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How Chicago's White Donor Class Distorts City Policy

Sean McElwee Demos
Chicago’s democracy is being distorted by an overwhelmingly, white, wealthy and male donor class. But public financing provides a clear solution. The “Fair Election Ordinance,” introduced on January 13, 2016 would match all small donor contributions up to $175, increasing the influence of the most diverse small and mid-level donor pool.

The new Gilded Age: Close to half of all super-PAC money comes from 50 donors

Matea Gold and Anu Narayanswamy The Washington Post
Despite the mixed impact that big-money groups have had on the presidential contest so far the biggest surge of cash is likely to come this fall, when millionaires and billionaires aligned with both parties fully engage in the fights for control of the White House and Congress.

Almost a Century Ago, another Democratic Socialist Ran for President of the United States—from His Prison Cell

Lawrence S. Wittner LA Progressive
In response to the Congressional declaration of war in April 1917, delegates at a Socialist party convention declared their “unalterable opposition” to it. The federal government began prosecuting Socialist Party leaders. Socialist Congressman Victor Berger, convicted under the Espionage Act, was expelled from the House of Representatives, re-elected by the voters, and then expelled again. Debs responded with a blistering speech at a party rally in Canton, Ohio.

Friday Nite Videos -- November 13, 2015

Portside
John Oliver: Prisoner Re-entry. What the Actual Fact? - Truth and Fiction in the GOP Debate. How To Go To Space (with XKCD!) Demand a 2016 Election Day Holiday! 'Why use a Taser?' The death of Calvon 'Andre' Reid.

Friday Nite Videos -- November 6, 2015

Portside
The Ferguson Effect: It's Hard Out There for a Cop. How the Keystone Fight Was Won. Movie: This Changes Everything. The Mesa Verde Mystery. Sanders’ Strength? Millennials Back Socialism.

Why Asian Americans Don’t Vote Republican

Cecilia Hyunjung Mo The Conversation
Three quarters of the Asian-American vote went to the Republican presidential candidate just two decades ago. In 2012, three quarters of Asian Americans voted for Barack Obama. This dramatic change in party preference is stunning. No other group has shifted so dramatically in their party identification within such a short time period. Some are calling it the “GOP’s Asian erosion.”
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