National issues hit home
Published on Wed, Jan 27, 2010 by Beckye RandallRead More Voices
Last week, the Supreme Court released a 5-4 ruling that reversed court decisions going back to the 1960s. The highest court in the land opined that corporations and labor unions should be afforded the same constitutional rights as individuals, and as such, their right to political free speech should be unrestricted.
What does that mean? Well, according to most news sources and analysts, it opens the floodgates on corporate campaign spending. Exxon or JP Morgan Chase or SPEEA can produce advertising and purchase airtime or column inches directly in support of, or opposition to, specific candidates. These same corporate entities can make unrestricted political contributions to the campaigns of said candidates.
Boy, if we think our legislators are in the pockets of special interests now, just imagine the scenario a few years down the road.
Several of the big (too big to fail) banks recently announced bonuses of over $30 billion (that's billion with a b) for their key employees, even though those banks reported net losses for the year of $81 billion. Wall Street can now use that wealth to influence the political process and silence all that pesky talk of tougher regulations.
Insurance companies certainly jumped into the fray over health care reform, and the resulting legislation has been considerably weakened by insurance lobbyists exerting their limited resources in Congress. Thanks to Justice Roberts and his cronies, those resources are no longer limited.
So what recourse does the common man (or woman) have now? Pro-life advocates know how difficult it is to overturn a Supreme Court ruling...they have been marching and protesting and praying for an end to abortions since 1973. There is no higher court to which an appeal can be made.
Except maybe there is. President Obama has vowed to assemble a bipartisan response to the ruling to craft legislation that will protect and uphold First Amendment rights while muzzling-at least financially-powerful and wealthy corporations and unions.
Obama's mojo is a little wobbly these days, but here's hoping he, and other ethical lawmakers like John McCain, can find enough common ground to stop the sale of our government to the highest bidder.
What does that mean? Well, according to most news sources and analysts, it opens the floodgates on corporate campaign spending. Exxon or JP Morgan Chase or SPEEA can produce advertising and purchase airtime or column inches directly in support of, or opposition to, specific candidates. These same corporate entities can make unrestricted political contributions to the campaigns of said candidates.
Boy, if we think our legislators are in the pockets of special interests now, just imagine the scenario a few years down the road.
Several of the big (too big to fail) banks recently announced bonuses of over $30 billion (that's billion with a b) for their key employees, even though those banks reported net losses for the year of $81 billion. Wall Street can now use that wealth to influence the political process and silence all that pesky talk of tougher regulations.
Insurance companies certainly jumped into the fray over health care reform, and the resulting legislation has been considerably weakened by insurance lobbyists exerting their limited resources in Congress. Thanks to Justice Roberts and his cronies, those resources are no longer limited.
So what recourse does the common man (or woman) have now? Pro-life advocates know how difficult it is to overturn a Supreme Court ruling...they have been marching and protesting and praying for an end to abortions since 1973. There is no higher court to which an appeal can be made.
Except maybe there is. President Obama has vowed to assemble a bipartisan response to the ruling to craft legislation that will protect and uphold First Amendment rights while muzzling-at least financially-powerful and wealthy corporations and unions.
Obama's mojo is a little wobbly these days, but here's hoping he, and other ethical lawmakers like John McCain, can find enough common ground to stop the sale of our government to the highest bidder.
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