...write a check or three:
One prominent examples is CITGO Petroleum Company — once the American-born Cities Services Company, but purchased in 1990 by the Venezuelan government-owned Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. The Citizens United ruling could conceivably allow Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has sharply criticized both of the past two U.S. presidents, to spend government funds to defeat an American political candidate, just by having CITGO buy TV ads bashing his target.
How's that for protecting state sovereignty? Teabaggers, are you listening?
And it’s not just Chavez. The Saudi government owns Houston’s Saudi Refining Company and half of Motiva Enterprises. Lenovo, which bought IBM’s PC assets in 2004, is partially owned by the Chinese government’s Chinese Academy of Sciences. And Singapore’s APL Limited operates several U.S. port operations. A weakening of the limit on corporate giving could mean China, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and any other country that owns companies that operate in the U.S. could also have significant sway in American electioneering.
Think about it, though it may be painful. Don't worry, we'll donate some ibuprofen for you. Since corporations have full personhood now, just like you or I, they will be able to advocate directly on behalf of any candidate they wish, with as much dinero as they want to spend. So if our friend Hugo (who I don't find as odious as a lot of other people do) decided to influence our electoral process, all he would have to do is direct the state-owned Citgo Corp. to make some payments for airtime, etc.
If you for even a second think that we have a more even playing field now, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I'm happy to accept bids on.
Democracy died yesterday. R.I.P.
Full article here:Will the Citizens United Ruling Let Hugo Chavez and King Abdullah Buy U.S. Elections?
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