In this 2016 Presidential Election, especially from the Democratic side, you may have heard about a Supreme Court decision called "Citizens United". Regardless of which side of the aisle you vote for, the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United vs. F.E.C. (Federal Elections Commission) is a threat to American democracy which allows corporations, political action committees (PACs), and other large money interests to influence elections and legislative decisions.
Before we move on, know that a political action committee is a way for businesses, unions, or corporations to organize and campaign for a politician or piece of legislation with virtually no monetary restrictions. PACs are not inherently bad, and they may in fact benefit good politicians. The only rule though, is that the PAC cannot coordinate with the candidate's campaign. Essentially, Citizens United opens the door to a form of legalized corruption where the rich and powerful few can influence a political campaign or legislation in a way that overwhelms the voice of the majority of Americans.
The verdict of this Supreme Court case, five judges ruling in favor of Citizens United, was that it is unconstitutional to limit how much money corporations and PACs can spend on influencing elections. This implies that a corporation counts as a person- a very rich person with virtually unlimited money to spend to support a candidate whom many of the corporation's middle to lower class workers would never vote into office. Since 2010, 60% of super PAC money spent on elections came from 195 people, with a grand total of between $600 million to $1 billion. This is a huge disproportion of campaign funding.
There is a difference between a corporation and the individuals within that corporation. Yes, free speech is absolutely important, and each individual member of a corporation from top to bottom has the right to support whichever candidate they wish. However, they all must abide by the same campaign contribution rules as everyone else in a fair democracy. The corporation (group of powerful few) itself should not be considered a citizen with a special financial advantage that undermines the will of the American people.
As far as campaign contributions go, even we can all help influence an election. The current limit for an individual person to donate directly to a candidate is $2,700, or $5,000 to one of that candidate's PACs. In this respect, it does not matter if you are in the middle class, lower middle class, or one of the top Wal-Mart executives. The same limit applies to everyone. This is why we run into a problem when corporate executives have the ability to bypass these limits in supporting PACs in a way that the average citizen (majority of the country) cannot financially accomplish.
Yes, PACs are still banned from organizing directly with a candidate's campaign, but it raises a huge concern as to why these powerful people are spending hundreds of millions to support a candidate. What does this candidate have to offer them? Why would this candidate represent the people if only a handful of the population are willing to contribute much more than the people would contribute to another candidate?
Citizens United is an organization that claims to keep power in the hands of people, not big government. However, the actual function is the complete opposite of what it was intended to do. It allows for cooperation between large money interests and the government, excluding the average American in the process. In fact, the only way that citizens should be united here is to stand up against Citizens United and demand that every citizen be held to the same rules as everyone else regardless of income or social status.
This disastrous Supreme Court decision actually divides Americans from a fair democracy in which every citizen has an equal voice with equal power. It would be difficult to believe that our founding fathers intended for money to count as "free speech" when they were the ones who imposed limits on large businesses.
Our solution is to impose a constitutional amendment stating that free speech applies to people, not corporations. Every single person will have a right to support their preferred candidates, and PACs in support of these candidates. They will do so with the same power as any other citizen. This is what "citizens united" actually means. The bottom line is, the majority of Americans agree that Citizens United was an awful decision.
The only way to restore a true democracy is to break down the barriers between Democrats and Republicans, rich and poor, native born and immigrant, gay and straight, male and female, and so on. This 2010 decision, which affected all of us, changed the way that politics works in our country for the worse. Only we have the power to reverse it when we stand together and become the real citizens united.
Currently, a grassroots PAC aiming to supporting this amendment has collected $14 million and 1,500,000 signatures. Sign up here to voice your concern, get organized, and support an amendment toward campaign finance reform. Remember, corporations will not back out of the government unless the people get back in.
