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The following article is written by one of the only two candidates from the 2008 election that actually deserved the nomination for president. The other being Dennis Kucinich.
Key Points About the Citizen's United v. FEC Decision
The Supremes Have Opened the Floodgates
By Sen. RUSSELL FEINGOLD
The Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. FEC has opened the floodgates to corporate money in federal campaigns in ways we haven't seen for nearly a century. While for decades corporations have been able to set up special accounts, called PACs, to accept contributions and spend them on political activities, they have not been allowed to spend money from their vast corporate treasuries in connection with federal elections. Citizens United v. FEC has changed all that.
In this case, the Court took a narrow campaign finance issue and decided a much broader one – whether a century of laws protecting against corruption in government, laws which have been repeatedly upheld as constitutional, should suddenly be overturned. While the core of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA), often known as McCain-Feingold, isn't affected by this decision, the decision does eviscerate longstanding campaign finance law.
Below are some key points about the decision, and how the Court's move to overrule Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce (1991) and portions of McConnell v. FEC (2003) will undermine our democratic process.
The Core of McCain-Feingold Isn't Affected
It's important to note that the central provision of McCain-Feingold , the ban on unlimited "soft money" contributions from wealthy interests to political parties, still stands. Even though the Court has allowed independent corporate spending on campaigns, the ban on soft money contributions will continue. Emboldened by this decision, opponents of campaign finance reform will almost certainly argued that the political parties must now be freed from the restrictions of the soft money ban, so this important reform must be defended.
Nonetheless, the Citizens United decision seriously undermines campaign finance laws as a whole, bringing about an unprecedented rollback of reforms created to strengthen our democracy.
How Unlimited Corporate Spending on Advertising May Impact Campaigns
Corporations have huge war chests that far exceed current spending in our political system. During the 2008 election cycle, Fortune 500 companies alone had profits of $743 billion. By comparison, spending by candidates, outside groups, and political parties on the last presidential election totaled just over $2 billion. That is a lot of money, but it's nothing compared to what corporations and unions have in their treasuries.
The Supreme Court has now allowed unlimited corporate spending on campaigns. That means, for example, that Wall Street banks and firms, having just taken our country into its worst economic collapse since the Great Depression, could spend millions upon millions of dollars on ads directly advocating the defeat of those candidates who want to prevent future economic disaster by imposing new financial services regulations.
