Below is a guest post by Sen. Byron Dorgan demanding the Army hold KBR accountable for electrocutions, including the homicide of Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth.

The majority opinion in Citizens United v. FEC states:

III(B)4: We need not reach the question whether the Government has a compelling interest in preventing foreign individuals or associations from influencing our Nation's political process.

Thus the Court did not summarily reject the principle that the Government has "a compelling interest in limiting foreign influence over our political process." Therefore new legislation grounded in that principle would not defy Citizens United on its face, and would be Constitutional unless the Supreme Court ruled otherwise in a new case. (And if this is a criminal statute, a new case worthy of certiori would have to be an appeal of a successful criminal prosecution.)

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) is one of the worst corporate hacks in the Senate. She has been a crucial opponent of every progressive priority, including real healthcare reform and reduction of global warming gases.

Our friends at CREDO Action and Friends of the Earth launched a very smart campaign to send Sen. Lincoln a message about air pollution through a billboard campaign in her home state. They gave activists three choices (see below).

With your help, we'd like to send Sen. Lincoln another message: the need to overturn the Supreme Court's catastrophic ruling that corporations can spend unlimited amounts of money to elect or defeat our leaders. If this ruling is not reversed through strict legislation and a Constitutional amendment, we will all become corporate slaves.

Bush's Great Recession has already caused deep cuts in crucial state and local programs from coast to coast. Now it is forcing cuts in Congress too.

But instead of cutting massively wasteful military spending, President Obama and Democratic "leaders" are pushing a record $708 billion Pentagon budget, including $160 billion for the never-ending wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

If you think Democratic "leaders" should spend our tax dollars on healthcare not warfare, there's an exciting new grassroots movement you can join: the Brownbaggers!

Last month, there were 22 Brownbag Vigils outside Congressional district offices. This Wednesday, that number will grow to 50 - and even more if you help organize one near you.

It's time to start a grassroots revolution to demand the change we voted for in 2006 and 2008.

Bob Fertik

p.s. We are also working to reverse the Supreme Court's decision in January to let corporations spend unlimited sums to buy politicians. If you haven't yet signed, please pledge to Save Our Democracy:
http://democrats.com/save-our-democracy

We've all seen the video of Justice Samuel Alito shaking his head mouthing "Not True" when President Obama said:

Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests – including foreign corporations – to spend without limit in our elections. Well I don’t think American elections should be bankrolled by America’s most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities. They should be decided by the American people, and I urge Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps correct some of these problems.

So who's telling the truth and who's lying?

John McCain knows a thing or two about campaign finance. Here's what he said on Face The Nation:

by Jon Soltz, VoteVets

Among the tragic news in Haiti, and the expected dissection of the Senate race in Massachusetts this week, there's another story going on that likely will not get as much coverage, but is still extremely important.  Dozens of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans from VoteVets.org are flying into Washington, DC to join with the Campaign to Close Guantanamo in lobbying Congress to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

These veterans will deliver a letter to a number of Congressmen and Senators, co-signed by about 2000 veterans, calling for Congress to follow President Obama's lead, and move to shut down the facility that has become a blight on America's reputation.

How did the Massachusetts Senate race end up so close?

1. The Right Wing Noise Machine. 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, 60 minutes an hour, the Right Wing Noise Machine attacks Democrats and liberals. Their leaders are FOX and Rush Limbaugh, but there is an army behind them. To them, everything Democrats do is wrong and evil. And if the facts don't agree with their paranoia, then facts be damned. They never issue corrections or apologies, they just smear. It's who they are, it's what they do, and Democrats let them do it.

2. The Corporate Media amplifier. The "FOX Effect" extends far beyond FOX studios. Right-wing Republican Joe Scarborough gets 3 hours every morning on "liberal" MSNBC to echo FOX smears. The "gang of 4" in the White House Press Corps - Jake Tapper (ABC), Chip Reid (CBS), Chuck Todd (NBC), and Ed Henry (CNN) - throws every FOX smear directly into the face of Robert Gibbs. Just ask Van Jones.

If Martha Coakley ekes out a victory in the Massachusetts Senate race, it will be a miracle. Coakley's campaign has been inept, while Scott Brown has the Teabaggers and FOX News pulling out all the stops.

As of Monday morning, the polling average at Pollster.com gave Brown a 52%-43% lead - what pundits would call "insurmountable."

If Massachusetts Goes Republican, All Hell Breaks Loose With Healthcare!
By Brent Budowsky - 01/13/10 07:44 PM ET

Having worked for the House Democratic leadership and senior Democratic senators, being a serious vote-counter with an occasional dose of Niccolo Machiavelli, I ask: What happens if the Republicans win the Senate in Massachusetts, and might it have the ironic result of reviving the public option and other progressive policies? Here is a scenario I advise senior Democrats to consider, if the Republicans win the Massachusetts Senate race:

1. Obviously, Democrats don't have the 60 votes.

2. The president's first inclination will be to persuade Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine). But I do not believe this can be achieved, which would require moving the Senate bill that she opposed even further to the right and toward the special interests, without losing more liberal members than the market can bear.

Will LieberCare give Ted Kennedy's Senate seat to Republican Scott Brown?

A Suffolk University Poll released late Thursday night gives Brown a 50%-46% lead over Martha Coakley. Nate Silver connected the polling dots and now calls it a toss-up.

Coakley hasn't run a brilliant campaign. But Scott Brown's main claim to fame is as a centerfold, and Massachusetts is a Blue state. So why does Brown have a real chance?

Because the same poll shows MA voters oppose LieberCare by 51%-36%. Many LieberCare opponents are conservative Republicans who would vote for Scott Brown anyway. But some are progressive Democrats and independents who want Medicare for All, or at least a public option. Steven is one:

I am in Massachusetts and actually the reason I'm not going to vote Democrat (not voting republican either) is because the current healthcare bill is far too conservative. It does not have a strong public option, Coakley says she will vote for it in the Senate, I therefore will not cast my vote for her.