2010 "Person" of the Year: The US Supreme Court

[kpete]

2010 "Person" of the Year: The US Supreme Court

Friday 31 December 2010

by: Bob Burnett | Huffington Post | Op-Ed

It's difficult to look beyond the tumult of current events and ask, "what happened this year that will be remembered ten, twenty, or fifty years from now?" However, there was one 2010 event that, in terms of its long-term impact, loomed above the others, the Citizens United v. FEC Supreme Court Decision.

.........................................

The 2010 midterm elections demonstrated the lethality of the Citizens United decision. The non-partisan group, Opensecrets.org calculated that, excluding Party Committees, $294 million was spent by outside groups. Conservative outside groups spent twice as much as did Liberal groups. For example, the US Chamber of Commerce, a conservative-leaning outside group, spent $32.8 million, more than the combined total of the two leading Liberal groups: the SEIU ($15.7 million) and the AFSCME ($12.6). (The McClatchey Newspapers reported that the US Chamber, which has foreign corporations as members, expected to spend more than $75 million in all forms of political support.)

Massive spending by outside groups influenced the outcome of the midterm election. In the Pennsylvania Senate race, outside spending was more than $12 million: $5.9 million was spent on ads attacking the Democratic Candidate (Joe Sestak), whereas only $1.9 was spent attacking the Republican (Pat Toomey); Sestak lost. In Illinois, $6.2 million was spent attacking the Democratic candidate (Alex Giannoulias), whereas only $1.5 million was spent attacking the Republican (Mark Kirk); Giannoulias lost. There are many similar examples, including outgoing New York Democratic Congressman John Hall who attributed his defeat to the decision.

We've entered a new phase of American history, the Corporatist period where multinational corporations have unbridled political influence. This movement started before the Citizens United decision, but the Roberts' Supreme Court has accelerated the pace and thereby profoundly weakened our democracy.

more:
http://www.truth-out.org/2010-person-year-the-us-supreme-court66461

[xchrom]

1. recommend

[tomp]

2. citizens united is the icing on the cake.

we have been a corporatist society since the turn of the century at least. now it's inscribed in law. the fact that it's no longer partly under the table does not seem like a very big deal to me.

[90-percent]

3. Grayson

Does anybody have any info on how Citizens United affected Grayson's run? Didn't they just poor bucket loads of money against him because he calls them out on their shit?

Grayson is the epitome of "A Congressman with Guts" and a great American that I hope finds his way into more public service. Can you imagine what a better world we would have if GRayson replaced Geitner or Summers, for example?

-90% Jimmy

[lunatica]

4. Yeah, that one pretty much put the kibosh on the 'we the people' part of the Constitution.

I'm hoping some karmic adjustment comes to those in the Supreme Court who finished the Constitution off.

[grahamhgreen]

5. Yes, apparently all institutions are persons now!