Mario Piperni dot Com

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Don’t you love it when people rise up in an honest and open way?

When Target gave money in July to a pro-business group in Minnesota, the company thought it was helping its bottom line by backing candidates in its home state who support lower taxes. Instead, the retailer has found itself in a fight with liberal and gay rights groups that has escalated into calls for a nationwide boycott and protests at the company’s headquarters and stores.

The problem: Target’s $100,000 helped pay for TV ads supporting the gubernatorial campaign of Republican state Rep. Tom Emmer, who thinks Minnesota’s corporate taxes should be lower. As it turns out, he also wants to ban same-sex marriage.

All of this is a direct result of January’s Supreme Court ruling allowing corporations to contribute unlimited money for political advertising.  The court foolishly determined that in matters of free speech, there should be no distinction between individuals and corporations.  Adding to the idiocy of that decision is the fact that corporations may do so anonymously.  Target’s problems arose because Minnesota’s laws force political committee’s to disclose their list of contributors.

Let Target’s problems be a warning to other corporations attempting to influence political campaigns by way of money.  While they may do so with their clientele never being aware, they risk the chance of a national boycott should they be found out.

Mess around with the people, the people mess around with you.  It’s only fair.

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Is the Supreme Court messed up beyond repair?

• Virginia Thomas is Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ spouse.
• Virginia Thomas is on record as calling our current President a “tyrant”
• Virginia Thomas is the President and Founder of Liberty Central, a conservative organization which lists FreedomWorks as a “friend of Liberty Central” and “Coalition Partner”.
• At least two directors of Liberty Central have strong direct ties to Koch Industries.
• One director had direct input to the Bush administration with regard to the selection of John Roberts and his elevation to Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
• Liberty Central will directly benefit from the Citizens United ruling as a recipient (past, present or future) of undisclosed corporate donations.
• Justice Thomas supported the Citizens United decision.

The wife of a Supreme Court justice is the president of a tea party organization and this is supposed to be ok?  Yes, I know that legally it is allowed but how about ethically?  Virginia Thomas’ teabagging outfit has two donors – one who gave $50K and another who contributed $500K.  While it shows up in the paperwork as individuals contributing to the cause, it is not too difficult to imagine that any corporation wanting to contribute could easily disguise their involvment.

Clarence Thomas was a player in the Supreme Court’s ruling of the Citizens United case which banned all caps on corporate spending in elections.  Justice Thomas ruled in favor of any corporation being allowed to inject as much money as they wished in support of any politician who they ideologically agreed with.  Think BP, think any health care industry giant, think Wall Street financial institutions…and think tea party candidates.  Who do you think these corporations are going to put their money behind.

With Justice Thomas’ wife as president of Liberty Central, a supporter for all things Republican (e.g. fewer regulations on corporations), and a likely recipient of big money from big business, should Thomas not have recused himself from that Supreme Court case?

What a stinking rotten operation.

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Jon Stewart’s segment on the Senate hearings brings us the best line to date, compliments of Kagan.

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Of course it’s…

Lindsey Graham: The Christmas bomber. Where were you on Christmas day?

Kagan: You know, like all Jews, I was probably at a Chinese restaurant.

Perfect answer to a perfectly idiotic question.

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Five key issues to watch at the Kagan nomination hearing.

* militiary recruitment on Harvard’s campus (a non-story)

* abortion (yawn – the old standby)

* campaign finance reform ( Kagan represented the government in restricting corporate spending in elections)

* Kagan’s liberal background and how it’ll influence her judgeship (what?!!?  a liberal nominee?  horrors)

* Kagan’s lack of judicial experience (could be more of a plus than a negative)

They’ll yap, jab, nitpick, praise, question and at the end of the process, Elena Kagan will be the fourth woman to serve on the Supreme Court.  End of story.

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