingness to set fire to their respective campaign war chests, it’s a bit ironic to hear some of their Democratic primary opponents repeatedly bemoaning the influence of money in politics.”

But Senator Elizabeth Warren’s complaints about the two billionaires are almost certainly just playing to partisan prejudice, which has been seeded for years by the left’s relentless complaints about the Citizens United decision.

Eric Boehm argues that the reality is the opposite of the propaganda: overturning Citizens United would make it easier, not harder, for rich folks to game the system.

But in Free Speech America, the Bloomberg and Steyer advertising efforts are proving unimpressive. “While it is foolish to rule out any electoral outcome in a world where Donald Trump is president,” Mr. Boehm writes, “voters have responded to both Democratic billionaires with a resounding meh, and there seems to be little reason to think that will change next year, no matter how much money the two candidates pour into the race.”

You don’t eat spaghetti by pushing wet noodles. You gotta entice voters to slurp down your message.

Bloomberg and Steyer, the very soggiest of noodles, are living proof..

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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Tags Citizens United, Michael Bloomberg, Tom Steyer

term limits

They’re Called Term Limits

Post author By Redactor
Post date July 22, 2019
2 Comments on They’re Called Term Limits

Looking for an exemplar of condescending witlessness? Take Steve Benen, producer of MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show. Please!

Last week, I praised Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer for endorsing term limits, while Benen panned him at The Maddow Blog, calling term limits a “gimmick.”

So, when Aristotle argued for mandatory rotation in office, that was just a stunt?

“I imagine most term-limit proponents mean well,” concedes the snooty Benen, about congressional term limits’ whopping 82 percent public support. But, he goes on, “whether they appreciate the details or not, forcing experienced policymakers out of office, even if their constituents want to re-elect them, has an unintended consequence: inexperienced officials inevitably find themselves more dependent on outside groups and lobbyists …”

Are we supposed to believe that lobbyists and special interests are being kept at bay by Congress’s current careerists?

Supposedly appealing to an “underlying principle,” Benen then maintains that “there’s simply no reason for the federal government to impose arbitrary constraints on voters’ ability to choose their own members of Congress.”

Oh, that’s really rich — as if “the federal government” is dictatorially cramming term limitation down the throats of poor politician-adoring voters.

Benen notes that Steyer is “not the only Democratic candidate endorsing term limits,” acknowledging that Beto O’Rourke has also proposed the reform. Actually, there are eight more Democratic presidential candidates who have voiced support.*

Mr. Benen’s sophistication boils down to the tired slogan: “We already have term limits; they’re called elections.”

That may fly for the insiders at MSNBC and in Congress, but the vote the American people most want to see is on a constitutional amendment for congressional term limits.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

* Those candidates are: New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, former HUD Secretary Julian Castro, Maryland Congressman John Delaney, New York City Mayor Bill DiBlasio, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, Massachusetts Congressman Seth Moulton, and entrepreneur Andrew Yang.

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initiative, referendum, and recall political challengers term limits

A Different Conversation

billionaire, Tom Steyer, candidate, president, election, campaign,

“Here’s the difference between me and the other candidates,” says billionaire investor-turned-presidential aspirant Tom Steyer. “I don’t think we can fix our democracy from the inside. I don’t believe Washington politicians and big corporations will let that happen.”

Of course, if this Democrat becomes president of these United States, that’s hardly the outside.

“For me,” Steyer continues, “this comes down to whether you trust the politicians or the people.”

Well, I certainly trust the people a whole lot more than I trust the politicians.*

“If you say you trust the people, are you willing to stand up to the insiders and the big corporations and give the people the tools they need to fix our democracy?” Steyer asks.

Which tools? “A national referendum, term limits, eliminating corporate money in politics, making it easy to vote.”

The toolkit’s a mixed bag.

Eliminating corporate money means repealing part of the First Amendment, and silencing non-profit corporations such as U.S. Term Limits, MoveOn.org, the NRA, Planned Parenthood, National Right to Life, etc., etc.

Mr. Steyer also worries that, without reform, “We won’t be able to … pass any of the great plans proposed by the Democratic candidates running for president.”

We should be so lucky.

Still, here is another Democratic presidential candidate endorsing congressional term limits. And we do need a direct democratic check on Washington, the ability for citizens to initiate reforms such as term limits and take unpopular legislation to a referendum.

I’m not sanguine that Steyer will get the policy details right, but as fellow Democratic candidate Sen. Kamala Harris is fond of saying, “Let’s have that conversation.”

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

* Constitutional protections for our basic rights, as in The Bill of Rights, mean we do not have to trust government, directly democratic or representative.

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