LOD: Raleigh v. Big Money

The Citizens United decision allowed corporations to use money from their treasuries for candidate advocacy, not direct donations to candidates. Some argue the decision has not released a torrent of political spending by corporations, thinking narrowly of the Fortune 500. But they overlook the new use of corporate nonprofits (particularly secretive c-4s) as front groups for profit-making corporations, as well as the enormous jump in “independent” expenditures by Super PACs funded by the mega-donations of corporate CEOs. The underlying problem is captured well in a resolution for an anti-Citizens United Constitutional amendment adopted by the Raleigh City Council on July 3 (congratulations, Raleigh!) It says, in part: “Whereas concentrated wealth should not outweigh the rights of ordinary citizens by using its economic power to influence election outcomes, including the selection of candidates.” Bottom line: To overturn the conversion of fair elections into commodities sold to the highest bidder, we’ll need an amendment that not only limits corporate power but also declares that the purchasing power of money from all sources is not protected from regulation by the First Amendment; money is property, not speech. By the way, hear George Friday from Move to Amend tonight in Raleigh.