Citizens United: How Anthony Kennedy flooded democracy with ‘sewer money’

[LuckyTheDog]

On today's anniversary of the Citizens United decision, which exposed American democracy to increasing domination by the country's very richest and most reactionary figures – the modern heirs to those "malefactors of great wealth" condemned by the great Republican Theodore Roosevelt – it is worth recalling the false promise made by the justice who wrote the majority opinion in that case.

Justice Anthony Kennedy masterminded the Supreme Court's January 21, 2010 decision to undo a century of public-interest regulation of campaign expenditures in the name of "free speech." He had every reason to know how damaging to democratic values and public integrity that decision would prove to be.

Once billed as a "moderate conservative," Kennedy is a libertarian former corporate lobbyist from Sacramento, who toiled in his father's scandal-ridden lobbying law firm, "influencing" California legislators, before he ascended to the bench with the help of his friend Ronald Reagan.

MORE HERE: http://yonside.com/unhappy-anniversary-how-anthony-kennedy-flooded-democracy-with-sewer-money/

[Nye Bevan]

1. Bear in mind that the ACLU fully supported, and still supports, the Citizens United decision.

https://www.aclu.org/aclu-and-citizens-united

[dpibel]

2. A ringing endorsement

From the link:

"We understand that the amount of money now being spent on political campaigns has created a growing skepticism in the integrity of our election system that raises serious concerns. We firmly believe, however, that the response to those concerns must be consistent with our constitutional commitment to freedom of speech and association. For that reason, the ACLU does not support campaign finance regulation premised on the notion that the answer to money in politics is to ban political speech.

"At the same time, we recognize that the escalating cost of political campaigns may make it more difficult for some views to be heard, and that access to money often plays a significant role in determining who runs for office and who is elected.

"In our view, the answer to that problem is to expand, not limit, the resources available for political advocacy. Thus, the ACLU supports a comprehensive and meaningful system of public financing that would help create a level playing field for every qualified candidate. We support carefully drawn disclosure rules. We support reasonable limits on campaign contributions and we support stricter enforcement of existing bans on coordination between candidates and super PACs."

Public financing of elections = support of Citizens United? How interesting.