WICHITA, Kan. - During State of the Union, President Obama created a minor stir by criticizing the recent Supreme Court ruling that threw out much of campaign finance law that deals with outside influences on elections, essentially claiming that corporations and other groups have the same free speech rights as citizens and that money equals speech.
To me this has a potential chilling effect on Democracy with those with the most money, and foreign corporations having an undo influence over our electoral system(I know cynics would say its that way now).
My aunt, who not only is one of the smartest people I know (and a better writer than I) but who along with my uncle shaped my political beliefs, had this to say in the Jan. 27th Wichita Eagle...
The five radical conservative justices of the U.S. Supreme Court declared that there can be no restraints placed upon the amount of money a corporation may spend on political campaign ads or political campaign organizations. This means, according to an editorial in the New York Times, a return to the robber-baron era of American history when the rich tycoons openly bought politicians who dutifully prostituted themselves for the profits of big business and against individual citizen interests.
But today's corporate money moguls are a different breed -- nameless, faceless and untouchable corporate oligarchs whose fortunes are titanic, and whose rule of fate crosses all international boundaries to determine war and peace, life and death, the hopes of the world's youth and the temperature of the earth upon which all living creatures walk.
If the unlimited political control over the world's current superpower comes to pass, we will become citizens of the Corporate States of America. Henceforth, it will be the corporate interpretation of the Constitution, the corporate interpretation of history, the corporate interpretation of science, the corporate interpretation of patriotism, the corporate interpretation of religion. God bless the rich and the mighty.
Novelene Ross
And Kelly Johnston Chairman of the Sedgwick County Democratic Party see a future where the court system its self falls victim to the same corporate influences that the Supreme Court gives rights too, his editorial from Jan 29 states:
Last Friday, Kansans for Life announced that they intend to defeat Kansas Supreme Court Justice Carol Beier when she comes up this November for a retention vote. Kansans for Life plans to deliver "150,000 postcards before the election" [reported by the Eagle on Jan. 23, 2010] and perhaps "run radio ads opposing Beier or other justices". Kansans for Life is upset by two previous decisions of the Kansas Supreme Court, and the opinions in those decisions written by Justice Beier. Interestingly, Kansans for Life did not challenge Justice Beier's work ethic or qualifications.
The other event was the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court last week that ruled that limitations on corporate contributions to political campaigns violated the free speech guarantees of the 1st amendment. While only federal campaign finance laws were challenged in that case, the 1st amendment protects against free speech violations by all levels of government. Therefore, it appears likely that Kansas laws which place limits on corporate political contributions are also unconstitutional.
So I ask, are there corporations in this state or country which might be willing to provide unlimited funds to try to defeat Justice Beier? Since we elect district court judges in Sedgwick County and a few other counties, could our trial judges also be subject to future attack at the polls by those who have lost lawsuits? While we continue to follow two important criminal trials in Sedgwick County, I hope you agree that this is an imminent threat to the independence of our judges, and the rule of law.
Kelly W. Johnston, Chair
Sedgwick County Democratic Party
Thank you, David Glover, for bringing this issue to our attention! And thanks for your quote of Novelene Ross, which eloquently sums up how deadly serious the situation is that we now find ourselves in. This is one that demands immediate and decisive legislative action and it is up to every one of us to hound our legislators until something is done. Time is wasting. To give Exxon, the richest company in history and the greatest single impediment to progress against the threat of climate change disaster, more power to influence our political system, is like giving Planet Earth a suicide pill. Remember, the phrase "Robber Barons" originated in Kansas. No one who values human rights and human life should sit on the sidelines in this struggle.
David thanks for offering the words of your aunt and your party chair. Your aunt is indeed a good writer and has described the problem with the recent Supreme Court ruling more succinctly than any other that I've read. By the way, you are good writer too. Keep writing!