Friday, February 18, 2011

With the blessing of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, the US Chamber of Commerce has become even more aggressive in spending corporate money on political ads to tilt elections in its favor. Now it turns out the Chamber hired a group of reconnaissance experts to develop a plan to spy on and disrupt its political enemies. This is a heavy allegation but the evidence of its truth is piling up. Meanwhile, three Republican members of the Federal Election Commission are pursuing their own aggressive plan: They claim the Citizens United decision means corporations should be allowed to sponsor fundraising activities for a candidate’s election committee. They recognize that the decision didn’t allow direct corporate contributions to a candidate, but, following the Alice in Wonderland thinking of the Supreme Court majority, they declare that raising money for a candidate is not a contribution; it’s the “free speech” right of corporations.