Mitt/Newt/Ron/Rick/Rick don't count. Citizens United does. [View all]

[getdown]

Literally.



"In January 2010, five justices of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that corporations have a First Amendment right to spend unlimited funds promoting or attacking candidates in local, state and federal elections. This radical decision rolls back a century of political tradition and more than 60 years of legal precedent prohibiting direct corporate involvement in elections. The First Amendment was never intended to let nonhuman business corporations spend unlimited corporate cash to influence our elections."

2 + 2 = 5

"Corporations were already spending considerable amounts of money to influence elections, but Citizens United v. FEC allows CEOs to dip into corporate treasuries and spend as much as they want to buy pro-corporate lawmakers and punish those who stand up for the public interest. To make matters worse, most of this new spending will be hidden from the public. Corporate front groups will sponsor cynical advertisements supporting industry-friendly candidates and attacking public servants who stand up to corporations; the public will not know who is funding the ads.

"Corporations are not people. They do not vote, and they should not be allowed to have such an overwhelming influence on elections. Public Citizen is pursuing several legislative responses and a constitutional amendment to reclaim the First Amendment for its original purpose."


http://www.citizen.org/Page.aspx?pid=3850
http://democracyisforpeople.org/