Whose Country
is This, Anyway? By Ted Baumann, Offshore and Asset Protection Editor Dear Sovereign Investor, Say your company sues someone for such extreme fraud and breach of contract that it threatens your livelihood and your company's survival. A jury of your peers decides in your favor. But your opponent decides to appeal to your state Supreme Court. Before doing so, he spends millions of dollars to help elect a new member to that court. When your case comes before the court, that new judge casts the deciding vote in a ruling that goes against you, potentially bankrupting your company and your estate.
I bet you'd be a little miffed. You'd probably conclude that you no longer lived in a democracy governed by the rule of law, with equal justice for all, and where the corrupting influence of money bears no influence. In fact, you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd be better off living somewhere else — some place that still does honor those ancient principles, for which so many of our forebears gave their lives.
You'd be right: it WOULD be time to pack your things and escape from America … it isn't your country anymore. Advertisement
 This scenario actually happened in West Virginia in the 2000s. After the questionable vote was cast, the plaintiff appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. In Caperton v. A. T. Massey Coal Co., the Supremes overturned the state court judgment on the grounds that the millions of dollars his opponent spent trying to get the swing-voting judge elected was a threat to the plaintiff's Constitutional right to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment. It created the appearance of bias, which would undermine citizens' faith in the judicial branch of government.
But that same Supreme Court has ruled twice, in the infamous cases of Citizens United and McCutcheon, that the same causative relationship — bias resulting from campaign contributions — does not exist in the other two branches of government.
In the words of Chief Justice John Roberts, who voted against restricting the role of money in government in all three cases, "Any regulation must … target … 'quid pro quo' corruption or its appearance. That Latin phrase captures the notion of a direct exchange of an official act for money." In other words, unless somebody bribes a government official to do something specific, there's no corruption, and the government has no business getting involved. Money is speech, and speech has First Amendment rights.
One person who knows money is speech these days is Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire Las Vegas casino mogul who has been shelling out lucre for years in an explicit quest to influence Federal law, the justice system and U.S. policy towards Israel. Adelson is quite open about why he contributes so much to politicians. He regards it as an "investment" in his own interests and preferences. He wants a Federal corruption lawsuit against his company dropped, for internet gambling (which competes with his business) to be outlawed and for the U.S. to spend even more blood and treasure making war in the Middle East.
And when Adelson's money talks, politicians listen. One Friday night in April this year, Adelson pulled up to his private Las Vegas airplane hangar in twin powder-blue Maybach limousines, one for him and one for his bodyguards. He was hosting a private get-together. Governors of three states were in attendance, along with numerous Senators and Congressmen. On the stage was New Jersey governor Chris Christie, at the time a favorite for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2016. Unfortunately for him, in his speech Christie called the West Bank the "occupied territories." His evening culminated in a summons to Adelson's private office, where he made a groveling apology for his horrific faux pas. A Pox on Both Their Houses Adelson's attempts to use money to buy the laws and policies he wants are extreme. But according to a majority on the Supreme Court, they are not corrupt. Nor is the "revolving door," in which government officials, elected and appointed, shuttle back and forth between the industries they regulate and jobs in those same industries. To the Supremes, the hundreds of millions of dollars lavished on "political action committees" are just a form of "free speech."
America is at a crossroads. Significant majorities of the citizenry regard our political system as hopelessly corrupt. The approval rate for Congress, the centerpiece of American democracy, is in the single digits. It's no wonder: the average Congressman spends most of his or her time fundraising. Huge majorities — 80% plus — say the country is on the wrong track and that they distrust government to do the right thing.
Significantly, enormous majorities blame the influence of special interests and their money for this state of affairs. They are right to do so. The political interests and policy preferences of those who are in a position to influence our laws and government by "speaking with money" are markedly different from those of ordinary Americans. Politicians listen to the Sheldon Adelsons of this country. They don't listen to you and me.
This isn't a partisan issue. Neither the Republican nor the Democratic parties have shown any serious inclination to address the corrupting role of money in our politics. Both are equally guilty of the myriad forms of corruption that Justices Roberts, Alito, Thomas, Scalia, and Kennedy refuse to see.
As they used to say back in South Africa, when government became too overbearing to endure — "take your things and go."
Sound words indeed. Kind regards,
Ted Baumann
Offshore and Asset Protection Editor P.S. Time is running out. The federal government is finding more and more excuses to infringe on your rights and steal your money. You need to protect yourself and joining the Total Wealth Fellowship is a great first step to gaining the knowledge you will need to guard your wealth, grow your investments outside the United States and develop a back-up plan if you should need to leave America. But as I said, time is running out. Our special offer to join Total Wealth Fellowship ends Friday. For more information, click here. | |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Keep a civil tongue.