Stunning Statistics of the Week:
- 235,908,179: Adult population of the U.S.
- .06 percent: The percent of the adult population of the U.S. that gave $2,400 or more to candidates, political parties or political action committees in the 2010 election cycle
Flash mob refrain: “We won’t give our lives to corporate control”
What do you get when you mix impassioned people, a tuba and a mall? A flash mob singing about how they will buck corporate power. A group of concerned California citizens sang their song outside a courthouse and in a mall recently, with impressive results. It’s a catchy tune, so check it out. One of the refrains: “A subprime mortgage and what do you get? A bank gets your house and you go deeper in debt.”
Perry supporters get favors, plum jobs
Texas Gov. Rick Perry has given hundreds of his most generous supporters and their businesses grants, tax breaks, contracts and appointments, a New York Times investigation shows. In turn, the supporters helped Perry, who is running for president, raise more money than any politician in Texas history. The national news story apparently didn’t faze Perry; a few days later, he appointed two big donors to state jobs, prompting Public Citizen’s Craig Holman to comment, “It’s pay-to-play politics at its worst.”
While we’re talking about Perry …
Texas Gov. Rick Perry raised a record $22 million for the Republican Governors Association (RGA) this year, $4 million of that from Texans. The trouble is, Texas law prohibits state elected officials from accepting campaign contributions during the legislative session. Perry wasn’t collecting for himself, but he did hit up some of the same people who contributed to his personal campaign. And the RGA, in turn, has supported his campaigns. This raises the question of whether Perry was exploiting a loophole by soliciting money from Texans with stakes in the legislative business – exactly the thing the law was meant to stop.
