Thursday, June 28, 2012

Corporate Campaign Influence

For some time now, I have been disturbed by the Supreme Court decision (Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission) that made corporations "people" under the Constitution.  I fully disagree with that decision, and I am saddened by the can of worms it has opened up.  The amount of money being donated to presidential campaign funds is obscene, and the companies (and few individuals) making the donations certainly don't have our interests at heart.  How can ordinary people hope to have a voice when corporations are making their money scream so loudly?  Evening more disturbing is that some of these donations are being done anonymously with the donors hiding behind privacy rights while still wanting their free speech rights.  The things is, though, that the rest of us pretty much have to be known to exercise our free speech rights, and that is how it should be.  If you want to influence elections, you shouldn't be hiding your identity.  And while I'm the first to acknowledge that we're not really all equal, I think there should be strict limits on campaign donations to make our voices even just a little more equal.

Here is an interesting infographic showing how the influence of "Big Ag" is spread out this election cycle.  

Big Ag’s Big Money in the 2012 Elections” width=225
Via: TakePart.com

Footnote: The Supreme Court made a bad decision in Citizens United, but I'm so glad they upheld the Affordable Care Act today.

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