One of the biggest problems in government today

[garybeck]

That damn Supreme Court ruling that MONEY = FREE SPEECH.

That is LUDICROUS and it is DESTROYING our country!

MONEY does not equal free speech and here's why.

MONEY is something that EVERYONE has an equal amount of. Each person has one mouth, and one set of vocal chords. Extend speech to the written word, and sure, you can can make a lot of copies of something you type out, and blast it on the internets, or hand out copies at grocery stores, but this is something that anyone can do.

MONEY is NOT something that everyone has an equal amount of. People with more money to spend have an ADVANTAGE over others when it comes to purchasing products. The key here is ADVANTAGE. It's OK for rich people to have an advantage over poor people when it comes to buying flat screen TVs, boats, and houses, because that's the way our economy works.

But it is NOT acceptable for people with more money to have an advantage over poor people when it comes to political influence. DUH, I think we all know that. But the supreme court's ruling that MONEY = FREE SPEECH is basically saying that it's OK for rich people to have more influence.

Well let me say, It's NOT OK for rich people to have more influence and money does NOT equal free speech. If the two were equal, then everyone would have the same amount of money, and we DON'T.

This ruling is destroying our country and it is based on no logical or legal thinking. It is the reason the Republicans are in power today. It is the reason the DLC is still in control of the Democratic Party, regardless of the fact that many if not most Democrats disagree with DLC ideas.

All campaign finance reform thus far has been a lost cause. The biggest thing standing in the way is that Supreme Court ruling which ensures that rich people (and corporations) have a LOUDER voice than poor people. What were they thinking when they made that ruling? Shame on them. It's destroying our country.

[checks-n-balances]

1. I agree with you and thanks for bring up this topic!

It's a tragedy that the ruling has little to no chance of being overturned, challenged or reinterpreted. It is one of the contributing factors to our sad state of political (and therefore, everyday) life today.

Minor question for clarification: In your third mention of the word MONEY, didn't you mean to type the words FREE SPEECH instead? That word seems to make more sense there. Otherwise, it's a really thoughtful & timely essay!

[garybeck]

3. yep, thanks. too late to fix it now. hopefully it's pretty obvious

[garybeck]

2. OOPs, typo.

paragraph 4 reads:

MONEY is something that EVERYONE has an equal amount of. Each person has one mouth, and one set of vocal chords. Extend speech to the written word, and sure, you can can make a lot of copies of something you type out, and blast it on the internets, or hand out copies at grocery stores, but this is something that anyone can do.


should read

************SPEECH******* is something that EVERYONE has an equal amount of. Each person has one mouth, and one set of vocal chords. Extend speech to the written word, and sure, you can can make a lot of copies of something you type out, and blast it on the internets, or hand out copies at grocery stores, but this is something that anyone can do.