Rick Raw: Supreme Court’s Shocking Decision Clears The Way for Corporate Takeover of

Elections–Say Goodbye to The Democratic Process

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

When I heard that the Supreme Court struck down the twenty-year old law that prevented corporations from using their profits to endorse or oppose political candidates, I threw a tirade of epic proportions. My stream of profanity was unprecedented and sent my dogs running for cover.

My rampage lasted for ten minutes after which I shredded my voter registration card and my copy of the constitution. It was the most outrageously damaging decision the Court has ever made. What the hell were they smoking.

In a 5-4 decision, 5 mentally incompetent Justices ruled that the restriction was unconstitutional In so doing, the Justices cleared the way for corporate branding of candidates.

In the future, important national elections will be a joke, electing a puppet of the corporation that spent the most money backing the candidate. Then, by the time the lobbyists of the same corporation corrupt the elected official, representation for and by the people will be nonexistent. Rest assured, I’m not using hyperbole. This is serious.

The case that was presented to the Supreme Court was by a conservative group, Citizens United, that made a 90 minute documentary slamming Hilary Clinton as she campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Citizens United wanted to air ads for the anti-Clinton documentary and distribute it through video-on-demand services on local and cable systems during the 2008 Democratic primary campaign.

The Federal courts ruled that the documentary looked and sounded like a long campaign ad and therefore should be regulated like one. So the producers advertised the movie on the Internet and sold it on DVD. It did have a short theatrical run.

The Supreme Court heard arguments in March, then asked for another round of arguments about whether corporations and unions should be treated differently than individuals when it comes to campaign spending. The 5 conservative Justices were itching to dump the law. They just needed a case on which to rule.

Last week, the decision hit the news media like a 8.0 earthquake. President Obama condemned the ruling as a victory for big oil, Wall Street, banks, insurance companies, and other powerful interests.

Indeed, the ruling was a victory for critics of big government like the GOP leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) who filed the first lawsuit against the campaign finance law. Ayn Rand’s Society (cult) members were ecstatic, since their mantra of government laissez-faire or "Objectivism" was upheld by the Justices’ decision.

Still, as the recent economic apocalypse confirmed, the government needs to regulate campaign contributions from corporations. That was the purpose of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law. Without control, the corporations will now have the freedom to buy their own candidate.

The measly campaign matching funds from the government will be a paltry sum compared the corporate spending on their puppet candidate. Only billionaires who decide to use their own money will be free of corporate influence during their campaigns.

Sadly, we know from recent elections, the candidate who has the most money in their campaign war chest will probably win. In the end, it will be a race by the corporate interests to see who can spend the most money to get their candidate elected. Months before the election, the TV airwaves will be clogged with corporate paid commercials for their candidate. Negative and attack ads will proliferate like a virus.

This ruling will have a profound effect on the electorial process, shutting out the will of the ordinary people. Our democracy has taken a serious blow to its foundation as a government for and by the people–not soulless corporations. We need to organize a protest movement to put pressure on our lawmakers to reinstate campaign finance law to throttle big corporations from getting carte blanche.