Supremes gut campaign spending limits

This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court issued one of its worst rulings EVER. And it's received strikingly little coverage.

In the case of Citizens United v. FEC, the Supremes gutted limits on campaign spending by corporations. The ruling claims that corporations not only have rights that are supposed to be accorded only to people, but that spending is the same as speech - and thus it is protected by the First Amendment.

There is no legal basis whatsoever for this decision. None. In fact, this ruling overturns the court's relatively recent (1990) Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce ruling - as well as over 200 years of settled law.

Today's ruling was 5 to 4 - with the usual culprits ruling for the majority. Right-wing Justices Alito, Kennedy, Roberts, Scalia, and Thomas ruled in favor of corporate "rights" to unlimited spending. The more moderate Justices Breyer, Ginsburg, Sotomayor, and Stevens dissented from the conservatives' extreme stance.

The majority's ruling is unconscionable and disastrous. Corporations ranging from telcom firms to drug makers to oil companies to insurers to big banks can now spend as much as they want on campaigns supporting partisan candidates or causes. They can even make false statements in their campaigns.

If you liked the Swift Boat liars from '04, you're gonna LOVE what's coming thanks to this ruling!

Suffice it to say, it's now official that corporations are being accorded more rights than people. The 5 Justices who ruled for the majority in the case are the exact same 5 who voted to deny a teenager's free speech rights in the infamous Morse v. Frederick decision of 2007.

In both cases, these 5 legislated from the bench.
Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Florida) says today's ruling is "the worst Supreme Court decision since the Dred Scott case."

There have already been serious calls for a constitutional amendment to remedy Citizens United v. FEC. But if it passes, will the conservative wing of the Supreme Court even abide by it? They've proven for years that they have zero regard for the Constitution. Absolutely zero.