A Corporate Hatch Act?

[madinmaryland]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/25/AR2010012502970.html

Now that the Supreme Court has struck down century-old restrictions on corporate money in politics, is Congress prepared to strike back?

Many suppose that the court has made it impossible for Congress to restrict corporate speech. But this is wrong. While Congress can't issue a broad ban on all companies, it can target the very large class that does business with the federal government and ban those companies from "endorsing or opposing a candidate for public office."

A 2008 Government Accountability Office study found that almost three-quarters of the largest 100 publicly traded firms are federal contractors. If Congress endorsed our proposal, these companies -- and tens of thousands of others -- would face a stark choice: They could endorse candidates or do business with the government, but they couldn't do both. When push came to shove, it's likely that very few would be willing to pay such a high price for their "free speech."

The Roberts court is skeptical -- to put it mildly -- of campaign finance restrictions. But it is still highly unlikely that the justices would strike down a law targeting federal contractors. All nine recognize that Congress may restrict free speech when there is a significant risk of corruption. That risk is obvious when corporate speakers are simultaneously doing business with the government.

Consider the battle over health-care reform. Unless there is a new statute regulating contractors, the court has given Big Pharma a powerful weapon to get special deals. If, for instance, key members of Congress resist drugmakers' appeals for favorable treatment, the companies could respond with multimillion-dollar corporate ad campaigns targeting opposing lawmakers by name during their next election. If targets buckle under this financial pressure and give drugmakers what they want, the deal strikes at the heart of the democratic process. This is the kind of quid pro quo corruption that the court has always recognized as justifying fundamental restrictions on free speech.

Now that sounds like an interesting solution.