Sheldon Adelson, Haym Solomon, And The Labor Unions: A Perspective

The outcome of the Battle of Yorktown, which literally secured America's independence from Great Britain, might have been very different except for a patriot named Haym Solomon. Haym Solomon answered Robert Morris' desperate request for the $20,000.00 George Washington had asked for in order to move his Continental Army forces from the Hudson to Yorktown. Once there, the fate of Cornwallis' forces was sealed.

In Election 2012, in part because of a ruling by the U. S. Supreme Court, funds available to those supporting the Democrats and those supporting the Republicans may well be seen to have done much to determine the outcome of the presidential and congressional races.

To match the massive funds the labor unions are able to give to the Democrats, the Republicans have to raise roughly equal funds from their donors. Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam are providing a lot of that support. The Democrats traditional donor George Soros is a very large supporter of their candidates.

Mr. and Mrs. Adelson, like George Soros, and labor unions, are among America's richest donors and sources of political funds.

The Adelsons' donations to Super Political Action Committees are not done in secret and thus have been well-publicized. Many of Mr. Soros' donations in the past are said to have been funneled less publicly through foundations and corporations he has been linked to. Labor union donations are directed to political purposes the unions leaders support on behalf of their dues-paying union members.

Both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama benefit from donations by their supporters, as well as from the monies coming in to their parties from all donors large and small.

With the Supreme Court's ruling which opened the way for large corporate donations to the Super Political Action Committees working for both sides, the several massive donations going into those committees are said to have distorted the influence of large donors over other legitimate concerns of the average donors.

While that may well be true, large donors such as the Adelsons, Mr. Soros, and the labor unions were all playing on the same level playing field in Election 2012, and they will continue doing so unless and until Congress passes legislation to restore greater balance which can limit such outsized influence by the largest donors.

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© 2012 Demas W. Jasper All rights reserved.