US Elections Special: How Limits on Campaign Financing Are Being Demolished for 2012

The ugly issue of campaign financing is not new, but it has risen in prominence because of the January 2010 decision by the Supreme Court decision, which has opened the doors for corporations, unions, and individuals to make unlimited anonymous contributions to political campaigns. The ramifications of that decision, as they will affect next year's campaign are not yet fully known, but this could be the year that Super PACs emerge as the "kingmakers" --- albeit hiding the identity of the kingmakers who lie behind them --- of American politics.

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Occupy London Feature: The Crisis Grows for the Church of England

Worryingly for the clergy, the last fortnight has raised questions not only about its authority to lead discussions on social justice in this particular instance, but for the foreseeable future as well. Put it this way: who doubts that, when the question of the relevance of the representation of the Church in the House of Lords is finally resolved, that the past two weeks will not provide most of the context for the decision?

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Occupy Wall Street to Occupy Oakland (& Beyond): The Week in the US Protests

Wednesday's General Strike in Oakland, and in the other cities that decide to join  --- Portland is not, for the moment, citing the difficulties of organising an effective protest in such a short space of time ---  could make the headlines for this week. But, as a cursory look at the Occupy protests last week throughout the US shows, it could be a different story, a different theme, in any of the hundred cities involved in this challenge to supposed corporate greed.

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US Politics Feature: Is It "The Curse of the Front-Runner" for Mitt Romney?

Take a look at intrade.com, the political betting website, and Mitt Romney has got the Republican presidential nomination wrapped up. He is currently given a 69% chance of becoming the GOP candidate in 2012, with Rick Perry and Herman Cain trailing at 12% and 7.6% respectively.  

Unfortunately for Mitt Romney, the history of Republican primaries  is littered with examples of hot favourites who were unable to maintain their momentum and finish the race as the victor.

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Occupy Wall Street (and Beyond) Analysis: The Tea Party Is Outraged, Mocking...and Worried

Occupy Wall Street last night outside Cipriani's, where New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was at a gala dinner (Photo: J.B. Nicholas/Splash News)

See also Occupy Wall Street Special: Canadian Caption Writer Goes Rogue and Takes Down Celebrities
Occupy Wall Street (and Beyond): Is It Now "We are the World"?

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Understandably, various Tea Party and conservative groups have looked on in alarm the last few days as the Occupy Wall Street protests threaten to displace them as the "authentic" voice of citizens' dissatisfaction with politics as usual in the US.

For more than two years, the Tea Party has been able, with some justification, to claim it is speaking for a "forgotten" America, but the emergence of groups throughout the country representing the “99%” of  Americans has called into question what the Tea Party were beginning to regard as their unchallenged mandate to change Washington.

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Occupy Wall Street (and Beyond): Is It Now "We are the World"?

See also Occupy Wall Street Special: Canadian Caption Writer Goes Rogue and Takes Down Celebrities

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The Occupy story is now growing beyond a domestic American narrative and becoming a global tale of protest. 

Perhaps.

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US Feature: Occupy Wall Street and "A Possible Seismic Shift" in Politics

I am not sure if that old paradigm of political protest, with a set of concrete demands to be fought for at the ballot box every two years, works any more. It is not just this  burgeoning movement from the  left --– if it is even as simple as that to characterise –-- but the emergence of the Tea Party as well that is leading to a possible seismic shift in the way politics is conducted in the United States.

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US Feature: Occupy Wall Street --- Why We Will Have an "American Autumn"

After reading many articles over the last year on the debt problems in the US and elsewhere, the main lesson I have learnt is that the urgency of the situation in Europe, and its possible effects in America, have been consistently underestimated and downplayed.

And when that meltdown happens, though with less impact in the US than Europe, a movement that The New York Times  reported, "Attracts Many New to This Sort of Thing", is not going to just fade away.

Which raises the inevitable question, "Where and how far can this movement go?" The frank answer is that no one, whatever they may claim, actually knows. Experts on movement theory will tell you what the Occupy protests need to do to sustain themselves long-term, but the intriguing aspect to this latest populist uprising is that is has no central hierarchy or demands to be picked apart and ridiculed by opponents. It is nothing more and nothing less than inchoate anger ---because how many people actually understand how broken it is? ---  at a financial system that has brought the economy to its knees, And how can you propose credible reforms when you don't even know how severe the next problem is yet?

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US Feature: How the Supreme Court's Next Decisions Will Become Part of 2012 Politics

Against a background of a hotly-fought election, with some of the issues before the Court like immigration and health care reform sure to contribute to the ideological divide, “rambunctious” may prove to be an understatement of the nine months ahead.

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US Politics Analysis: Obama and the Democrats Launch Their Populist Campaign

Right now, there is an even chance President Obama could become another Jimmy Carter-style loser, or another Bill Clinton-like resurgent winner, but there is little doubt he will be going before the electorate without the aid of any positive policy achievements in his final year, and, if the IMF is correct, with the country in another recession. No wonder he is taking the fight to Republicans.

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