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Citizens United
Bernie Sanders on Ed Schultz: America For Sale
Senator Bernie Sanders discusses the disastrous Citizens United decision and the growing inequality in the United States on MSNBC's the Ed Show.
PDF versionHuffington Post: Supreme Court: U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Undefeated This Term
-By Mike Sacks
June 21, 2012- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is undefeated at the Supreme Court this term, continuing to improve its success in securing business-friendly judgments since Chief Justice John Roberts took the bench in 2005.
The Constitutional Accountability Center, a left-leaning think tank and law firm, reported its findings on Thursday, noting that this term, which began in October and will likely conclude by the end of June, could be the chamber's "first 'perfect' term before the Supreme Court since at least 1994."
The Nation: Resolve to Overturn 'Citizens United' Spreads Through the States
-By Katrina vanden Heuvel
June 12, 2012- Writing for the majority in the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, Justice Anthony Kennedy argued that independent expenditures by corporations “do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.”
Since then, Super-PACs and corporations have spent record amounts of money in elections nationwide. Corporate spending soared during the 2010 election cycle to $294 million, 427 percent over the previous midterm elections in 2006. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Stephen Breyer both suggested that given these “huge sums currently deployed to buy candidates’ allegiance,” Kennedy’s assertion doesn’t hold and the court should reconsider its ruling.
RAW Story: Kucinich: Citizens United ruling would have staggered our Founding Fathers
-By Eric W. Dolan
May 30, 2012- Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) said Wednesday that the Founding Fathers of the United States would not have supported the U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial decision in Citizens United.
“Money is destroying our politics and our political system,” he said in a video uploaded to YouTube. “Our electoral system has become such a joke that two late-night comedians created their own Super PAC and generated great laughter just by showing how one operates.”
The ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission held that limiting corporate campaign spending violated the First Amendment, because political contributions were a form of political speech and corporations were legally persons. The ruling gave rise to Super PACS, which can raise an unlimited amount of money to influence federal elections.
“This would have staggered our Founding Fathers,” Kucinich said.
