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The money swamp created by Citizens United: Dark Money, corporate shell games, and SuperPAC plutocrats

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Hightower Lowdown - By Jim Hightower - May. 19 (Special Report) - Forty years later, however, CREEP is back. Thanks to 2010's disastrous Citizens United ruling by a handful of raging corporatists on the Supreme Court, the moneyed elite can again buy as much political power as they want, without disclosing who's doing the buying.

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"The Other IRS Scandal": David Cay Johnston on Dark Money Political Groups Seeking Tax Exemption

Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - May. 16 (News Analysis) - While the IRS targeting of tea party groups has made headlines for days, far less attention has been paid to the roots of the crisis. After the 2010 landmark Supreme Court decision Citizens United, there was a spike in new political organizations seeking tax-exempt status under tax code Section 501(c)(4). The court ruled these groups could raise unlimited corporate money without disclosing donor information. Several groups have claimed to be social welfare organizations while spending tens of millions of dollars on political operations.

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Justice Sandra Day O’Connor: Maybe Bush v. Gore Wasn't the Best Decision

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Ian Millhiser - Apr. 29 (News) - Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the conservative retired justice who provided the fifth vote to install George W. Bush as president, is now having second thoughts about that decision: Looking back, O’Connor said, she isn’t sure the high court should have taken [Bush v. Gore].

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Where Does It Say the Supreme Court Has the Constitutional Power to Hike Medicine Prices to 5x Their Cost?

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Davi Dayen - Mar. 30 (News Report) - it’s another case heard this week that will affect even more people over the course of their lifetimes. And it could cost Americans millions in prescription drug bills. The case falls within a sadly predictable continuum for the Roberts Court, which virtually always sides with the corporate litigant over the government or individual. This time, the arguments in FTC v. Actavis revolve around an insidious tactic common to the nation’s largest drug companies, and known as “pay for delay.” As a result of the likely ruling in this case , drug companies will be able to charge consumers as much as five times the potential cost of their products. And both government regulators and consumers will watch helplessly as pharmaceutical companies bribe generic drug makers to retain their exclusive holds on the lifesaving medicines we all inevitably require.

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As the Supreme Court takes up same-sex marriage cases, here's a primer

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0700

PolitiFact - By Louis Jacobson - Mar. 26 (Fact Check) - This week will be pivotal for the future of marriage in the United States. On March 26, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on a challenge to California's Proposition 8, a voter-passed initiative that defines marriage in California as only between a man and a woman. The next day, the justices will hear arguments on a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act, a 1996 law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman for the purposes of federal law. DOMA, as it is commonly known, also allows states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages ... >>More

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West Virginians Rally, Ask State Lawmakers to Call for End to Corporate Personhood

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0800

Common Dreams - Feb. 20 (News Report) - In West Virginia, the 2012 election brought special attention to the problem of money in politics, with the state launching a new pilot program for public funding in judicial races. Also, former Attorney General Darrell McGraw, who lost his re-election bid, reported being outspent by a margin of 6-to-1. This includes $1.6 million that went toward negative ads financed by the Center for Individual Freedom, an outside group that does not disclose its donors. “Citizens United is one of the biggest threats to our democracy that now exists,” said Gary Zuckett, executive director of West Virginia Citizen Action Group, an organization leading the planning for the rally. “Unless we can undo this wrongheaded ruling by our highest court, we are headed for corporate takeover of our elections and our government. In other words, welcome to America Inc.”

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Supreme Court Takes Campaign Finance Case, Will Rule On Contribution Limits

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Paul Blumenthal - Feb. 19 (News Report) - The Supreme Court announced Tuesday that it will hear a case challenging the per-biennial cycle limit on campaign contributions from individuals.

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How Super PACs Warped the 2012 Election

Sun, 11 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0800

AlterNet - By Steven Rosenfeld - Nov. 11 (News Analysis) - When facing an avalanche of outside spending, candidates had to spend even more time raising money, less time with their constituents, and small donors voices were drowned out,” he continued. “Voters despise the non-stop negative ads from billionaire-backed super PACs. Candidates fear them and are forced to depend on deep-pocketed donors to keep up. These are not insignificant impacts.”

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Millions of Voters Demand Constitutional Amendment to Overturn Citizens United

Sat, 10 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0800

truth-out.org - By Mike Ludwig - Nov. 10 (News Report) - Grassroots campaigns with the lofty goal of amending the US Constitution to overturn the Supreme Court's landmark 2010 Citizens United ruling got a thumbs up from millions of voters across country on Election Day.

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Supreme Court Appears Ready to Nuke the Voting Rights Act

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Mother Jones - By Adam Serwer - Nov. 09 (News Report) - Shelby County, Alabama, is seeking to have Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, the law that first guaranteed the right of blacks in the South to vote, declared unconstitutional. Section 5 forces areas of the country with a history of discrimination—mostly, but not entirely in the South—to ask the Department of Justice for its approval before making any changes to election rules. The DOJ is then supposed to ensure any changes protect Americans' voting rights. The law has a provision allowing jurisdictions to "bail out," but conservatives have repeatedly challeged the law as unconstitutional federal overreach that is no longer necessary because America has transcended its history of racial discrimination. The Supreme Court announced Friday that it would take up the case.

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Citizens United Rejected By Voters In Montana, Colorado

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Paul Blumenthal - Nov. 07 (News Report) - In Colorado and Montana voters overwhelmingly stated their disapproval of the campaign finance climate that emerged in the wake of the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling by voting for resolutions calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn of the ruling and end so-called corporate personhood. Pushed by a coalition of reform groups, voters in both states passed resolutions with more than 70 percent approval, and with support from both sides of the aisle.

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America for sale

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0800

rochestercitynewspaper.com - By Jeremy Moule - Nov. 07 (News Analysis) - By one estimate, this year's federal elections could cost as much as $6 billion.

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Dark Money Rises

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - By Kim Barker, Justin Elliott, Michael Scherer - Nov. 04 (Special Report) - This sort of thing has been happening a lot this year in House and Senate races around the country. Candidates have found their modest war chests, filled with checks for $2,500 or less, swamped by outside groups, which have no limits on the donations they can collect. In all, more than $800 million was spent through mid-October on election ads by outside groups, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Of that total, nearly 1 in 4 dollars is so-called dark money, meaning the identities of the donors remain a secret. Voters watching TV, listening to the radio or receiving direct-mail appeals know only the names of the front organizations that bought the ads,

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Why Big Bucks Donors Don't Want President Obama to Champion Social Security

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Dean Baker - Oct. 26 (News Analysis) - If President Obama were to rise in defense of the program, he could count on losing the financial backing of many supporters. He would also get beaten up by the Washington Post and other major news outlets for challenging their agenda. Such are the hard economic facts with which President Obama and other politicians must contend.

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In Shell Case, Will Supreme Court's View of Corporate Personhood Mean Liability for Crimes Abroad?

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Oct. 01 (News Analysis) - The Supreme Court opens its 2012-2013 term today with a landmark case to decide whether survivors of human rights violations in foreign countries can bring lawsuits against corporations in US courts.

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Supreme Court Upholds Affordable Care Act

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Jun. 28 (News Analysis) - Chief Justice John Roberts was the swing vote in upholding the Act, joining Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer.

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Was Scalia’s Dissent Originally a Majority Opinion?

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0700

The Volokh Conspiracy - By David Bernstein - Jun. 28 (News Analysis) - Did Roberts originally vote to invalidate the mandate on commerce clause grounds, and to invalidate the Medicaid expansion, and then decide later to accept the tax argument and essentially rewrite the Medicaid expansion (which, as I noted, citing Jonathan Cohn, was the sleeper issue in this case) to preserve it?

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Citizens United, Part 2? Supreme Court Overturns Montana Law Banning Corporate Spending on Elections

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By John Bonifaz, Amy Goodman - Jun. 27 (News Analysis) - "For more than a century, Montana had [barred] corporate money in elections," Bonifaz says. "Now the United States Supreme Court has said to the state of Montana that the facts don’t matter. ... [We demand] a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court and to make clear that we the people, not we the corporations, rule in America."

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Charts: The Supreme Court's Rightward Shift

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Mother Jones - By Dave Gilson - Jun. 26 (News Analysis) - If the Supreme Court strikes down all or part of the Affordable Care Act, AKA Obamacare, it will undoubtedly cement the Roberts court's reputation as the most conservative in years.

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In Mixed Ruling, Supreme Court Overturns Parts of Arizona's S.B. 1070, Upholds "Show Me Your Papers"

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Jun. 26 (News Report) - On Monday, the court struck down three of the law’s four provisions that subject undocumented immigrants to criminal penalties for seeking work or failing to carry immigration papers at all times. In each case, the majority said those powers rest with the federal government, not with Arizona.

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Supreme Court Reversed Anti-Citizens United Ruling From Montana

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Mike Sacks - Jun. 25 (News Report) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday struck down Montana's century-old limits on corporate political spending, putting an end to the state's resistance to Citizens United and effectively expanding that controversial ruling to the state and local elections

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Activists Organize Weeklong Hit Against Citizens United

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Paul Blumenthal - Jun. 15 (News Report) - Activists across the country are working this week to mobilize local communities in support of a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court's 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and kick money out of politics.

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Supreme Court Rejects Gitmo Appeals, Spelling Potential End to Prisoners' Legal Fight for Release

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Jun. 12 (News Report) - The Supreme Court has refused to hear any new Guantánamo appeals even though half of the men being held were cleared for release five years ago. Critics of Monday’s decision say it leaves the fate of prisoners — many of them long cleared for release — in the hands of a conservative D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has constantly sided with military prosecutors and refused to order the release of any prisoner. The high court also refused to reinstate a lawsuit by former "enemy combatant" José Padilla against former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

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Judicial Activists in the Supreme Court

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0700

nationofchange.org - By E. J. Dionne Jr. - Mar. 29 (News Analysis) - Three days of Supreme Court arguments over the health-care law demonstrated for all to see that conservative justices are prepared to act as an alternative legislature, diving deeply into policy details as if they were members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

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Health Care Case Reaches Supreme Court: The Constitutional Challenge (VIDEO)

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Mike Sacks - Mar. 20 (News Report) - On Tuesday next week, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument over the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act's "individual mandate," which requires virtually all Americans to purchase minimum health insurance coverage or pay a tax penalty. The individual mandate is undoubtedly the most controversial and unpopular aspect of President Barack Obama's health care reform.

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