Citizens United: the worst Supreme Court decision
The power of money seems to have corrupted everything in Washington. From Congress to the Supreme Court and both parties, it is all controlled by a cloud of dark money. How did we get here? The pivot point is the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court decision, which proclaims corporations to be citizens. This assertion is nonsensical and disingenuous. Absurd. Corporations can protect themselves and their officers from liability in ways that normal citizens can’t, and whereas a corporation might be headquartered in Delaware (or wherever), that doesn’t mean its owners and directors are citizens or have any loyalty to our country. A corporate manager’s primary responsibility is to maximize profits for the shareholders, again, not necessarily citizens.
Citizens United has been disastrous for our democracy because it allows corporations to funnel as much money as they like into politics. Often, they can write it off as a business expense and somewhat anonymize the source. The resultant deluge of corporate money has corrupted our politics to such a degree that the process of government is no longer under the control of the citizens. Buying control of the government, it seems, is a sound investment for the 1%. This corporately controlled America is not the America I grew up believing in and not the America I want!
In my opinion, for us to get back to being a civilized country, our first goal must be reversing Citizens United. It is a Supreme Court decision, not a law, so it won’t be easy. The system is rigged against such an effort. We will have to elect new leaders, make new laws, and perhaps amend the constitution so that this travesty can never happen again. Individual citizens’ votes should not be overridden by the power of money.
Reverse Citizens’ United.