Then the extreme Republican activists on SCOTUS decided Citizens United amiss, I knew that a flood of criminal corporate funding was on the way to disseminate Republican lies and brainwash a public all too prone to apathy and political laziness. If that was not bad enough, they have an entire so-called news network acting as their propaganda ministry, and most of the rest of the media unwilling to call the lies. Therefore spreading accurate information must be a grass roots effort. That is all the more clear when you realize just how bad Citizens United is screwing you.
Last year, in perhaps the “most consequential Supreme Court decision in decades,” the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) invalidated a sixty-three year-old ban on corporate and union money directly funding individual candidates in federal elections. The SCOTUS decision sent shockwaves throughout our democracy, with many fearing that it would lead to an overwhelming amount of corporate money flooding out the voices of ordinary people.
Now, the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics has put out a comprehensive analysis to assess the flood of campaign money in last year’s election. One of the most shocking results of the analysis finds that the decision appeared to have a sharply partisan and ideological result. The group found that spending by Super PACs and all outside spending strongly tilted towards conservatives, and that spending by undisclosed donors actually was eight times higher for conservatives than liberals, with conservatives spending $119.6 million to liberals’ $15.7 million.
Not only did this money help elect a more conservative Congress, but it also is having a lingering effect on our campaign system. Last week, Democratic strategists announced that they will be forming Priorities USA Action, an Independent Expenditure PAC that will be relying on a strategy of collecting unlimited funds from undiclosed [sic] donors similar to the one that conservative groups used in 2010… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <Think Progress>
It remains my belief that, until we have 100% public finance for all federal campaigns, we will have the best government money has bought. Public financing gives elected officials an incentive to represent their constituents, and frees their time to actually govern instead of having to raise several thousand dollars every day, seven days a week.
And just incase anyone forgot…
Corporations are NOT people!
Money is NOT speech!
8 Responses to “How Citizens United Is Screwing You”
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Outlaw PACs and make donors give directly to candidates whatever amount of money they want. At least then we’d know because of financial disclosure forms where their money came from. Same with issue s. Whatever lawmaker sponsors a bill he must have his name attached to any advertisements associated with it and corollary bills. While we’re at it outlaw any lobbying of any government official by any registered lobbyist except through snail mail. No face to face dinners or treats to golf tournaments with a steak house afterwards.
All of those reforms are great, Mark, but plutocrats seem to always find their way around reforms. If restricted to snail mail only, make way for pure gold envelopes and bejeweled platinum stamps. Why not just outlaw the money altogether, long term.
This decision was one of the most disastrous of a string of disasters from the SCOTUS since it was taken over by servants of the monied Overlords.
Marva, Amen. What else is there to say? 🙁
Since none of us are so naive as to believe that Corporations are donating their own – and their shareholders’ – money to politicians solely out of the goodness of their heart, it becomes clear that in order to end this “Pay-to-Play” format, some transparency is mandatory.
And since it’s doubtful any of us will live long enough to see a Constitutional Amendment ridding us of the vile Citizens United decision, then I hope Pres. Obama will sign the draft of the executive order requiring companies that bid for government contracts to disclose their campaign spending – to at least diminish the possibility that campaign donations are a payoff for obtaining political favors.
I agree, Nameless, and have signed petitions, emailed and called the white house, and informed others here.
This is a disgusting amount of undisclosed money flying around here. And apparently, the Repubs are much better at it than we are.
Lisa, that’s natural. We only get the millionaires and billionaires with the grace and ethics to embrace their social responsibility. They are totally outnumbered by those who embrace only greed, and the Republicans get them.