The Supreme Court's gift to big business

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pipek
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Rejestracja: sob paź 17, 2009 9:31 pm

The Supreme Court's gift to big business

Post autor: pipek »

Yesterday, the justices issued one of their most important business decisions in decades. Overturning two prior cases and undoing a century of First Amendment doctrine, a monumentally divided court ruled that corporations, well, are just like people, too. No longer can those corporations be banned by Congress from spending whatever they wanted on advertisements on political candidates. Money is like speech. Since you can pretty much say what you want, you can pretty much spend what you want on ads or paid documentaries or any other broadcast vehicle.

"The censorship we now confront is vast in its reach," wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy for a 5-to-4 majority in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. "If the First Amendment has any force, it prohibits Congress from fining or jailing citizens, or associations of citizens, for simply engaging in political speech." All of the Court's conservatives voted in the majority, all the liberals in dissent. Come the midterm elections in November, expect even more campaign ads -- and this time from companies, labor unions, and any other organization with millions to spend on behalf of a candidate. It's enough to make you long for more Jay Leno at 10. "The court's ruling threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions across the nation," Justice John Paul Stevens correctly wrote in dissent.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/The-Supre ... 3.html?x=0
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