Corporate Corruption Week has a nice ring to it — the “c” alliteration just seems to slide off the velum. If you’re wondering, that’s anatomy jargon for the tissue that constitutes the back of the roof of your mouth. Rhetorical strategy aside though, it’s hard to believe that the corporate corruption lambasted in last week’s event has anything to do with the weakening of democracy.
The event was never malicious or disingenuous it just seemed to lose focus. Corporations are inanimate. You can’t yell at them. You can’t be mad at them. And, you, most certainly, can’t prosecute them. As we’ve said before our country’s prisons can’t house corporate skyscrapers.
The Daily 49er isn’t in complete disagreement with the students and student associations that organized this event. In fact, on many occasions this semester, we attacked the very “corporate corruption” they spoke out against. Whether it was Lehman Brothers or Goldman Sachs, we were in full agreement that this corruption flies in the face of capitalism and democracy.
So why the snide comments about alliteration and rhetorical strategy? Students 4 United Justice and the Student Sociology Association may have been a little zealous in their whipping of corporate America.
We shouldn’t be angry with Wall Street, Lehman Brothers or Goldman Sachs. American enterprise is what makes the Unites States so great. Rather, we should redirect our displeasure at chief executive officers and chief financial officers, executive bankers and vice presidents.
It may seem like we’re arguing semantics but fat cats on Wall Street profit form this very mentality. The Supreme Court was able to give corporations First Amendment rights because of this mentality. And, trust us when we say the likes of Fabrice Tourre, recently charged with bamboozling clients at Goldman Sachs, love to hide behind this mentality.
So, then, how do we stop corporate criminals from ransacking democracy in their quest for capital? Co-director of Reclaiming Democracy Wayne Taylor, a speaker at Corporate Corruption Week, suggested we support Proposition 15 or the California Fair Election Act in June’s state elections.
Dubbed a pilot project, Proposition 15, if passed, would charge lobbying firms and their employers $350 a year. This fee is estimated to raise about $1.7 million to be used by candidates running for secretary of state in 2014 and 2018. The candidates, however, cannot use the money, unless they collect a signature and $5 fee from 7,500 registered voters.
“This would make it possible for candidates to reject big money from special interests and still run a competitive campaign,” said Derek Cressman, Western states regional director for Common Cause, a political advocacy organization that supports the proposition.
This all sounds great except candidates would have to agree to spending prohibitions. That is, they would have to choose between publically and privately funded campaigns.
A candidate supported by corporate America or any number of special interest groups would surely outspend any candidate who decides to go the route of public funds. And, when candidates outspend they usually win.
YesOnProp15.org, the proposition’s official website, argues that this type of legislation has worked in state’s like Arizona and North Carolina. But, who’s to say it’ll work in California, a hot bed for special interest.
According to the state Fair Political Practices Commission, 15 groups alone spent more than $1 billion attempting to sway California voters in the last decade. Ironically, the California Teachers Association was the most convincing, spending $211.8 million.
Readers can take this year’s gubernatorial election for example, as well. Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman has already set the California record for self-funding. It would be naïve to assume that Whitman would give up this type of political edge all in the name of “fair” elections.
If Proposition 15 isn’t going to work, is California doomed to an undemocratic existence? No, because at the end of the day no one decides who and what anyone votes for except for the one who is voting.
If Californians took the time to vote and make an informed decision when they voted, we wouldn’t be in this situation. A smart and informed electorate has more power than any corporation or special interest group.
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