Standing Watch

Washington, DC: On January 21, 2010, the United States Supreme Court ruled in a bitterly divided 5-4 decision that campaign spending limits on corporations, unions, and special interest groups are unconstitutional, striking down many limits placed on such entities as far back as over 100 years ago.

If money is free speech, and there are no limits to what a particular individual, including corporations who have “personhood status” thanks to a fraudulent filing by a law clerk for the US Supreme Court, then democracy itself is under attack.  What had been a somewhat equalized playing field over the last 100 years just shifted, in time for the 2010 midterm elections campaign.  With 90% of all wealth in the United States held by 0.1% of the population, that extremely small minority now controls how Americans at large will see a particular issue or candidate.

This is of particular concern when you consider that the overly broad language of the decision also leaves the door open to foreign owned and transnational corporations to donate whatever they wish to support or oppose a particular issue or political campaign strategy.  This would, by default, include those corporations owned in part or whole by foreign governments.

President Obama has vowed to get to work with Congress to reverse the court’s decision, speculating that it would result in a flood of special interest monies that would corrupt every aspect of government.  While the speculation is very likely accurate, no one believes Obama will accomplish anything through the legislative process, given that most Democrats and nearly all Republicans are heavily dependent on special interest groups and corporate lobbyists to fund their election and re-election campaigns.  Another problem Obama will face is that the GOP now has a sufficient number in the Senate to block any such regulations, largely thanks to last Tuesday’s special election in Massachusetts.

This effectively ends democracy, as one person one vote becomes one dollar one vote, with corporations holding trillions of dollars to sway any election their way.  Look to Haiti to see how this will effect those who are not wealthy, and the Peoples Republic of China to see how the government will operate in relation to the governed.