Good News! The White House Is Going to Repeal That Pesky First Amendment.

by Little Miss Attila on January 22, 2010

It’s about time. Organizing for America sends this:

Joy —

Yesterday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that corporations can spend freely in federal elections.

It’s a green light for a new stampede of special interest money in our politics, giving their lobbyists even more power in Washington. Now, every candidate who fights for change could face limitless attacks from corporate special interests like health insurance companies and Wall Street banks.

Including the health insurance companies and pharmaceutical corporations that have been striking secret deals with the White House. Oops; did I just type that out loud?

While the GOP is celebrating a victory for its special interest allies, President Obama is working with leaders in Congress to craft a forceful response that protects the voices of ordinary citizens.

What is that response, by the way? “The legislature stomps its little feet”?

Please add your name right away to help show that the American people support strong, urgent action to prevent a corporate takeover of our democracy.

Congress: I support bold action to ensure fair elections.

Fight for fair elections: Add your name

Apparently, “fair elections” are code for “elections unaffected by watchdog organizations.”

The Supreme Court decision overturned a 20-year precedent saying that corporations could not pay for campaign ads from their general treasuries. And it struck down a law saying corporations couldn’t buy “issue ads” — which only thinly veil support for or opposition to specific candidates — in the closing days of campaigns.

The result? Corporations can unleash multi-million-dollar ad barrages against candidates who try to curb special interest power, or devote millions to propping up elected officials who back their schemes.

With no limits on their spending, big oil, Wall Street banks, and health insurance companies will try to drown out the voices of everyday Americans — and Republicans seem ecstatic.

While opponents of change in Congress are praising this victory for special interests, President Obama has tasked his administration and Congress with identifying a fix to preserve our democracy — and we need to show that the American people stand with him.

Add your name today:

http://my.barackobama.com/FairElections

Thanks,

Mitch

Mitch Stewart
Director
Organizing for America

While we’re correcting the Constitution, can something be done about that separation-of-powers thingie? It is not the least bit convenient.

Come on, come on: even I get squeamish about the notion of “corporations,” or “Big A$” swinging elections at the last minute with copious amounts of cash. But why am I supposed to trust The New York Times or the Los Angeles Times to be any more honest than anyone else? And the notion that people join organizations like the ACLU, the National Rifle Association, or the Sierra Club and then are not permitted to get information from them to help them make intelligent decisions is just laughable. As is the idea that a large employer is not allowed to point out that initiatives, candidates, or policies will be bad for business and may result in layoffs.

Putting government in control does not improve the signal-to-noise ratio, as much as we would like it to.

Sometimes beauty isn’t truth at all. And the cure for bad speech is, dammitall, more speech.

{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }

I R A Darth Aggie January 22, 2010 at 10:56 am

Which part of Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech do they find so difficult to understand? This is an absolute prohibition on Congress to regulate speech, regardless the speaker.

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