Anyone can go around campaign limits now by creating a corporation...

[JCMach1]

At first I thought the SC decision was just REALLY BAD, on further reflection it is GAME OVER...


It isn't just companies who can drop bombs now, but ANYONE... You have the money, form a corporation and it puts out the information. i.e. ALL campaign limits on money have ceased to exist...

We have to stop this or democracy is finished... :-(

[NoSheep]

1. "Anyone" who has the money and the WILL is doing that already.

[JCMach1]

2. Exactly, and given the current Congress, there will be no legislative action

before Nov.

Coup by Supreme Court again...

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

3. There appears to be some misunderstanding of what this decision means.

There's no special status afforded to corporations. It removes the restrictions on their advocacy spending. Individuals were not subject to those restrictions in the first place, so there is no benefit to be gained from forming a corporation for the purpose of spending money in this way.

[jobycom]

4. Some???!!?? Maybe 1% of the posts on the ruling have any understanding at all.

Goddamn Chicken Littles. "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!"

Christ, if we spent as much time getting things done as we spend jumping to fatalistic and wrong conclusions around here we'd already have created a Utopia the gods would envy.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

9. I'm not convinced that the "chicken littles" are actually wrong.

They may be right for the wrong reasons, but this is a truly odious ruling that has the potential to massively increase corporate influence on elections.

[misanthrope]

11. Exactly. There have long been ways around the barriers...

...supposedly in place until today and they've been well exploited.

[JCMach1]

5. Corporations and individuals forming pseudo-corporations that serve as conduits

for the money of everyone above for 'issue advocacy'...

These corporations will be run by party operatives/liaisons with the companies.

And so on...

Oh and if it is a corporation FOREIGN MONEY can come in...

Your President brought to you by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia... Get the picture?

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

8. About time someone brought up foreign money..

If not Saudi Arabia it could be China.

I just wonder how long it will take them to stop OSHA and change the Labor laws.




Makes me sick thinking about it.

[jobycom]

10. There are bans on foreign corporations donating to political campaigns.

http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/is_it_legal_for_candidates_to_raise.html

and

http://www.fec.gov/pages/brochures/foreign.shtml
The Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) prohibits any foreign national from contributing, donating or spending funds in connection with any federal, state, or local election in the United States, either directly or indirectly. It is also unlawful to help foreign nationals violate that ban or to solicit, receive or accept contributions or donations from them. Persons who knowingly and willfully engage in these activities may be subject to fines and/or imprisonment.

The following groups and individuals are considered "foreign nationals" and are, therefore, subject to the prohibition:

•Foreign governments;
•Foreign political parties;
•Foreign corporations;
•Foreign associations;
•Foreign partnerships;
•Individuals with foreign citizenship; and
•Immigrants who do not have a "green card."

[JCMach1]

12. Not a donation, we are talking 'corporate ownership'... this kind of activity would be protected now

The FEC rules involve DIRECT donation, not the 'new' freedom of speech granted to corporations.

[NoSheep]

6. Thus my reply to the OP.

[Spazito]

7. Not just anyone but certainly other countries....

as long as there is 'some' American ownership included, they now have a say in U.S. elections through their advertising dollars. It isn't only American jobs that have been offshored.

[KharmaTrain]

13. It Only Works If People Sell Their Votes...

Maybe, just maybe this outrageous ruling will wake up people to how few freedoms they really have. Most of us have seen "deregulation" destroy the middle class...millions have been victims of "downsizing", "consolidating" and "outsourcing"...and many others have sunk into bankruptcy and serfdom thanks to the greed.

The one part of this ruling that remains that will be key is how corporates will have to identify themselves when they attempt to buy elections...and with it candidates will easily get tatooed with the corporate brand. With so many people pissed at this brazen travesty, being labeled a "corporate toadie" could be akin to child molester.

All the money in the world can't buy if people aren't selling...our job is to educate and fight...make the vote sacred...and chastize and demonize those who represent the "corporate individual" over the human one.