Citizens United Super PAC Ruling Still Unpopular Two Years Later
It has been two years since “Corporations are people with unlimited Super PAC money to spend” was confirmed as the law of the land. The Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision by the United States Supreme Court made available unlimited money from a political action committee (PAC). Sometimes a PAC, with such astronomical amounts of money now available, is called a “Super PAC”. On January 21, 2010, the Court ruled 5 to 4 that the First Amendment prohibits government from limiting the amount of money spent for political purposes by corporations or unions, as long as they do not coordinate with the candidate’s campaign organization.
The Court majority opinion stated that, “If the First Amendment has any force, it prohibits Congress from fining or jailing citizens, or associations of citizens, for simply engaging in political speech.” … “independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.”
The Court minority dissenting opinion stated that, “At bottom, the Court’s opinion is thus a rejection of the common sense of the American people, who have recognized a need to prevent corporations from undermining self government since the founding, and who have fought against the distinctive corrupting potential of corporate electioneering since the days of Theodore Roosevelt. It is a strange time to repudiate that common sense. While American democracy is imperfect, few outside the majority of this Court would have thought its flaws included a dearth of corporate money in politics.”
Most Americans dislike the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling because it allows a Super PAC to take in and spend unlimited political cash. According to a recent poll, 65 percent of voters aware of the case feel that unlimited campaign money is negatively affecting political campaigns. Sixty percent of Republicans and sixty-three percent of Democrats in the poll say there has been a negative effect on campaigns.
Citizens United Super PAC Money
Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, upholding the rights of corporations to spend unlimited political money using Super PACs under the First Amendment, there have been many demands for a U.S. Constitutional amendment to abolish “Corporations are people.” Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) has proposed a constitutional amendment that would overturn Citizens United.
- The “Saving American Democracy Amendment” states that:
- Corporations are not persons with constitutional rights equal to real people.
- Corporations are subject to regulation by the people.
- Corporations may not make campaign contributions or any election expenditures.
- Congress and states have the power to regulate campaign finances.
A Petition to Support the Saving American Democracy Amendment
