Campaign Finance Reform: what Big Sugar and opponents of Amendment 4 don't want you to hear ... by gimleteye

What a confused, screwed-up world. Here comes the Tea Party, hair on fire and shaking its fist at the status quo. Here comes the "libertarians" funded by corporate polluters like the billionaire Kochs, helping to fund a federal lawsuit against Florida campaign finance laws that require disclosure of donors. According to a lawsuit filed by individuals who are opposed to Amendment 4, Florida Hometown Democracy, the problem with Florida's campaign finance laws is that they are too restrictive and cite the recent decision by the US Supreme Court that blew open the doors to unrestricted corporate funding in political campaigns. But the real issue in the Florida litigation-- aimed against the single chance Florida voters will have to express their displeasure with the status quo-- is finding a new way to cement the status quo: keep the identity of the billionaires secret. It is a state of affairs tied to an economic meltdown of epic proportions. The fraudulent foundations of Florida's Future depended on a mountain of debt and consumers willing to pile on more and more debt. Mortgage fraud walked hand in hand with Wall Street derivatives and local power brokers who needed rezonings to scarify farmland and wetlands for suburban sprawl. Now that the middle class is in full retreat, and no more mountains of debt, and no more speculation except for the very rich, the foundations' cracks can only be papered over by serious re-jiggering of campaign finance. I understand the anger of the newly minted Tea Party, but 99 percent of Tea Party voters have not the foggiest idea whose agendas their anger is boosting. Here is a simple statement of what special interests like Florida's Big Sugar don't want you to know.