The Supremes Hit A Sour Note

The US Supreme Court made a major ruling today on campaign financing law. They restored the rights of corporations and labor unions to contribute funds on par with any other private citizen. The limitations that had been in-effect that restricted their contributions was deemed a violation of their free-speech rights. This decision reverses a century of Supreme Court established rules that was viewed as protecting the private citizens against the undue influence that corporations and labor unions could leverage against individuals with no-where near their resources. That interpretative view had persisted under Supreme Courts that favored Republican and Democratic appointed members.

So I want to join in with all the rest of you in celebrating this grand victory for the corporations. I have fretted for years at their lack of influence in Washington. Finally, they will be able to choose your legislators and leaders, I mean join with you in helping your choose them. No longer will they be excluded from the back-rooms and closed door meetings that you and I are allowed to attend and that they are not. Wait! I don’t remember any Administration task-force or any Congressional committee letting average citizens into their deliberations (or inequitable distribution of funding). Well at least, they have never let corporate and labor union leaders participate in such meeting either. We have never had to worry about nor heard about the improper influence that Congressmen or Administration officials have allowed corporations or labor unions.

I am sure that this day will be remembered and celebrated in coming years as a re-affirmation of free-speech and basic American rights just like we celebrate the 4th of July. That is if the corporations and labor unions what us to, otherwise they will have their personally selected politicians entertain us with some other critical and essential issue that is of no importance or impact to their interests. Of course, we free citizens can also contribute to the political campaigns of our preferred candidates, who will no doubt pay as much attention to our views as they will to the super-huge donors that are now free to express their views on what is important and what needs to be addressed in legislation and administration of our government.

I would like to have one thing changed in the system however. Since corporations and labor unions have equal status as individuals under the law that given the absence of a corporeal entity who is treated according to the same legal consequences that you or I would, that the CEO or President of these entities be held accountable to the same legal consequences that you or I would. So if the corporation or union was found guilty of a criminal action that would have you or I put to death then as the stand-in individual for these non-living citizens that they would be executed on the corporations’/unions’ behalf.

If this one rule were put in place then I suspect that corporate executives and union leaders would be vigorously advocating that they should not be treated as citizen-equals who can spend money that is not even their own to influence the politics of the country. I suspect that corporations and unions would be willing to trust in the wisdom and judgment of the citizenry and the electorate.

And now that I think of it, why aren’t corporations and labor unions already properly and adequately represented by the citizenry and electorate that well own and constitute these entities. Don’t these individuals already have the right to fund political campaigns and to exercise their right to free-speech?

Isn’t letting corporations and unions participate in politics given some people extra rights, above and beyond those of most other citizens? Is this really protecting my freedoms? Well, as long as I am one of the people benefiting from the advantage and getting more rights than the rest of you, it will be ok with me. Otherwise, no, I don’t approve.