Buying Democracy

huffingtonpost.com — While the January 21st Supreme Court decision in the case of Citizens United vs. FEC can be viewed narrowly as granting corporations the right to spend unlimited funds in political contest, the 5-4 ruling is best understood as another victory by conservatives in their decades-long war on democracy. Many Americans are unaware of this campaign. After all, the U.S. is suffering from a savage recession while fending off attacks from murderous jihadis; meanwhile, a high level of distrust in government has many voters angry and disillusioned. Considering these grim conditions, it's understandable that most Americans remain oblivious of the biggest threat of all: the conservative crusade to turn our democracy into a plutocracy.

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truthout.org — What can possibly be the purpose of the First Amendment other than to allow all voices to be heard in the marketplace of ideas? No one can argue that large corporations, with their vast resources, will have the same voice in influencing public debate that an individual has. Dominating that marketplace with the loudest voice can effectively silence opposing voices, which is precisely what the First Amendment was designed to foil and the recent Supreme Court decision will now permit. The inevitable conclusion is that the court's decision is a violation rather than an affirmation of the US Constitution and is ideologically rather than rationally based.

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nytimes.com — With a single, disastrous 5-to-4 ruling, the Supreme Court has thrust politics back to the robber-baron era of the 19th century. Disingenuously waving the flag of the First Amendment, the court’s conservative majority has paved the way for corporations to use their vast treasuries to overwhelm elections and intimidate elected officials into doing their bidding. Congress must act immediately to limit the damage of this radical decision, which strikes at the heart of democracy.

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huffingtonpost.com — Shed a tear for our democracy. In Citizens United v. FEC, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that corporations have a First Amendment right to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence election outcomes. In eviscerating, longstanding rules that prohibit corporations from using their own monies to influence elections, the court invites giant corporations to open up their treasuries to buy election outcomes. Corporations are sure to accept the invitation.

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huffingtonpost.com — The Supreme Court ruling granting corporations the right to spend unlimited sums for and against candidates in federal elections is expected, devastating for democracy, and extremely difficult to undo. It's impact may even be worse than the damage caused by the selection of George W. Bush in December, 2000. Of course, the current 5-4 conservative majority is a direct result of Bush's election given his successful nominations of Justices Roberts and Alito.

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truthdig.com — Aside from the fact that the majority ruling reeks of conservative politics, what I find most striking about conservative judicial activism typified by this ruling is the fact that the justices involved are totally out of touch with reality. None of the men involved in this historic decision have been elected to anything, ever. They have no idea how difficult it is for elected officials to deal in the contemporary money-flooded milieu of Washington. Not since the late Justice Hugo Black, a former U.S. senator who retired in 1971, has the court had a member of Congress on its bench, someone who can explain the real world to the other justices. These conservative justices live in a bubble, and they have little true understanding of what they have done, other than, of course, to know that they have taken care of conservatives, the so-called Citizens United who filed this lawsuit.

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truthout.org — Conditions are so bad that people now assume that nothing useful can pass Congress due to the vote-buying power of powerful financial interests. The health care reform debacle is but the most recent example. The Supreme Court now opens the floodgates to usher in a new tsunami of corporate money into politics. If we are to retain our democracy, we must go a new direction until a more reasonable Supreme Court is in place. I would propose a one-two punch of the following nature.

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