Editorial: Court decision keeps elections up for sale
BY World's Editorials Writers
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
6/26/12 at 3:10 AM
By refusing to revisit its Citizens United ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court has kept the "for sale" sign up for elections.
Money being a huge part of any political campaign is nothing new. The Citizens United ruling, however, changed the game. It gave corporations the right to contribute unlimited amounts of money to political campaigns.
For instance, Sheldon Adelson first funded Newt Gingrich's run for the Republican nomination for president and donated $20 million to the effort. Now Adelson has given $10 million to Mitt Romney's campaign through a super PAC. He has promised another $10 million to Karl Rove's super PAC as well as pledged $20 million to other Republican super PACs.
Adelson, who makes most of his money - $25 billion so far - in overseas ventures, particularly his casinos in Macau, China, has an agenda, and it looks as if he plans to try to buy his politicians to make sure he achieves it.
Corporations are not people. People make up corporations, and those people ought to have the opportunity to make political contributions. But not all employees of a corporation are in political tune with the people who own the company.
Owners of corporations are due the same chance to support the candidate of their choosing. But not at the risk of either outright buying an election or at least giving that appearance.
Citizens United could change the course of the country away from "of the people, by the people and for the people."
The court ought to have realized its mistake and corrected it. Unfortunately, the "for sale" sign remains firmly planted in America's political front yard.
Original Print Headline: Still for sale
