‘Tenthers’ Would Abolish Wage and Child Labor Laws, Social Security, Medicare and More
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Most cults are based in some sort of skewed spiritual vision or the worship of a charismatic leader, but there is a re-emerging cult that bows down at the feet of the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Many of them want to bring their cultish beliefs to the halls of Congress and are running for election this fall.
They’re called the “tenthers” and they say federal laws and rules like the minimum wage, Medicare, Social Security, unemployment insurance, the Department of Education, even child labor laws and a laundry list of other federal laws and programs are unconstitutional.
Their rationale—irrationale would be a better word—is that if a federal power is not specifically spelled out in the Constitution, well the government doesn’t have it, according to their view of the 10th amendment.
It’s a view that has long been discredited, but reappears from time to time, such as during FDR’s New Deal era and after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled school segregation unconstitutional in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education.
Here’s Think Progress in today’s Progress Report:
Foreign Money Helps Finance Chamber’s Political Attack Ads
The Chamber of Commerce—which, as of mid-September alone, has aired more than 8,000 ads on behalf of GOP Senate candidates—“is likely skirting long-standing campaign finance law that bans the involvement of foreign corporations in American elections,” according to a Think Progress investigation released this morning.
The ads are funded from the Chamber’s general account which, says Think Progress, solicits foreign funding. The Chamber—which ironically calls itself as the “U.S.” Chamber of Commerce—has opened many overseas offices and has founded and funded foreign chapters of the business group, including in Bahrain, Egypt, India and Abu Dhabi, according the report.
While many of these foreign operations include American businesses with interests overseas, the Chamber has also spearheaded an effort to raise money from foreign corporations, including ones controlled by foreign governments….
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce appears to rely heavily on fundraising from firms all over the world, including China, India, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Russia, and many other places. Of course, because the Chamber successfully lobbied to kill campaign finance reforms aimed at establishing transparency, the Chamber does not have to reveal any of the funding for its ad campaign.
Health Care Reform Opponents Resort to Mob Rule
The extremist fringe of the anti-health care reform movement—with a wink and a nod from more mainstream health care opponents—is using mob rule to disrupt town hall meetings and community forums set for the congressional recess. Mob rule tactics stopped the Florida vote count during the contested 2000 presidential elections, ultimately turning the presidency over to George W. Bush—a strategy now emulated by the anti-health care reform lobby.
As Slinkerwink at DailyKos wrote yesterday:
The crazies are coming out in full force to local town hall and community events being held by Democratic lawmakers—with only one goal—to interrupt the Democratic lawmaker on health care reform, and shout right-wing talking points at him or her to scare the rest of his or her constituents at that event by sowing confusion and fear in the crowd.
More Health Care Reform Scare Tactics: A 30-Minute Infomercial
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Sunday, the group Conservatives for Patients’ Rights—the extremists trying to sink President Obama’s health care reform efforts—bought 30 minutes of Sunday morning network talk show airtime for a so-called documentary.
In reality, it was a paid infomercial featuring “horror stories” about the Canadian and British health care systems and warning us the U.S. government is about to take over health care here. The production values may have been high, but the truth factor was zilch.
Of course, that should not come as too much of a surprise when the well-paid hack behind the outfit is Rick Scott, who has a $5 million stake in the group’s drive to derail health care reform, according to the Washington Post.
