On Jan. 21, in the case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of allowing corporations and labor unions to pour limitless amounts of money into campaigns.
The decision decreed that corporations are considered living entities and are entitled to First Amendment rights. As individuals are allowed to contribute to candidates they support during high profile elections, the majority of the court felt these entities should be given the same privileges.
There’s only one minor difference: The average citizens who donate money to their choice politician are not bringing in an average of $605 billion during election season, as corporations are. The Supreme Court Justices agreed 5-4 that corporations and unions have the right to free political speech. Will this decision prove to be something that should have been done decades ago, or will this mean the death of democracy?
Surprisingly, the majority of Democrats and Republicans agree that this ruling must be overturned. After all, Washington is corrupt enough with lobbyists running around stuffing Benjamins into the Armani sport coat pockets of congressmen to sway their political beliefs; it is frightening to even fathom what will happen when “Big Oil” is creeping around Capitol Hill handing out million dollar checks to any politician whose favor can be swayed by extra campaign spending.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) told The Washington Post, “If there’s one thing that Americans from the left, right and center can all agree on, it’s that they don’t want more special interests in our politics.”
Schumer and his colleagues are currently in the process of drafting a proposal to set certain limitations on what kind of corporations and unions can contribute to candidates.
However, the outlook for this piece of legislation is glum. Even though the majority of Congress opposes the court’s decision, there is a group that sincerely believes to cap corporate and union spending in elections would be a violation of the First Amendment. Of course, this is American politics, which means someone always has to be difficult, but one must wonder if these people don’t already have corporate hands in their pockets.
The First Amendment’s purpose is to ensure that every American voice is heard. With this new freedom granted to corporations and unions, the average person’s voice will be stifled by the “cha-ching” of millions of dollars going into the campaign funds of future candidates and current politicians, possibly bringing about an end to democracy as we know it. Instead of looking out for their voters’ best interests and serving the public, politicians will be doing the bidding of their sponsors and answering to the higher power of money.
Although companies will still have to divulge the amount they give and to whom, the thought of Fortune 500 companies being allowed to legally bribe politicians forces one to fear for the future of this country.
If this ruling is not overturned, American democracy will no longer continue. Corporations will literally run this country. You’ll have to sit through 10 minutes of commercials for Walmart and Macy’s in the voting booth. There will be debates in Congress about whether Burger King’s double cheeseburger is in fact bigger than McDonald’s royale with cheese, instead of important issues such as whether or not it’s worth the expense to stay in Afghanistan for yet another year!
If this ruling stands, elections and the American government as a whole will be more corrupt than ever. Senators and representatives will literally be hand puppets for CEOs; American democracy will take another unnecessary blow, thanks to the greed that incessantly plagues our nation.
Nora Donnelly is a sophomore majoring in communication. She can be contacted at [email protected].