It was a more innocent time.

"[I]t is obvious," The New York Times said, "that a deterrent, an actual prohibition, is needed to shut off the corrupting stream that flows from corporation treasuries."

#USPolitics #MoneyInPolitics #CitizensUnited #CorporationsAreNotPeople

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tillman_Act_of_1907

Senior Democrats have called for an investigation into a share-buying spree by two fossil fuel billionaires with close ties to the Trump administration,
after a Guardian investigation raisedquestions about potential wrongdoing.

Robert Pender and Michael Sabel,
the founders and co-chairs of Venture Global, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) company headquartered in Virginia,
bought more than a million shares worth almost $12m each in March.

The trades took place just days after a meeting with senior White House officials, who then issued a key regulatory permit that helped expand the company’s business in Europe.

Ron Wyden, the ranking member of the Senate finance committee and a member of the energy and natural resources committee,
said the transactions should be investigated, drawing parallels with previous Trump administration controversies.

“Corrupt pay-to-play schemes are at the heart of everything the Trump administration does,” Wyden said.
“There is no doubt in my mind that these new LNG transactions should be investigated so the American people know the full extent of Trump’s corruption and abuse of office.”
Wyden said investigators uncovered in 2020 that Trump’s energy secretary had inappropriately pressured a Ukrainian state-owned natural gas company
to benefit campaign donors, and added that neither Trump nor his energy team faced accountability for those abuses.

Senator Chris Van Hollen echoed those concerns about potential conflicts of interest.
“The Trump administration’s blatant use of cronyism and pay-to-play politics knows no limit.
It’s clear that they’re padding the pockets of billionaires at the expense of working Americans,”
said Van Hollen, senator for Maryland, member of the Senate banking committee and ranking member of the appropriations subcommittee that oversees the Securities and Exchange Commission and justice department.
“These investments absolutely merit further investigation.”

Van Hollen and Wyden’s intervention comes days after
Jeff Merkley, senior Democratic member of the Senate appropriations and budget committees, told the Guardian that
the stock trades should be investigated for potential wrongdoing.

“Dirty oil-and-gas bucks are fueling the Trump administration, which should outrage all of us.
This latest reporting portrays a pattern of pay-to-play donations and favorable actions by the administration,” Merkley said.
“The timing of the stock trades certainly merits investigation for potential conflicts of interest and insider trading.”
All parties involved have denied wrongdoing.

Sabel was among about 20 people who attended an event in April 2024 at Trump’s private club, Mar-a-Lago,
when the US president reportedly requested $1bn in campaign donations from the fossil fuel industry in return for favorable legislation.
Venture Global was among the “top donors” to Trump’s inauguration, donating $1m, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Individuals connected to Venture Global spent $860,000 on lobbying on Capitol Hill in 2024,
and another $810,000 so far this year, according to OpenSecrets, a non-profit campaign finance watchdog.
This is more than 12-fold the previous high of $70,000 in 2019.

“This is why we need to get money out of politics,” said Ro Khanna,
Democratic representative for California and member of the House oversight and accountability committee,
who is leading efforts with the representative Summer Lee to ban Super Pacs.
#MoneyIsNotSpeech #CorporationsAreNotPeople
#EndCitizensUnited

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/13/trump-fossil-fuels-allies-investigation?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

#OverturnCitizensUnited #CorporationsAreNOTPeople

“Americans Want Billionaires Out Of Politics—And Think They’re A Threat To Democracy, Poll Shows
A rising number of Americans believe billionaires pose a threat to democracy, newly released data shows, and seven in 10 want the ultra wealthy to play a smaller role in U.S. politics amid an administration that has publicly cozied up to the country’s richest people.”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2025/11/14/americans-want-billionaires-out-of-politics-and-think-theyre-a-threat-to-democracy-poll-shows/

😨Screaming in Pain: The Dark Side of the Corporate World, by Andrea Moonlight is not just my story; it’s a warning cry.

Free until July 28th!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FJG19K7P

#memoir #CorporationsAreNotPeople

Podcasts are doing the work of serious investigative journalists these days now that the billionaire owners of the papers have slashed budgets and staff.

The “Master Plan” series from The Lever is incredible, and this episode in particular illustrates how conservatives overturned hundreds of years of precedent and legalized corruption by allowing non-disclosed corporate money into politics.

https://pca.st/episode/1166f655-2563-463c-ab04-a143a05601a4

#MasterPlan #SCOTUS #DarkMoney #Oligarchy #CorporationsAreNotPeople

What *I* can do today...

https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/pass-the-we-the-people-amendment-and-end-corporate-rule?source=rawlink&utm_source=rawlink&share=3acc22e7-d684-4a71-badf-136a50785190

#EndCitizenUnited #CorporationsAreNotPeople
#NoDarkMoney