jeffwThe Supreme Court rules that state officials can engage in a little corruption, as a treat
ChonkyOwlbearHoly fuck! As if Citizens United wasn’t bad enough. Our government is fully for sale now.
Same as it ever was.
ᗪᗩᗰᑎ… but worse!
Same as it ever was!
Same as it ever was.
SLVRDRGNSame as it ever was?
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile. And you may ask yourself, “Well, how did I get here?”
Thanks to the Supreme Court, that’s how
SanctusIts just out in the open. Corruption of full blast.
Haha, yeh.
TimLovesTechThis is quid pro quo being ruled as NOT bribery because it comes to the person on the backside of the favor. This is almost certainly to do with the majority of the court recently being outed about the amount of high value bribes gifts/vacations they are getting from “friends”.
DominusOfMegadeus“We realized that people now knew the things we constantly do wrong, so we made them not wrong anymore.”
NegativeLookBehind“We’ve investigated ourselves and found no evidence of wrongdoing”
This is almost certainly to do with the majority of the court recently being outed about the amount of high value bribes gifts/vacations they are getting from “friends”.
Nah, this is a long running theme. In chronological order-
Sun Diamond Growers - The government must prove the bribe is actually connected to the act. Skilling - Corruption charges require a second party to give you a bribe or kickback, self dealing is fine. Citizens United - Money is political speech, and you can spend as much as you want on an election. McDonnell - Acting as a pay to play gatekeeper is fine. Even if the government connects the bribe to the act. Ted Cruz - Politicians can keep unspent campaign funds as long as they maintain the fiction of having lent the campaign money. Snyder - Kickbacks aren’t actionable. <- We are here.
barkingspidersseems like a good thread to plug represent.us
they describe themselves as
RepresentUs is America’s leading nonpartisan anti-corruption organization fighting to fix our broken and ineffective government. We unite people across the political spectrum to pass laws that hold corrupt politicians accountable, defeat special interests, and force the government to meet the needs of the American people.
here’s their policy platform represent.us/policy-platform/
they claim to have played a part in over 185 pieces of legislation (mostly at the state level) that contributed to their core platform represent.us/our-wins/
here are their ongoing campaigns presented state by state represent.us/2024-campaigns/
nobody and no organization are perfect but I feel like most people can find something to agree on here
So that means that I can engage in a a little tax evasion, as a treat?
Define bribe and you’ll start to see where enforcing this becomes a problem. Especially with legalized corruption in the form of lobbying and ‘gifts’.
Well, federal officials are already forbidden from accepting gifts/anything valued more than $25 in one instance, and no more than $100 a year from any one group or person. Enforcing that seems like a good place to start.
Billionaires can just make a coupon thousand shell orgs to funnel $100ks into their pockets.
Legislators, executives, and jurists aren’t officials in the sense you mean. They are referring to government employees, who can still receive every joyful punishment a prosecutor can dream of.
Well, perhaps the wording should be amended to encompass all public employees. But that would require the law be rewritten by the people that benefit from it, so, yeah.
Can we start actually enforcing this please?
No. You can’t bind the rich.
When can we start gifting them with bonfires as thanks for this change in law?
We taking your car or mine?
I’ve posted this elsewhere but I hate this so:
A “donation” up front says I’ll see what I can do, money after the fact says I’ll fight for you. Sounds like bribery to me. Not that the current system isn’t but backend feels so much worse
ZeroCoolOpenly corrupt assholes rule being openly corrupt very cool and very legal.
Yeah, that sounds about right.
Who’s ready for a sit it?
girlfreddySCOTUS has officially entered the sewage system courtesy of the GOP and Trump.
Since long ago, my friend. Citizens United was a landmark in my opinion, although there are probably older rulings that showed how little they care about basic functionality in a democracy.
and Trump
Lol read up on Bush v. Gore in 2000.
NOW is the proper time for Alito to hang his fucking flag upside down.
JFC.
It’s a GOOD THING none of these Justices ruling on the Legality of Bribery have EVER taken Bribes!
Sounds like someone could use a little treat.
bro i thought this was an onion post for a second what the fuck just happened
LucidlethargyJust yet ANOTHER consequence of Trump’s first term…
unfortunately you may be right, but the onion also has a very specific type of title that they write out, and this was pretty close.
It’s not a bribe it’s a gift!
This title is great lmao
WaldowalNow the politicians want tips?!
FuglyDuckRemember highest tipper gets to control the Domi.
Wait. I shouldn’t make that joke- sex work is way more honest.
So is the difference “I’ll give you money to do this thing” versus “I’ll give you money if you do this thing”?
They both sound like bribes to me. Money, goods, or services are just handed over at different times.
I fucking hate these people. No shame. No morals. No humanity.
My interpretation of the article is that it’s a question of timing. If you offer me money in order to hook you up, that’s a bribe. But if I hook you up and later you give me money in thanks, that’s not a bribe.
Obviously both of them are corrupt. But apparently this law can only target the former.
No see the first one is a bribe, the second one is a job. I’m paying you for your time! /s
Jojo, Lady of the WestThat was actually the argument made by the official in question. Called it a “consulting fee”.
I should’ve been a consultant. I could have a few yachts by now…my country would be destroyed, but at least I could be in my own little world.
It’s a kickback. They just made kickbacks completely legal.
FireTowerPosted this in another thread on the issue but worth saying again because most people see to be confused as to the actual implications of this ruling:
Although a gratuity or reward offered and accepted by a state or local official after the official act may be unethical or illegal under other federal, state, or local laws, the gratuity does not violate §666.
Tldr the ruling only was about in relation to one law. The party may be guilty of a form of corruption under a different law.
www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/…/23-108_8n5a.pdf
Read page 2 of the syllabus where it says “Held:” until page 4 if you want the shorter version.
Otherwise there’s a 16 page explanation under the “opinion of the court” section directly after the syllabus, for those who are interested in a longer explanation.
Can I get a teal deer for that tldr?
TLDR of the TLDR:
Court said the gov charged him with the wrong thing. Look for another charge, he’s probably screwed.
Except SCOTUS will just strike down the next one too. The modern court has never supported bribery charges that come before it.
i love how the standard went from “the appearance of impropriety” to “you know what, just leave the money on the counter”.
SnapzNOT THAT COUNTER!!! That is the bribe counter! You put it NEXT the bribe counter so nobody gets the wrong idea.
No that’s fine too, we’ll just blow up the journalist and bury the story. #PanamaPapers
This is clearly a dark road to go down and a terrible idea for the country. I personally couldn’t be anymore against this.
That said should there not be stricter rules on titles on a news subreddit? A lot of the titles I’ve seen recently are clearly prejudiced or undescriptive.
I think it’s important we maintain a high level of accuracy on news subreddits to limit the spread of misinformation.
That title is directly from the article. You think the OP should instead use their own title?
My bad, I didn’t realise that that was the article title.
I’m surprised that Vox chose to go with that title but obviously that’s got nothing to do with this post or the community rules.
This is not a subreddit, and this is the original article’s title.
_wizardRight? Dude thinks this is reddit.
Is pepsi okay?
That’s exactly what Pepsi is.