- The US Supreme Court will likely create a loophole that will allow the legal bribery of federal lawmakers; hearing arguments in the case of Federal Election Commission v. Ted Cruz for Senate next Wednesday.
- “While a decision in Cruz’s favor could effectively make it legal for wealthy donors to bribe lawmakers, Cruz has a very good chance of prevailing in a Supreme Court where Republicans control six of the Court’s nine seats,” Millhiser pointed out.
- “There is a very real chance, in other words, that a Supreme Court hostile to campaign finance regulation will join Cruz’s crusade… that could effectively make it legal to bribe many members of Congress,” he wrote.
Bob Brigham from Rawstory writes:
“The United States Supreme Court is likely to create a loophole to allow legal bribery of federal lawmakers, according to a new analysis by Vox legal correspondent Ian Millhiser.
Next Wednesday, the high court will hear arguments in the case of Federal Election Commission v. Ted Cruz for Senate, a case that originated with the Texas Republican.
“The case concerns federal campaign finance laws, and, specifically, candidates’ ability to loan money to their campaigns. Candidates can do so — but in 2001, Congress enacted a provision that helps prevent such loans from becoming a vehicle to bribe candidates who go on to be elected officials. Under this provision, a campaign that receives such a loan may not repay more than $250,000 worth of the loan using funds raised after the election,” Millhiser explained. “When a campaign receives a pre-election donation, that donation is typically subject to strict rules preventing it from being spent to enrich the candidate. After the election has occurred, however, donors who give money to help pay off a loan from the candidate effectively funnel that money straight to the candidate — who by that point could be a powerful elected official…”
See full story here.
Categories: Business, Economy, Government, Politics, WTF?
Economic Left 
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