What the U.S. Supreme Court's Disastrous Decision Means for You
Independent Weekly, The; Durham, N.C. › March 15, 2010
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Summary
As sweeping as last week's ruling is, the deregulatory effects of the Court - and the deleterious impact of money on politics - have been a problem for years. Well before this ruling, courts had diminished the government's ability to effectively regulate campaign spending. And long before the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed corporate personhood, our system of self-government was threatened by the encroaching power of special interests. Corporations were diluting and scuttling reform efforts for health care, finance and the environment before Thursday's decision, and they'll continue after (though arguably now with even more impudence).
Perhaps the most meaningful (and ironic) thing that could come out of last week's decision would be a new wave of money-in-politics reform. If elected officials are smart, they will seize this moment as an opportunity for real change and democratic renewal. By enacting public campaign financing and other reforms now, in the immediate aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision elected officials will better enable us to weather the decision's fallout But beyond that, they will be making democracy investments that give citizens a greater capacity to self-govern. And that's an achievement that will outlive any court decision.See the full content of this document
Extract
What the U.S. Supreme Court's Disastrous Decision Means for You
If you weren't yet convinced that a conservative, activist court could be dangerous for democracy, you should be now.
In a 5-4 decision last week, the U.S. Supreme Court made it legal for corporations and unions to spend unlimited amounts of money on political advertisements...See the full content of this document
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