Yes if that was the only article with that kind of bias. I'm really hating going through this site so this will be the last example. It's a well written article that is sure to get the Berners frothing. I don't dispute the issue of campaign finance reform but this article presents only one side of the discussion:
How the Democrat’s Corrupt Congressional Pay-to-Play Machine Sabotages Progressives and the Popular Will
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2018/03/democrats-corrupt-congressional-pay-play-machine-sabotages-progressives-public-wil.html
Why do I say the above article is "propaganda that furthers the right wing agenda"?
First the focus is entirely on Democrats. There is one sentence buried in the middle of a paragraph buried in the middle of the article that says Republicans do the same. Why then does the article cover this non-partisan problem as a "Democrat's Corrupt Congressional" issue?
Second, the article doesn't explain why this system exists, what the "pay to play" money is used for and why Congressmen comply with it. For their money, they get access to infrastructure, information and like it or not, coaching on how to run a successful campaign. There is no requirement that a candidate pony up either. A congressman can most certainly win an election without it. Yet the article portrays this "corrupt pay to play machine" as a device to keep outsiders outside. I can see why a low dollar campaign might feel so but if one gets into the details, this "corrupt" device isn't an exclusionary device. The money raised is used to help less well funded campaigns succeed:
This is from an article with a balanced view on the topic:
Of course the leaders of both parties in Congress have a legitimate interest in raising money for the committees, like the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, whose job it is to help members of the party win their races so the party can maintain, or acquire, majority status in either house of Congress.
The party leaders, who generally have relatively safe seats of their own, are quite reasonably interested in raising funds for the party committees and incentivizing the members of their caucuses to raise funds for those committees as well. One way to incentivize along those lines is to reward successful fundraisers with good committee assignments and even chairmanships. And those assignments are in the leaders’ control.
https://www.minnpost.com/eric-black-ink/2017/04/congressional-dues-help-garner-good-committee-assignments
please note that I am not questioning the accuracy of what was portrayed on the nakedcapitalism website. I am also upset at the way campaign funding gives unfair access to big money even to the point where committee seats are beholden to lobbyist money. However, it's clear that campaing finance reform can only come from Democratic congressional action. I'm pointing out the breathtaking and painfully obvious to me bias in that article is designed to achieve just the opposite.
- The article completely portrays the Democratic party as corrupt. Digging into details, it's not clear that the intent or effect is corrupt.
- The article doesn't give a wit of text to provide an alternative viewpoint
- The article focuses on Democrats when Republicans use the same mechanism to get as many candidates from their party elected. Note that this one-sided partisanship permeates nakedcapitalism's site.
- The article falsely portrays the reason for the "corrupt pay to play machine" as one to exclude undesirables, specifically Bernocrats. Bernie, isn't even a Democrat, he's an independent.
My reason for finding this repugnant and even antidemocratic is that I can find no breakdown of how this site pays for itself much less pays it's staff. There are stories in the media about campaigns funded by right wing billionaires to suppress votes by liberals through propaganda intended to make the Democratic Party look as bad as Republican Party. I think this site is one of them. This is why I say:
nakedcapitalism is a propaganda website that furthers the right wing agenda. Anything that comes from there is suspect.
