Chuck Schumer: Undoing the damage of the Citizens United decision

[cal04]

by Chuck Schumer
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/2/2/833148/-Undoing-the-damage-of-the-Citizens-United-decision

It is hardly an exaggeration to say that the Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case two weeks ago will change the very nature of American democracy and individual liberty.

With the stroke of a pen, the Roberts Court turned back the clock on U.S. election law by more than a century, potentially unleashing a flood of corporate money that could easily drown out the voices of individual Americans.

Today, we took an important first step towards undoing the damage of the Supreme Court’s ruling.

This morning, I chaired a hearing in the Senate Rules Committee to investigate just what we can expect as a result of this decision and how we can best mitigate the negative impact it will have on our elections.

Two of my Senate colleagues, Senators Russ Feingold and John Kerry, testified. Senator Kerry exposed the flaws in the Court’s rationale that corporations are somehow equivalent to individuals and deserve the same First Amendment protections. Sen. Feingold called the Court’s opinion terrible but pointed out a possible silver lining: there is plenty of room for Congress to act within the framework of the Court’s opinion to cut down on corporate spending.

We must do so.

America’s first campaign finance laws were passed over 100 years ago. Back then, the fight over campaign finance was actually a bipartisan effort led by one of the most powerful Republican politicians of the day, President Teddy Roosevelt. His experiences in turn-of-the-century New York politics showed him over and over again how the influence of big money in elections can threaten to trump the will of the people.

President Roosevelt was the first prominent politician to push a ban on corporate contributions to political campaigns. He was a trailblazer, a visionary, and I’m certain he would be proud of the progress we’ve made up until this point.

Since President Roosevelt’s time, we’ve strengthened the integrity of our elections and the value of the individual’s choice within them. This century-long battle to implement effective campaign finance reform has been driven by the belief that the government should serve ‘we the people,’ not special interests—be they corporate, labor or otherwise.

But the Court’s decision has the potential to open the floodgates and allow special interest money, even from foreign countries and foreign-controlled companies, to determine the outcome of our elections.

We have no idea how widespread the devastation from this decision will be, but the bottom line is this: the Supreme Court has just predetermined the winners of next November’s election. It won’t be the Republican or the Democrats. It will be the special interests.

At today’s hearing, the Rules Committee also heard testimony from non-partisan experts such as Fred Wertheimer, Yale law professor Heather Gerken, Ohio State law professor Edward Foley and Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock. All agreed that the Court’s decision has created a challenge to democracy and individual liberty that must be addressed and must be addressed now.

For the first time, Supreme Court has made a decision that not only undermines our nation’s campaign finance laws, but also threatens our democracy and the people’s faith in it.

We’re now facing a greater danger that candidates can be silenced by special interests and our voters will no longer be able to hear from the leaders they’re electing to serve them.

So get ready. If this ruling is left unchallenged, our country will be faced with big, moneyed interests spending, or threatening to spend, millions on ads against those who dare to stand up to them. The threat alone is enough to chill debate, diminish the value of your vote, and distort the political process in ways that hurt the voice and influence of the average citizen.

Further, the Court’s ruling has greatly increased the risk of foreign influence in our elections. The decision left a monstrous loophole that could empower the deep-pocketed regimes in the Persian Gulf or the Chinese government to wield unprecedented sway in U.S. politics.

Domestic subsidiaries of Chinese firms and foreign leaders such as Hugo Chavez could funnel money into U.S. elections to punish candidates who threaten their interests.

Finally, this decision troubles me because of torturous path the Supreme Court took to get to this case. It chose to review, and then strike down, the earlier Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce decision, and to overturn more than a century of campaign spending policy stretching back to the Tilman Act of 1907.

The Roberts Court turned its back on stare decisis, simply because five Justices didn’t like the way previous opinions went and it went out of its way to broaden its decision in service to a particular policy goal. That should make all of us – regardless of where we are on the political spectrum – deeply concerned, and determined to act.

That is why I believe we have to act now. There is still time before the 2010 election to make sure the voices heard in November are the voices of the American people, but that requires immediate and determined Congressional action. Today’s hearing was the first step. The next step is drafting legislation that will reverse the impact of this decision.

As Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, I’m working with my colleagues in the Senate and with Representative Chris Van Hollen in the House to make this happen. But we can’t do it alone.

We’re going to need to hear from you. We’re going to need your help to convince our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this legislation.

I promise to keep you updated on our efforts and what you can do to put democracy back in the hands of the American people.

And I look forward to reading your thoughts and comments and will be around for a while to take some of your questions.

[Turbineguy]

1. Citizens United

connected to damage.

That's the first step.