Pick your poison.Whether it's the Democrats using (and abusing) the intricacies of bureaucracy, the intimidation of the New Black Panthers, the use of union dues to pay for political advocacy unwanted by the members forced to pay out, denying ballots to military personnel, harassing lawsuits, using the IRS as a club, even threats from such Nanny State agencies as the Justice Department, the end result is the same -- to scare off the opposition if they can't shut them up outright.
And that's not even mentioning the lies and character assassination which are the Democrats' stock in trade for campaign commercials.
Here's some of today's best articles relevant to the topic:
If at first you don't succeed, get some friends in high places to shut your opponents up. That's the latest Washington power play, as Democrats and liberals attack the Chamber of Commerce and independent spending groups in an attempt to stop businesses from participating in politics.
Since the Supreme Court's January decision in Citizens United v. FEC, Democrats in Congress have been trying to pass legislation to repeal the First Amendment for business, though not for unions. Having failed on that score, they're now turning to legal and political threats. Funny how all of this outrage never surfaced when the likes of Peter Lewis of Progressive insurance and George Soros helped to make Democrats financially dominant in 2006 and 2008...
(From "Shutting Up Business: Democrats unleash the IRS and Justice on donors to their political opponents" in the Wall Street Journal)
Believe it or not, with jobs falling for four consecutive months and unemployment stubbornly high near 10 percent, President Obama is out on the campaign trail bashing businesses and promoting class warfare. Huh? Oh my gosh is he off message.
He’s slamming the Chamber of Commerce for allegedly using foreign money in campaign ads, even though there’s not one shred of evidence of this. Huh (again)? Is the Chamber really a big election-year issue? Is it causing high unemployment?
Of course, Obama never mentions the unions, including the SEIU and AFL-CIO, and all their foreign money from their big international affiliates. Instead, he extends his own cast of villains, attacking special interests, Wall Street banks, corporations, the oil industry, the insurance industry, credit-card companies, AIG, and ExxonMobil. ExxonMobil? What did they do? Oh, they’re an oil company.
Phew. Kind of anti-business, wouldn’t you say?
Obama then blasts millionaires and billionaires, waging war on capital and investors, too. Next he talks about getting young people, African Americans, and union members to the polls. Even more division. Even more class warfare.
All this, of course, from the “post-partisan” president who was going to bring us all together for change.
But what’s truly incredible about Obama’s pre-election performance is how it totally misses the mark on the issues that really matter, like high unemployment, low growth, big-government spending, Obamacare, and tax hikes. That’s the stuff people are really talking about.
It’s as though Obama is from another planet, completely disconnected from the political reality as we march toward November 2...
(Larry Kudlow, "Obama the Alien," National Review)
President Obama loves to make up things that are patently untrue, like every economist agrees his $800 billion economic stimulus “has done its job,” the economy “is moving in the right direction,” and the Bush tax cuts caused the trillion dollar deficits.
The facts say otherwise, but he is never challenged by the news media for his repeatedly dishonest myth-making. Here are some of his worst offenses...
(Check 'em out here -- Donald Lambro, "Obama’s Biggest Lies," Human Events)
The Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday refuted Democrats' claims that it could be pumping foreign money into U.S. elections, accusing the Obama administration of "grasping at straws" in a last-ditch bid to shift public opinion.
Bruce Josten, executive vice president of government affairs at the Chamber of Commerce, described as "laughable" a new Democratic National Committee ad that all but accuses his organization and top GOP strategists of illegally using foreign donations for political purposes.
"It seems to me the administration is acting out of desperation," he told Fox News. Josten said his organization has 115 American chambers abroad in 108 foreign countries as well as several dozen foreign-multinational firms that have been long-time members -- but their money does not go toward campaigns.
"We comply rigorously with all federal laws," he said. "We don't solicit any of those groups for our issue-advocacy campaigns." Josten accused the Obama administration of turning from "hope and change" to "fear and smear."
But the White House is promising to keep the pressure on. Though President Obama did not mention the controversy during remarks at two Miami fundraisers, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that the president has no intention of dropping the issue...
(Fox News report)
