This is from
the Los Angeles Times:
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court struck another major blow against
long-standing restrictions on campaign money Wednesday, freeing wealthy
donors to each give a total of $3.6 million this year to the slate of
candidates running for Congress.
Rejecting the restriction
as a violation of free speech, the 5-4 ruling struck down a
Watergate-era limit that Congress wrote to prevent a single donor from
writing a large check to buy influence on Capitol Hill. It was the
latest sign that the court's conservative majority intends to continue
dismantling funding limits created over the last four decades.
Under those limits, donors could give up to $5,200 to any individual
candidate for Congress per election cycle, and no more than $123,200 to
all candidates and political party committees put together.
Acting on an appeal from the Republican National Committee, the high
court left the individual candidate limits intact but declared the
overall limit unconstitutional.
As a result, individuals will be able to give the individual maximum
to every candidate for Congress, either directly or through
contributions to a political party. That in effect raises the new
maximum that can be given to candidates and party committees during a
two-year election cycle to $3.6 million.
We now have the very best political system that money can buy. If you have $3.6 million dollars, you can give to every candidate and through both political parties to make sure that your political viewpoints are heard above everyone else. Toss in the practically unlimited corporate campaign contributions of
Citizens United, and you can pretty much purchase your own congress-critter.
It seems like we're moving away from a one man / one vote, to a $1 / one vote. What choice is there between corporate and ultra-rich sponsored Candidate A, and corporate and ultra-rich sponsored Candidate B, when both candidates have pretty much the same political opinion on business regulations, environmental regulations, labor, wages, and economic issues? When both candidates support big business and the ultra-rich?
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