A Game ChangerWelcome to the new corporatocracy, worse than the old corporatocracy. By easing restrictions on corporate giving to election campaigns on Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court has opened floodgates that can further drown politics in special interest money — as if campaigns needed any more such saturation. And it could make elected officials all that more leery of putting voter interests above these other more narrowly focused, big monied interests. During confirmation hearings Chief Justice John Roberts indicated a reverence for precedent. That was then. On Thursday, Roberts, joining the four other conservative justices in a 5-4 vote, made it clear that this was simply an expedient. For decades, the court has recognized that corporations — at their core, simple legal constructs — are not human beings. This court, in an opinion written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, essentially makes many of those distinctions go away when it comes to political speech. Corporations — and unions — are now free to use money from their own general treasuries to produce and run their own election ads, likely rendering moot, as written, a measure passed by the Wisconsin Senate this week that would have regulated third-party issue ads. Free speech? By ensuring vast amounts of spending, this ruling ensures that to be heard above the din, the most effective political speech will be anything but free.
The ruling did preserve disclosure requirements and still allows laws that block corporate contributions directly to candidates. Thursday's ruling is sure to change the political landscape. And not in any way that benefits the average voter. REPRINTED FROM THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL. DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM
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