Lately we’ve been talking about the vast amounts of money that the super-wealthy have been pouring into politics with the hope of buying elections for pro-corporations, anti-worker candidates who will further tip the scales of power against working people’s interests.

One of the key front groups for the 1 percent is Crossroads. “Crossroads” is actually multiple groups formed by former GOP operatives Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie, with the shared goal of electing anti-worker candidates. The most important entities within the Crossroads family are American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS. 

On July 1, Mexicans went to the polls to elect a president and Members of Congress. The stagnation of the economy, lack of opportunities for decent employment for young people and the terrible violence of the drug war were key issues motivating the voters.  Unfortunately, both the incumbent PAN party and one of the other challenging parties, the PRI,  support so-called labor law reforms that would undermine worker rights while weakening social protections.

Lost in the barrage of news coverage about the Arizona law yesterday was the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court refused to allow Montana or any other state to impose limits on independent election spending because of the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling. Montana had a 100-year law on the books that restricted corporate spending on elections.

A New York Times editorial addressed concerns over the Supreme Court’s decision: