Democrats, good government groups attack Supreme Court campaign ruling
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Good government groups and key Democrats immediately attacked today’s Supreme Court decision that essentially held that corporations could spend freely on political elections.
The decision, which had been widely anticipated, changes the rules of the political game as the midterm election cycle is well underway. The fear among good government groups is that the wealthiest players, will, in effect, be able to buy more access and shape the political debate.
“The Roberts court today made a bad situation worse,” Common Cause President Bob Edgar said in a prepared statement. “This decision allows Wall Street to tap its vast corporate profits to drown out the voice of the public in our democracy.”
“This decision means more business as usual in Washington, stomping on voters’ hope for change,” said Nick Nyhart, president and chief executive Public Campaign. “Congress must take on the insider Washington money culture if it wants to make the changes voters are demanding.”
Some groups are calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn the decision, but the odds of that happening are small.
In the wake of the ruling, political campaigns are also likely to become more expensive as more money becomes available for the races.
Democrats opposed the ruling because corporate money will likely go to Republicans. Unions will also be freed, but their resources are limited when compared to corporations. The decision also comes as Congress is weighing increased financial regulation, sure to be a partisan campaign issue.
“This opens the floodgates and allows special interest money to overflow our elections and undermine our democracy,” said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who headed the Senate’s Democratic campaign efforts.
“The bottom line is this: the Supreme Court has just determined the winners of next term’s elections. It won’t be Republicans. It won’t be Democrats. It will be corporate America,’ Schumer said.
“I have not seen a decision that more undermines campaign finance and it is probably one of the three or four decisions in the history of the Supreme Court that most undermines democracy. We will regret the day that this decision was issued,” he said.
-- Michael Muskal
