Chris Matthews quoted the communists on Tuesday to argue that the unlimited spending allowed by Citizens United is turning U.S. elections into a sham.
"This is becoming, I will argue, like the country the communists accused of us being back in the Cold War, run by the Rockefellers. We'll get there," Matthews warned. "In the four years since the Citizens United decision, we've seen how unlimited political spending, cash, can empower the few over the many," he ranted. [Video below the break. Audio here.]
Of course, Matthews ignored the influence of liberal elites like George Soros and Bill Maher who contributed $1 million each to Obama's super PAC in 2012, and the fact that President Obama raised more money than his challenger Mitt Romney and spent almost as much.
Instead, Matthews sounded the alarm over conservative activists looking to influence politics with their money. "All the big boys have to do, as I said, and by them I mean the Koch brothers and their copycats is check the state polls, look to see who's in trouble, where they are, and throw a huge pile of money into the hands of the challengers. The right-wing challengers. This is not democracy."
And Matthews once again validated the communist critique of America:
"No, it reminds me of what the Communists used to say about us in the old days, that behind the pretense of democracy and free elections was the power of the Rockefellers pulling the strings, working the puppets, getting everything the way they wanted it."
Below is a transcript of the segments:
HARDBALL
2/18/14
MATTHEWS: In the four years since the Citizens United decision, we've seen how unlimited political spending, cash, can empower the few over the many, allowing some 400-plus billionaires in this country to leverage their enormous wealth to boost or destroy any candidate who stands in the way of their own political agenda. Well, it's hard to overstate just how growing income inequality today translates into political clout for the mega-rich. And now some of them are mobilizing in advance of the 2014 mid-term elections this November. Republican billionaire Paul Singer is discreetly organizing a group of well-known GOP donors behind his new group the American Opportunity Alliance, which according to Politico, appears to represent a new center of gravity in the world of GOP money. Singer's cohorts include power players like Charles Schwab and Joe Rickets, the former TD Ameritrade CEO who infamously supported using Reverend Jeremiah Wright as a centerpiece of a proposed anti-Obama campaign – attack campaign in 19 – or actually 2012. As the November midterms approach, we're sure to see this group and others flex some political muscle in states with vulnerable candidates.
(...)
CHRIS MATTHEWS: This reminds me of what that fellow Tom Perkins said the other day, the guy that said you should have a vote for every one of your dollars basically. If you're a billionaire, you should have a billion votes. In fact, they're going around, tipping the scale, putting their numb on the scale in races where nobody knew they came. They can pick anywhere in the country they can strike. Under Citizens United, they can throw any amount of money they want into this thing. This is becoming, I will argue, like the country the communists accused of us being back in the Cold War, run by the Rockefellers. We'll get there. Your thoughts.
(...)
MATTHEWS: Let me finish tonight with this. I recall the line of the congressman caught up in Abscam. The gist of it was that money talks. Well, now hear this. What happens when the vast economic inequality in this country gets money transferred into political power? What happens when the top end of the one percent form themselves into super PACs and start knocking off senators, governors and congressmen they don't like? What happens when the billionaires learn to leverage their economic advantage into political dominance? The fact is we haven't seen nothing yet. Remember how Mitt Romney used his cash edge to finish off his rivals in 2012? Watch how that kind of brazen money, billionaire's money, begins to target those troublesome senators now fighting for their survival in states like North Carolina this November, and Arkansas. All the big boys have to do, as I said, and by them I mean the Koch brothers and their copycats is check the state polls, look to see who's in trouble, where they are, and throw a huge pile of money into the hands of the challengers. The right-wing challengers. This is not democracy.
No, it reminds me of what the Communists used to say about us in the old days, that behind the pretense of democracy and free elections was the power of the Rockefellers pulling the strings, working the puppets, getting everything the way they wanted it. We can all laugh at the character who said the other day that the rich should get as many votes as they have money. But ask yourself, do you doubt that's precisely the way these billionaires think and are right now trying to get their way?
