The Supreme Court is going to make a ruling over whether or not corporations can run ads during political elections. I am strongly against this. At its core, if the Court rules in favor of corporations, it will be conferring the rights of an individual upon a corporation. It sickens me that self-proclaimed Originalists like Scalia or Thomas would dare infer from the Constitution that a corporation is entitled to a right like Freedom of Speech (thus declaring a 1926 law barring corporations from running campaign ads unconstitutional).
The issue is this: corporations already have outsized influence on our legislative process through their lobbies. They have destroyed our healthcare system (through McCarron-Ferguson), our financial system (through Gramm-Leach-Bliley), and blocked any investment in energy for three decades. Why we, as citizens, do not revolt against this, I do not understand. But if corporations can run ads during elections, then whatever tiny shred of integrity left in the legislative process will be long gone. All candidates will be stuck pandering to their corporate puppet masters. We will be McDonald’s Nation.
(via Fortune)
Friday, January 22nd 2010 10:19am
