Supreme Court Strikes Down Another Limit on Campaign Contributions
Posted by Michelle Moquin on April 3rd, 2014
Good morning!
Speaking of….
Frank, CMD, Credo: This is what I found:
Citizens United, Part 2
Supreme Court Strikes Down Another Limit on Campaign Contributions
Just days after 2016 GOP hopefuls traveled to Las Vegas to kowtow to billionaire Republican donor Sheldon Adelson, the Supreme Court has made it even easier for the ultra-rich to control elections. In McCutcheon v. FEC, the five conservative Justices ruled that aggregate limits in campaign contributions are unconstitutional.
Ian Millhiser at ThinkProgress breaks down exactly what the decision does, and why it is so harmful:
What McCutcheon invalidates are aggregate limits on the total amount of money that donors may give to all federal candidates ($48,600) and to all political committees ($74,600). Thus, before Wednesday, donors could spend as much as $123,200 seeking to influence the 2014 election cycle — now they can spend as much as they want. Make no mistake, this decision benefits no one except for a handful of very wealthy donors. Who else can say that they’ve already given more than a hundred thousand dollars worth of donations and that they are upset that they cannot give even more?
The previous landmark campaign finance case, 2010′s Citizens United, struck down limits on campaign expenditures by independent groups. This paved the way for the explosion of super-PACs and gave billionaires like the Koch Brothers and casino mogul Sheldon Adelson the ability to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to influence the 2012 election.
The McCutcheon decision gives the wealthiest even more influence in elections. The public policy organization Demos has estimated that the decision will “bring more than $1 billion in additional campaign contributions from elite donors through the 2020 election cycle.” According to their analysis, if these limits had not been in place during the 2012 election, 1,219 super-wealthy donors would have more than tripled their giving to more than $459 million. That number would have been almost 50 percent more than the $313 million in small dollar contributions to the Obama and Romney campaigns.
CREDIT: DEMOS
In the dissenting opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer sums up the consequences:
Taken together with Citizens United v. FEC, today’s decision eviscerates our Nation’s campaign finance laws, leaving a remnant incapable of dealing with the grave problems of democratic legitimacy that those laws were intended to solve.
BOTTOM LINE: In the past four years, the Supreme Court has made it far easier for the wealthiest to buy an election and far harder for average Americans to vote in one. The McCutcheon decision doubles down on Citizen’s United, giving even more unchecked power to those who can afford to buy influence. Somewhere, the Koch Brothers and Sheldon Adelson are raising a glass.
BONUS: For an in-depth look at why the conservative Justices display a naive view of political corruption in their McCutcheon opinion, be sure to check out this brieffrom our colleagues at the Center for American Progress. And take action with this online tool to tell your Senators to confirm judges who follow the law, not special interests.
****
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April 3rd, 2014 at 11:50 am
They reneder S.T.A.R.K. raving mad decisions because they are bought and paid for.
April 3rd, 2014 at 12:00 pm
Yeah, Helen those crooks new just what America needs. More money in politics.
April 3rd, 2014 at 12:01 pm
campaign contributions = bribes
let’s not kid ourselves
April 3rd, 2014 at 12:01 pm
Typical right wing philosophy (5 to 4). The tea party and the rest of the right wingers will always favor the wealthy over the middle class every time. Somebody needs to tell Ted Cruz that the GOP “is” the party of the rich.
April 3rd, 2014 at 12:02 pm
Howie, you are just the Man!.
April 3rd, 2014 at 12:04 pm
The point is not who has the most rich people on their side , the real
point is which side is willing to raise taxes on rich people ( including
themselves ) and which side will never ever ever willingly raise taxes
on rich people .
Now you answer those questions truthfully , if you dare.
April 3rd, 2014 at 12:06 pm
This shit will continue until until the republicans are voted out.
April 3rd, 2014 at 12:10 pm
The republicans only goal is to create obstructionism to make sure nothing gets done under this President. They’ve been doing that for the past 3 years.
They wouldn’t even bring to a vote the jobs bill because they knew that would give Oboma a win so who do you think they’er concerned with, it certainly isn’t the general public.
They want to keep creating unemployment & scream about welfare while at the same time making sure it stays that way.
The House republicans need to be voted out.
April 3rd, 2014 at 12:10 pm
There are far more rich fatcat billionares (conservatives) than there are billionaires of actual conscience (liberals). Way more. And they now own the government, and will do so until forcibly thrown out.
April 3rd, 2014 at 12:12 pm
If you want the truth, you need to take a look at the 10 million lines of the US tax code. You need to look at the endless stream of carve-outs, exemptions, and deductions that preferentially benefits certain key industries and corporations. While it looks like everyone plays by the same rules, with apologies to Orwell, some animals are more equal than others.
If you want to raise taxes on the rich, you don’t need to raise the tax rate. If you raise the tax rate, the rich still funnel their earning through the carve-outs, exemptions, and deductions and pay a low functional tax rate.
If you want to fix the problem, you clean house on deductions and exemptions. You make the progressive tax rates we currently have apply the same, across the board, no ifs, ands, or buts.
Yes, that means no home mortgage exemptions and no deductions for having a plethora of babies, but it also means no one gets out of paying their pound of flesh to the government.
You want taxes, that’s how you do it.
April 3rd, 2014 at 12:15 pm
Evelyn#9, exactly, however, if the citizens in this country would wake up & start making alot of noise (together) we can stop this.
But that will never happen because the Right has this country so divided that our rights will be lost before they wake up to whats happening. It is now right in front of their noses & they stick up for these sickos.
April 3rd, 2014 at 12:20 pm
Michelle, I keep trying to post to your blog, but nothing takes
April 3rd, 2014 at 12:22 pm
Red Herring . Fail . Flat tax schemes are stupid ( to educated persons anyway ) and 110% non-starters as well . All we need to do to fix the biggest parts of what is wrong with the USA is to get ignorant self serving toads like Michelle Bachmann and Terd Cruz and the rest of the right winger trash out of the US political process, period .
April 3rd, 2014 at 12:23 pm
We need to fix the current progressive tax system by getting rid of the various means by which those in the highest brackets pay a functional tax rate that’s far below what the progressive scale would indicate.
April 3rd, 2014 at 12:25 pm
Yeah, Stephen, that sounds just peachy , cutting out fat cat tax loopholes . You do realize though that what you are suggesting is EXACTLY what the Democrats have been proposing for years and EXACTLY what the conservatives have been obstructing for just as long , just as hard as they can obstruct to boot .
So if you really want what you claim , you’ll be voting Democrat even if just because they are clearly the lesser of two evils , and because they are the party that is proposing cutting out tax loopholes for the rich , not the conservatives .
The April Fool Ryan budget is out there so it’s easy to see what they are for and it is certainly NOT cutting tax loopholes out of the tax code.
April 3rd, 2014 at 12:27 pm
Never have you ever heard one word from congress on cutting their pensions (which s/b self sustained) or pay their own healthcare or drop the many many benefits they receive from housing, cars to you name it.
They have themselves set up pretty secure while at the same time want to take away your healthcare & pensions, which they have already done & now they’ve come up with cutting pell grants stating students are creating all this high loans on things they don’t need??
What else will they attack before people wake up to whats going on here?
April 3rd, 2014 at 12:31 pm
Demetrius#15, your thinking is so deluded by the idea that one can only be a zealot of one party or the other that you fail to consider the possibility that most of us out there are moderates. You argue party line and that’s incredibly unhelpful. What we should be focusing on is ideas and their merits. I believe that some people pay far too little in tax.
I believe the solution is to remove the exemptions and lower the base rates across the board with the savings (do I sound like Romney yet?) and then make a serious effort to get rid of Waste, Fraud, and Abuse™ which is done the same way it’s currently being done in the DoD, massive budget cuts.
“you’ll be voting Democrat”
I’ll vote Democrat when one runs whose views more closely align with my own than the Republican’s. So should you and you should be equally open to voting GOP or even some third party if that party’s candidate best reflects your views. That’s being an informed citizen and it’s a good thing.
April 3rd, 2014 at 12:33 pm
Scott, “…DoD, massive budget cuts…” .————–You’re delusional . Do you even read the news ? I suggest you do some research , you are clueless.
You’re just not educated / evolved enough to “get it ” , clearly . Have a great life .
April 3rd, 2014 at 12:34 pm
Scott#17:
Sorry but Romney had different views for the public & behind closed doors, your argument stinks, I’ve voted republican in the past, however, it will be a cold day in hell before I vote for the lunatics in this congress.
If you truly cannot see what it is the republicans are trying to do you need more help than I thought!!
April 3rd, 2014 at 12:36 pm
Demetrius#15, that has absolutely nothing to do with this issue. It’s a poor effort to devert.
April 3rd, 2014 at 12:37 pm
Demetrius#18, “conservatives … keep shoveling special interest monies into the election process”
Are you going to argue with a straight face that special interests like: global warming activists, environmentalists, gay rights activists, pro-amnesty activists, gun control activists, pro-choice activists, minority rights groups, and labor unions aren’t special interest groups that funnel hundreds of millions into the campaign war chests of Democrats all over the country?
If you honestly believe that this game is only being played by Republicans, you’re delusional. The last two Presidential elections cycles alone should be clear enough proof. Dems outspent Republicans easily.
“they HAVE TO if they want to have a chance of being elected because of the way the conservatives”
Democrats aren’t some poor wretched high-minded souls forced into political favor-mongering by those dirty evil Republicans. They’re complicit. They do it eagerly, and they’re exceptionally good at it.
Hillary’s already amassed a huge campaign war chest for 2016. She hasn’t even declared candidacy and she’s hosting $50,000/plate dinner-fundraisers!
April 3rd, 2014 at 2:28 pm
Sandy#20, No one is trying to divert anything . It has everything to do with this issue and the fact that you are too stupid to realize it says volumes about the non-intellect of the American voter .
Democrats have to court and coddle those expensive donors not because they want to so much , but because they HAVE TO if they want to have a chance of being elected because of the way the conservatives ( as in the conservative majority SC ruling being discussed currently ) keep shoveling special interest monies into the election process any way they can .
It’s simplistic to say “oh but both sides are doing it ” when the truth is that the need to have all that $$ in US politics is and has been predicated by the conservatives far more than the liberals.
Liberals have in fact tried to get some campaign finance reform passed from time to time. They were blocked at every try by conservatives ) with rulings such as the above and Citizens United , and many others by conservative leaning judges over the past 40 years.
April 3rd, 2014 at 2:32 pm
Scott#21, you missed the point as usual, but the activist are trying to save the planet compared to the corporations that could care less if no one breathes as long as it doesn’t cost them a penny.
The pipeline is one good example, they want to take your land for a pipeline but if a spill occurs they’er going to see to it that the landowner gets stuck for the bill.
Who can win against their dozens of lawyers?
April 3rd, 2014 at 2:42 pm
Scott#21, It’s called fighting fire with fire. The bottom line is that the Democrats constantly offer up legislation that will cut out the tax loopholes the rich use to avoid paying taxes, and to a lesser degree, campaign finance reform as well.
But neither of those good intentions ever become law, 100% because of conservative obstruction. If you really want what you say then you’ll vote Democrat, as they are the only ones proposing legislation that does what you want.
But you won’t do what is best for you because like most Americans you’ll let your ideological knee cap make the decision who to vote for rather than that lump of meat sitting on your shoulders.
April 3rd, 2014 at 2:46 pm
I’m liking it because even the Aliens are finding out what’s up because of you Howie.
April 3rd, 2014 at 5:09 pm
Demetrius#24, “what’s best for me”? I define what’s best for me. I make those decisions, not you, not government, not some airheaded politician selling rainbows and unicorns and free candycanes in sugar gumdrop land.
I’d think after you’ve read all the other arguments I’ve made thus far that I’ve demonstrated clearly that I think for myself and I base my opinions on facts. ”but neither of those good intentions ever become law , 100% because of conservative obstruction” McCain-Feingold.
McCain isn’t a Democrat, last time I checked. He ran his 2008 campaign with heavy emphasis on campaign finance reform and got hammered by an opponent fueled by a $750M campaign war chest, a candidate who topped out over $1B four years later.
Further, if you listen much to conservative grassroots, there is strong support of campaign finance because they despise people like Soros, Steyer, and the unions feeding money into the system. Smaller government is the solution. Less power, less lust for it, and the money doesn’t get thrown at it so hard.
April 3rd, 2014 at 6:06 pm
Scott#26, Smaller goverment while the population increases, yeah that makes really good sense Jethro. Who would add more students to a school while at the same time they are laying off teachers, janitors, and bus drivers? Right winger Einsteins, that’s who.
What we NEED to do is go back to the tax rates the rich paid back in the 60s and 70s before the right winger scum took over and destroyed the middle class with their trickle down ” steal from the poor to give tax cuts to the rich ” Reaganomics crap .
And that is EXACTLY what we progressive are going to do when Hillary gets elected, count on it .
April 3rd, 2014 at 7:57 pm
Demetrius#27, Perhaps, again, I need to define terms: ”Small government” means supporting a federal government that does fewer things, those things which are explicitly outlined in the Constitution, and leaving the rest to states to manage.
Small government advocates don’t necessarily support less governing, they support letting the federal part of it do less while shifting responsibility to state and local governance. The idea is that the individual states are closer to the problems facing their populations than DC and therefore better understand and can address those issues.
Louisiana’s citizens have very different concerns than Vermont’s or Alaska’s. Things like education should be handled by states. When someone argues to get rid of the federal Dept of Education, they argue that the states should be doing this on their own and without having the feds tell them how to teach their kids.
Some things are simply better run by one bureaucracy than by 50: Science investment (NIH, NSF, NASA, DoE, etc), healthcare (FDA, CDC, etc), Defense (DoD), Security (NSA, DHS, ICE, FBI, etc). Those you keep. However, it seems clear that you don’t want to discuss ideas. You want to vent your dislike of Republicans.
You’ve got a certain view of the world in your head and you don’t want to look at anything else. I’ve been calm. I haven’t called names or been condescending to you, and you’ve been a non-stop barrage of insults while offering very few ideas or counterpoints of your own. I’m happy to discuss, but stop the insults and the know-it-all attitude, please.
April 3rd, 2014 at 8:51 pm
Scott#28, Things like education should be handled by states. That works well for you who control states so you can control minds.
So you can do the kind of disgusting things you do in states like Texas such as teaching impressionable kids that the earth is only 6000 years old and people used to play with dinosaurs in their “science ” class.
No thanks , we need the federal government to set a national standard of education that aligns with widely accepted scientific facts, not what the local Taliban is teaching that year .
No , you’re just happy to condescend, patronize and ignore the indisputable facts in favor of your own opinions like a prototypical Sophist.
Fine then , we’ll just shove more lib unicorns and rainbows down collective right winger throats since simple reason and empirical facts evidently won’t suffice.
April 3rd, 2014 at 9:53 pm
Demetrius#29, “indisputable facts” ”since simple reason and empirical facts evidently wont suffice” You haven’t presented any. All you’ve done is call me names!
April 3rd, 2014 at 10:00 pm
Google “woolly mammoth ” and ” South Carolina ” if you want to see why the federal govt. has to keep states in line.
http://www.hngn.com/articles/27872/20140401/woolly-mammoth-case-south-carolina-legislator-seeks-amendment-give-god.htm
“Reaction from some South Carolina residents has been “nasty,” he said.”
“Please stop making our state look like backwards hillbillies who believe in fairy tales,” Alex Davis commented on Bryant’s website. “Keep your religious views out of the government.”
==========================
So, it’s not just me calling that wannabe christian taliban party names.
April 3rd, 2014 at 10:01 pm
Scott#28, I most certainly gave you facts. Try reading this, slowly if you need to. The Democrats have been trying to pass legislation that cuts out many tax loopholes for rich people but the conservatives are obstructing those efforts . That is an Indisputable fact .
April 4th, 2014 at 8:30 am
Hi Guam friends – I wanted to make sure you all were aware of the ice cream recall by the FDA-
RESIDENTS who have purchased Helados La Tapatia brand ice creams, popsicles, fruit cups, fruit bars or bolis from several Pay-Less Supermarket locations are advised that the products may contain a bacterium called listeria monocytogenes and may pose severe health risks if consumed. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration has issued a recall of all Helados La Tapatia Icesation products.
The Department of Public Health and Social Services’ Division of Environmental Health found that the affected products were sold at Pay-Less Supermarkets in Hagåtña, the Micronesia Mall, Dededo, Yigo, Oka, Sinajaña, Mangilao and Sumay. All affected products have already been removed.
The products may contain contaminants that could be fatal for young children, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems, according to a DPHSS statement.
So far the public health department has not received any local reports of illness associated with the consumption of these products. The department advised customers who purchased any of the possibly contaminated products to return them to the place of purchase.
The following affected products have since been removed from store shelves: Helados La Tapatia’s Strawberry Milk Bar, Coconut Milk Bar, Cookies & Cream Milk Bar, Mamey Milk Bar, Dozen Mix Bag: Assorted Flavors, Dozen Mix Bag Bolis, and Coffee Milk Bars.
Listeria monocytogenes is a bacterium that can cause Listeriosis, which is a serious infection, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated. It primarily affects frail individuals like the elderly, newborns, adults with weakened immune systems and pregnant women. DPHSS stated that Listeriosis in pregnant women can cause miscarriages.
Additionally, healthy individuals who may contract Listeriosis may suffer from short-term symptoms which include high fever, severe headaches, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Individuals that have Listeriosis are treated with antibiotics.
Be safe!
/SB
April 4th, 2014 at 9:45 am
How does this sound? A federal budget that ends Medicare as we know it, gives America’s richest few a break on their taxes while shifting the burden to the middle class, and repeals the historic health care law we both worked so hard to pass.
That’s what Paul Ryan just proposed — the same as the budget the American people rejected two years ago.
Look, this isn’t just a bunch of bad ideas. In practice, this is a devastating blow not only to our ideals, but to the way we live our lives, plan our financial futures, and provide for our kids.
We can stop it, but we have to work together — and work hard.
Add your name today:
http://my.democrats.org/Ryan-Budget
Thanks,
Debbie
Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Chair
Democratic National Committee