Activist Court's New Legislation Not Working Like They Planned.

[Rohirrim]

In the span of a week in September, two independent political committees announced unheard-of fundraising plans for the coming campaign season. The Karl Rove-linked American Crossroads, along with its sister nonprofit, Crossroads GPS, announced a plan to raise and spend $240 million in 2012. Make Us Great Again, a group solely dedicated to electing Texas Gov. Rick Perry the 45th President of the United States, revealed a plan to spend $55 million in the Republican primary alone. Both of these multimillion dollar plans would break all reported records for spending by an independent political committee, and offer a sign of how campaign finance rules have been upended.

The federal system of campaign finance is in the midst of a sea change following the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (FEC), which undid a host of regulations covering the use of corporate and union money by independent groups in elections. Those independent groups are forming a shadow campaign apparatus fueled by unlimited and often undisclosed contributions, without the same accountability required of political parties or candidates' own political action committees.

American Crossroads and Make Us Great Again represent one of the two new kinds of groups playing in the shadow campaign: super PACs, independent political committees filed with the FEC that can accept unlimited funds from corporations, unions and individuals.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_977699.html

Kennedy wrote that funding under Citizen United would be transparent. Just the opposite is true, actually. Perhaps the court should leave campaign financing legislation to the legislature?

[Rohirrim]

By empowering corporations to donate to groups that can sway elections, Potter said, the court has empowered organizations that have very different incentives than actual human beings. "Corporations do not behave in the same way people do. They think about the best way to get an advantage over their competitor, either through the government or the marketplace. The whole country is going to see a situation where corporate interests are going to be electing members of Congress for that purpose."

[ghwk]

Boy just think of some actual good they could do by donating that money to schools intead of pissing it away on consultants, vote buying etc.

[Garcia Bronco]

It's their right under the first Amendment of the Constitution. Get over it. Same goes for Unions too. They have the right.

[Rohirrim]

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

It's their right under the first Amendment of the Constitution. Get over it. Same goes for Unions too. They have the right.

Corporations have no rights. Read the article. Even in practical terms, corporations have different incentives than people. To treat corporations as if they are people is ludicrous. I've worked in corporate law offices. You know what a corporation is? It's a box of paper.

[Garcia Bronco]

Originally Posted by Rohirrim

Corporations have no rights. Read the article. Even in practical terms, corporations have different incentives than people. To treat corporations as if they are people is ludicrous. I've worked in corporate law offices. You know what a corporation is? It's a box of paper.

Except decisions and donations are made by people in those corporations and those people have the right. Sorry.

[Rohirrim]

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

Except decisions and donations are made by people in those corporations and those people have the right. Sorry.

Individually. We hold these truths to be self evident, that all MEN are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. Sorry that's such a difficult concept for you to grasp.