Blumenauer: Supreme Court Decision Places Corporate Interests Above Public Interest PDF Print E-mail
Friday, 22 January 2010 07:15

Washington, D.C – Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore) today released the following statement on the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the ban on corporate contributions to election campaigns. In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Court ruled that corporations may spend freely to support or oppose candidates for President and Congress.

“Today’s Supreme Court decision is an unfortunate escalation in the campaign spending arms race. Opening the corporate spigot directly into Congressional and Presidential elections will further tilt the playing field towards a narrow range of interests, already well represented with lobbyists and campaign contributions.

“This is another step towards unraveling the modest campaign finance controls in place. Instead of another gusher of special interest funding, we should be working to decrease the influence of money in politics.

“Congress should jump into action. While we work on the lengthy process of a constitutional amendment, to make clear that corporations are not individuals and don’t have free speech rights, we should at a minimum require that no corporate money can be used on political campaigns without a vote of the shareholders and approval of the board of directors.

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