WP: Judging Campaign Finance

[dw]

In The Washington Post:

Normally the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court are still relaxing during September. This year the high court is getting its fall season off to an early start. Barely a week from now, the justices will hear four hours of oral arguments in one of the most fateful cases the court has heard in many years. They will decide how much of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law is to be allowed to remain in force and how much will be struck down under any of several constitutional theories being used to attack it.

The case deals with the most fundamental aspects of American democracy: the ground rules under which elections are conducted and how much, if any, separation Congress can require between big money contributions and the policy decisions they are meant to influence. To put it bluntly, for the court to strike down significant parts of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, it will have to say -- in effect, if not explicitly -- that the Constitution requires federal impotence in the face of the all-but-overt culture of influence peddling that now dominates U.S. politics.

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[ClintonTyree]

1. And guess which way they'll rule?

The Supreme Court, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Republican National Committee, will bend over backwards to please their masters. The Campaign Finance Reform Law will be gutted to appease the Conservative money machine, and the country will slip further into the unbridled ownership of big business. What a great country, truly the best democracy money can buy.