Superdelegates can be bought, your desired bias included

Remember when Obama imposed a ban on contributions from federal lobbyists and political action committees? The Washington Post seems to have remembered. They note with interest, that in February of this year, that ban was removed. The DNC justifies this move "because Congress had eliminated about $20 million in federal funding for the quadrennial party gatherings."

I had no idea that the Federal Government had made such a large contribution to the convention gatherings. I guess that's one of the perks of being a major party in America.

As the ban was lifted, lobbyists became emboldened to show their influence in the nomination process. In Colorado, a cadre of superdelegates have mobilized to prevent the realization of a single payer health plan at the behest of their benefactors. It has been long apparent that superdelegates favor Clinton by an overwhelming margin of 522 to 39, with more than 300 superdelegates pledging loyalty to Clinton before even the first vote was cast. Now we are starting to learn that many of the superdelegates are in fact lobbyists.

This is how bad they want it. They are willing to pose as "unbiased" delegates, unfettered by the outcomes of the primaries in their respective states. They can vote however they want to at the convention in July. But they are pledging their loyalty now, to let all of us know that Hillary Clinton is inevitable.

When confronted about their loyalties to Clinton, even in the face of a landslide against her, some superdelegates have held fast to say that they still think that Clinton is the better candidate. As you can imagine, some people are justifiably outraged in their disagreement with those superdelegates.

If you think that all of this stinks of pay-to-play, you might be right. One superdelegate has been convicted and sentenced to a long term in prison for accepting money for political favors. His name is Sheldon Silver, speaker of the New York State Assembly and political confidante to Mrs. Clinton. History reveals that he was one of the people who encouraged Hillary Clinton to run for elected office early on.

That Hillary Victory Fund (HVF) seems to pop up everywhere. These same lobbyists are making contributions to the HVF as well. They have found influence through a political action committee built for the purpose of electing Hillary for president.

That same Hillary Victory Fund helped Hillary purchase the loyalty of 33 state democratic parties at bargain basement prices. Of $60 million raised, only about 1% was returned to the states respectively, to support local candidates. This might well explain why more than 300 superdelegates declared their loyalty to Clinton before the first vote in New Hampshire was cast. I wonder if any of them will have a change of heart given how the money hasn't come back yet.

This is the problem with creating a class of delegates who don't have to listen to the voters. They are free to accept outside influence. They are free to tip the scales their way, conflict of interest be damned.