FREE ESSAY ON VOLUNTARY BRIBERY?

VOLUNTARY BRIBERY?

Political Action Committees by definition are associations of individuals who, exercising
the First Amendment rights of political speech and association, advance their political
and/or ideological goals by pooling their resources to make contributions and/or
expenditures to affect the outcome of an election (www.pacfinder.com).
The fact that corporate America determines the outcomes of our elections, influences our
law makers', and has all but total control over our government has been greatly concealed
from the American public. The reason for this concealment is because Superclass leaders
prefer to keep the existence of and details about the extent of their class-based power
out of sight. Also, the above definition does not suggest that corporations are one of
these superclass powers and that they have influence over political campaigns/elections.
The truth however, of their existence in this process is clearly evident to the person
who is seeking it. 
As former president Woodrow Wilson once observed, the masters of the government of the
United States are the combined capitalists and manufacturers of the U.S. (The New Class
Society, Pg. 103).
President Wilson's comments although correct, were frowned upon by the superclass and
thusly his works and achievements have been greatly marginalized by the
privileged-class-controlled mass media. This suggests that our elected officials are
merely representatives of the superclass and once they act in a manner representing the
working or poor-classes their power and influence is quickly undermined or outright
removed.
Current day political campaigns can be thought of as battles to an extent. The days of a
person fighting for what he believes in are over. Times have shown the person with the
most money and backers wins an election today. When we see a person on television running
for a particular office, we just see him. What the vast majority of people do not see and
are not allowed to see, are the smiling faces of the large corporate sponsors standing in
the shadows. These sponsors are not interested in the welfare of the people nor do they
believe in their candidate's ideas. These sponsors are merely interested in maintaining
or increasing their influence over our society.
The history of PACs dates back to the 1940's during the election years of President
Franklin D. Roosevelt's unprecedented election to a third White House term. During this
election President Roosevelt was given large gifts of money from the United Mine Workers
of America, which helped him easily win over other less funded presidential candidates.
By the time he sought a fourth term he had already had the full financial support of the
UMOA however, a law had been passed to ban gifts of money from such organizations. The
president of the United Mine Workers at the time was a man named John L. Lewis. Lewis
sidestepped the ban by establishing the National Citizen's Political Action Committee to
collect voluntary contributions from mineworkers and others. Instead of using labor union
treasury funds, he used NCPAC's funds to make contributions to Roosevelt's campaign. 
Today, such groups are called PACs for no reason other than that was what the first one
choose to call itself (www.pacfinder.com).
In 1974, when Congress was debating a post-Watergate version of the Federal Election
Campaign Act, Rep. George Hansen (R-Idaho) successfully attached an amendment to the
measure that gave birth to explosive growth in PAC sponsorship by corporations and trade
associations. The Hansen Amendment made clear that corporations and trade associations
could use their treasury funds to finance the administrative and fundraising solicitation
costs of a PAC, in much the same manner as labor unions had already been doing for
several decades (www.pacfinder.com). 
There has always been an implied relationship between corporations and lawmaker decisions
due to the fact that most PACs and political officials are connected and are both based
in Washington, D.C. The implication is actually a reality but the superclass's second
tier autonomous representatives, including lawyers and specialists are quick to suppress
any hard evidence of this influence or their existence. 
If one was to compare the Fortune 500's list of the largest and most powerful
corporations in America and the Federal Government's list of the top 100 PACs and their
associated corporations, one would find the two list to be almost identical. This is no
surprise to these corporations; it would however be a surprise to the American public if
they were given this information directly. 
The national media, including television and printed literature, has been long been
controlled by members of the superclass. The things we read in the newspaper and see on
television greatly affect our opinion of important matters because it is the only
information we are given directly. The superclass uses the knowledge of this fact to
control our opinions on a daily basis. The idea of slavery has been long forgotten but in
actuality we are all slaves to the superclass. 
It is amazing when once considers that despite commanding huge resources, great power,
and high status, the superclass is still a relatively small group. They group exercises
control over enormous levels of investment capital and tends to intersect or overlap with
the wealthiest 1 percent of all Americans (The New Class Society, Pg. 108). 
Most Americans do not realize the costs associated with running for office. The amount of
cash required for obtaining the Presidency of the United States has topped out at $112
million. Ross Perot or Steve Forbes aside, where does one get the kind of money needed to
compete in a presidential election? The answer is not suprising, most election
contributions are primarily given by individuals, who are no doubt the leaders of the
superclass and from corporate and trade PACs. These contributions are not made out of
faith, moreover they are made to influence if not ensure their financial status and
control over our society. In regards to such persons as Steve Forbes, sometimes the
candidates and the wealthy contributors are the same person. In congressional and
presidential races, wealthy candidates sometimes legally finance their own campaigns. 
Opinions are only opinions until they are proven as facts. The fact is during the 1995-96
campaigns over 4,000 PACs disbursed $400+ million, but the corporate PACs plus the trade
and membership associations and health PACs (most with close corporate links) accounted
for more than 50 percent of that total. Also, since 1980 more than 70 percent of the
contributions to the Democratic and Republican parties alike have come from corporations.

Of course, corporate PACs are not the only players in the campaign funding game, but
compared with their most obvious competitors such as organized labor and public citizen
groups, they are by far the largest and best funded groups (The New Class Society,
Pg.155).
The result of all of the political fund raising and lobbying by major corporations: A
society of zombies who are deceived on a daily basis, influenced by the media, and
ultimately controlled by the superclass. So where does the endless cycle of bribery,
control, and influence stop? The answer is simple, it never will. The superclass will
never relinquish its power nor will it ever stop positioning itself to be in control over
every aspect of our lives. 
Bibliography
www.pacfinder.com , The New Class Society