Posted July 28th, 2010 6:02 am

In the turn of another century (the 20th), corporations were routinely in the business of making outright purchases of politicians. The most famous was the Teapot Dome Scandal, where the energy executives spent enough money with administration officials of the Warren Harding administration that they secured a no bid monopoly contract to drill for oil on public lands.

And within a few months of the U.S. Supreme Court opening back up corporate purchasing of politicians, special interests of industry have invested in two additional resources. Corporations do not have any obligation to any sort of better society—they are mandated to follow the business interest rule. The business interest rule means that they do only that which will increase their bottom line of earnings.

Apparently the two additional resources being invested in by corporations are Rand Paul and Andy Barr. Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has again made it legal for corporations to purchase elections, that business interest is compelling millions to be poured into elections, to cause greater-than-usual distortion of a free and fair evaluation of the opposing political candidates. The corrupting influence of the moneyed interests is appropriately enough choosing Andy Barr, whose sole political claim to fame was as the counsel for the corrupted administration of disgraced former governor Ernie Fletcher. And in the senate race, the choice is Rand Paul, who has demonstrated that his opposition to corporate bank bailouts was only a temporarily principled position, and one that is subject to being purchased with a bank bailout ball of contributions immediately after securing the Republican nomination.

John Cheves reports:

Several major coal companies hope to use newly loosened campaign-finance laws to pool their money and defeat Democratic congressional candidates they consider “anti-coal,” including U.S. Senate nominee Jack Conway and U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler in Kentucky.
The companies hope to create a politically active nonprofit under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code, so they won’t have to publicly disclose their activities — such as advertising — until they file a tax return next year, long after the Nov. 2 election.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last winter that corporations and labor unions may pour unlimited funds into such efforts to influence elections.
“With the recent Supreme Court ruling, we are in a position to be able to take corporate positions that were not previously available in allowing our voices to be heard,” wrote Roger Nicholson, senior vice president and general counsel at International Coal Group of Scott Depot, W.Va., in an undated letter he sent to other coal companies.
Nicholson declined to comment on his letter Tuesday, after the Herald-Leader obtained it.
“A number of coal industry representatives recently have been considering developing a 527 entity with the purpose of attempting to defeat anti-coal incumbents in select races, as well as elect pro-coal candidates running for certain open seats,” Nicholson wrote. “We’re requesting your consideration as to whether your company would be willing to meet to discuss a significant commitment to such an effort.”
Nicholson listed three races “of interest”: Conway against Republican Rand Paul for Kentucky’s open Senate seat; Chandler against Republican Garland “Andy” Barr in Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District; and Democratic U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall against Republican Elliott “Spike” Maynard in West Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District.
The coal industry already has supported Barr and Maynard through individuals’ relatively small and legally limited donations. But working together as a 527, the companies potentially could spend millions of dollars on political activity, as long as it isn’t coordinated with the Republicans’ campaigns.
“I think this is certainly troubling, and it’s going to put an entirely different face on American politics now that companies can do this,” said Tony Oppegard, a Lexington attorney and mine safety advocate. “People are going to have to expect the rhetoric to get heated.”

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The old John Prine song lyric is relevant:

And all the news just repeats itself
Like some forgotten dream that we’ve both seen.

So, is the United States condemned to another era of specifically bought and sold politicians, to be ended only by another specifically outrageous bribery scandal like the Teapot Dome Scandal? Because that is what brought about the restrictions on corporate campaign spending which the U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down. If that is the future, then the past century of possible progress on restricting the corrosive and corrupting influence of money on politics has been completely wiped away, as if it never existed.

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