Fresh Evidence How the Supreme Court has Screwed Up Politics
October 14, 2014
Here's the kind of magic number that only fat cats and special interests could love: In the 2014 midterm election, expenditures by groups that don't disclose their donors has now surpassed $100 million. That's way more secret money (or "dark money," as it's more commonly called) than has ever been spent on congressional races in any previous year at this point in the calendar. And the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, which tallied the amount, says that we can probably expect dark donors to pony up another $100 million by election day.
Chief Justice Magoo
Thanks a lot, Supreme Court. In a series of rulings that culminated in Citizens United, the five Republican appointees - wedded to the notion that money is speech, have unleashed the purchasing power of fat cats, corporations, and the special interest groups that cater to both. The result is that the average voter has no idea who's paying for politics and who stands to benefit.
Blessed Billionaires
Anthony Kennedy, who authored the Citizens United opinion, argued for "adequate disclosure. With the advent of the Internet, prompt disclosure of expenditures provide shareholders and citizens with the information needed to hold corporations and elected officials accountable...and see whether elected officials are in the pocket of so-called moneyed interests." (I love that qualifier, "so-called.")
Supreme Court Decision
For people like Karl Rove and the Koch brothers, this is a great deal. Lately, it's been an especially great deal for something called the Kentucky Opportunity Coalition. The KOC is one of those shadowy "social welfare" groups, and its apparent sole purpose is to dump $7 million into ads attacking Mitch McConnell's Senate race opponent, Allison Grimes. That $7 million (which will likely go higher) is 28 percent of all the outside money that has flowed thus far into the Kentucky race. Until some distant day, when perhaps Congress can summon the wisdom to enact disclosure requirements (an effort that has failed twice already), or when perhaps a new court majority shelves the notion that money is speech, we all have to live with the consequences. Which is why dark money spending is expected to post a new record high in 2016 - and, in all likelihood, drive us to a new low.
Copyright 2014 Dick Polman Dick Polman is the national political columnist at NewsWorks/WHYY in Philadelphia (newsworks.org/polman) and a "Writer in Residence" at the University of Philadelphia. Email him at dickpolman7@gmail.com. This column has been edited by the author. Representations of fact and opinions are solely those of the author. Distributed to subscribers
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