Abbreviated Pundit Round-up: Class warfare edition

^{Visual source: Newseum}

NY Times:

Two years after the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision opened the door for corporate spending on elections, relatively little money has flowed from company treasuries into 'super PACs,' which can accept unlimited contributions but must also disclose donors. Instead, there is growing evidence that large corporations are trying to influence campaigns by donating money to tax-exempt organizations that can spend millions of dollars without being subject to the disclosure requirements that apply to candidates, parties and PACs.

I'm shocked'shocked'that such a thing would happen in this great country. Why not disclosure? What are they afraid of?

NY Times:

The complex and fraught politics of wealth and class, undercurrents all along in the race between President Obama and Mitt Romney, are surfacing in increasingly visible ways in the presidential campaign, presenting big risks and opportunities to both sides...

There was Mr. Obama on Thursday at a carefully scouted location, the Kozy Corners diner in Oak Harbor, Ohio, downing a burger and fries and chatting with a group of working-class voters about pinochle and trips to Disney World...

And there was Mitt Romney on Thursday, roaring across Lake Winnipesaukee on a powerboat large enough to hold two dozen members of his family who had gathered for a weeklong vacation at his estate in New Hampshire. On Sunday, Mr. Romney will raise money among wealthy Republicans in the Hamptons, with his final stop a $75,000-per-couple dinner at the home of David Koch, the billionaire industrialist, who with his brother Charles has been among the leading patrons of the conservative movement.

Both articles are worth reading, especially the Romney logic as to why this works in Romney's favor (Americans are aspirational, and deep down, want to be him). What Romneybots miss is that it matters that the GOP doesn't want to commit to universal health care, saving Social Security and Medicare or any other program that actually helps the middle class. This is trickle-down economics on steroids.

NY Times:

The scene, echoing a pivotal sequence in the 1979 film 'Norma Rae,' is not a union recruiting pitch but instead is part of a television ad for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, from a campaign called 'Take Back Your Summer.' Other big advertisers like McDonald's and Coca-Cola are also tapping into a sense of frustration among workers to sell products portrayed as minor luxuries.

There's always a way to make money off of frustration.

Kathleen Hall Jamieson:

Could a truly honest politician become president?

No.

Still, there's lying and there's lying. There's Mitt Romney lies (policy, core beliefs) and Richard Nixon lies ("I am not a crook").

David Fleming (public health expert):

The average Washingtonian spends about an hour a year in the doctor's office, and the rest of the time going about everyday life. The actual leading causes of death and illness are factors like physical inactivity, unhealthy eating, tobacco use and motor-vehicle injuries. Pills and medical procedures can't treat these, but community investment ' in walking paths, healthy corner stores, healthy homes and clean indoor air ' can.

Kevin Ferris:

Thursday was the easy part for conservatives, well, except for learning that the chief justice who once talked about calling balls and strikes also has a wicked curveball.

But cranking out the press releases, from think tanks, candidates, House and Senate offices, and one presumptive presidential nominee, obviously wasn't difficult. And two words shared top billing in almost all of them: Repeal and Replace.

Now comes the hard part, assuming opponents of the Affordable Care Act are ever actually in a position to pull off repeal. Replace Obamacare with what?

Laura Bassett:

By rewriting the rules that govern which strings the federal government can attach to its spending on the state level, Chief Justice John Roberts may have inadvertently prevented a future Tea Party-dominated Congress from executing one of its top priorities, defunding Planned Parenthood.