List of every member of congress who supports SOPA, sortable by donations • Hacker News Board

Re: List of every member of congress who supports SOPA, sortable by donations

#111

Post by tehwalrus » Mon, Jan 09, 2012, 12:46 PM UTC

brazzy wrote: post #109

fauigerzigerk wrote: post #108

Donations of any sort to people running for office should be banned outright without exceptions. It should be worth something to tax payers that politicians cannot be bought.

Result: instead of donating to their preferred candidate's campaign, donors will now run their own campaign promoting that candidate. Try banning that without running into the First Amendement...

A law stating/clarifying that only individuals, not companies, have first amendment rights would sort much of it out, coupled with caps on political donations per individual, including donations in kind (like sympathetic campaigns.) (I'm from UK, by the way, so I'm no expert on the US constitution, but we have similar issues here. Just trying to be logical - which always works in politics...)

Re: List of every member of congress who supports SOPA, sortable by donations

#112

Post by nhangen » Mon, Jan 09, 2012, 2:19 PM UTC

archgoon wrote: post #100

nhangen wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

has nothing to do with SOPA

Unfortunately, the parent poster was pretty clearly advocating Ron Paul for president. This makes citing reasons for not wanting Ron Paul for president fair game. This back and forth tedium is one of the reasons why Hacker News tries to avoid political posts in the first place. I'm afraid that legitimate criticism of the post requires you to actually debunk the claim.

The post was downvoted to the max, so apparently I'm not the only one that feels this way. Furthermore, I believe you are wrong on both statements you present as fact in your own statement.

Re: List of every member of congress who supports SOPA, sortable by donations

#113

Post by dimillian » Mon, Jan 09, 2012, 2:43 PM UTC

Natsu wrote: post #52

windexh8er wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Al Franken is a joke. Initially I thought he had good intent, but then I realized he's just another shit "actor" turned "politician". Unfortunately those words are more interchangeable than ever and reflects the current state of dismal affairs that is the United States government as a whole.

Actors possess most of the skills required to get elected. A successful actor starts out being well-liked, well-known and rich. They also have an easy time getting press and experience dealing with them. Knowing what the hell you're doing is, sadly, not required.

This is a big problem in USA. Actors turning into politics, Americans voting to get actors elected.... This is simply weird.

Re: List of every member of congress who supports SOPA, sortable by donations

#114

Post by pawn » Mon, Jan 09, 2012, 2:48 PM UTC

kazoolist wrote: post #97

wyclif wrote: post #51

Note that Rep. Ron Paul is the only current Presidential candidate that opposes SOPA.

Inaccurate. Romney opposes SOPA ( http://merrimack.patch.com/articles/video-mitt-romney-slams-... ). Others may too.

I have a question for my fellow HNers. Is SOPA a big enough deal for you that if Obama actually signs SOPA into law and the Republican nominee is someone who voices opposition to it, you'll vote Republican (for those who typically vote Democrat)?

Re: List of every member of congress who supports SOPA, sortable by donations

#115

Post by thetrendycyborg » Mon, Jan 09, 2012, 2:55 PM UTC

sgaither wrote: post #6

CWIZO wrote: post #2

I was surprised there are more democrats for SOPA than there are republicans.

Much of Hollywood/traditional media leans left. Most of the Dems against it are in the Silicon Valley.

California's Dems are co-sponsors.

Re: List of every member of congress who supports SOPA, sortable by donations

#116

Post by thetrendycyborg » Mon, Jan 09, 2012, 2:56 PM UTC

RyanMcGreal wrote: post #107

You know the world has gone mad when Al Franken supports SOPA and Michelle Bachman opposes it.

Other possibility: your understanding of the world was flawed and needs to be adjusted. You were mad.

Re: List of every member of congress who supports SOPA, sortable by donations

#117

Post by jberryman » Mon, Jan 09, 2012, 3:52 PM UTC

fauigerzigerk wrote: post #108

Donations of any sort to people running for office should be banned outright without exceptions. It should be worth something to tax payers that politicians cannot be bought.

People should check out Lawrence Lessig's recent appearance on the Daily Show:

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-december-13-2011/exclu...

He really does a good job characterizing the effects of money on politics, and outlines some cool ideas for sort of "shims" on the way to more complete campaign finance reform (which would take action from congress, and I guess a constitutional amendment or two).

But the thing that struck me the most was his point that fixing the corrupting influence of money on politics isn't like trying to do something like reverse a culture of racism: it's much easier. We just have to change the incentives.

Re: List of every member of congress who supports SOPA, sortable by donations

#118

Post by skizm » Mon, Jan 09, 2012, 4:05 PM UTC

pawn wrote: post #114

kazoolist wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Inaccurate. Romney opposes SOPA ( http://merrimack.patch.com/articles/video-mitt-romney-slams-... ). Others may too.

I have a question for my fellow HNers. Is SOPA a big enough deal for you that if Obama actually signs SOPA into law and the Republican nominee is someone who voices opposition to it, you'll vote Republican (for those who typically vote Democrat)?

Very possible since, at this point in time, I'm just looking for the least terrible candidate to get behind. I'm having trouble thus far since all have proved pretty terrible thus far.

Unfortunately that is what it comes down to when I vote... the lesser of the two evils.

Re: List of every member of congress who supports SOPA, sortable by donations

#119

Post by nyellin » Mon, Jan 09, 2012, 4:36 PM UTC

pawn wrote: post #114

kazoolist wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Inaccurate. Romney opposes SOPA ( http://merrimack.patch.com/articles/video-mitt-romney-slams-... ). Others may too.

I have a question for my fellow HNers. Is SOPA a big enough deal for you that if Obama actually signs SOPA into law and the Republican nominee is someone who voices opposition to it, you'll vote Republican (for those who typically vote Democrat)?

SOPA has changed my political views. I used to be a democrat, but watching politicians discuss the internet has firmly convinced me that as little government as possible is for the best. I'll be voting for Gary Johnson, the little known libertarian candidate who sadly is too simple and honest a man to be elected.

Re: List of every member of congress who supports SOPA, sortable by donations

#120

Post by nyellin » Mon, Jan 09, 2012, 4:38 PM UTC

cjoh wrote: post #95

botker wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Democrats tend to favor government regulations of any kind, while Republicans are somewhat more likely to oppose them in general. So it doesn't surprise me at all.

Except for regulations regarding who you can and cannot sleep with, what religions you may belong to, and whom you may marry.

If you want a "real Republican", vote for Gary Johnson. He's pro-choice and fiscally conservative.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Gary_Joh...