Democratic Sen. Ed Markey mentioned Citizens United, the 2010 Supreme Court case allowing unlimited political ad spending, in the same breath as the Dred Scott decision, the 1858 Supreme Court keeping slavery legal by saying it was OK for white people to keep black people as their private property. Cue unthinking outrage!
Given the increasing acceptance from the Roberts court of the concept of money as free speech, legal watchers are already saying that, yes, there's more than a good chance that McCutcheon vs. FEC could lead to the end of federal limits on campaign-finance contributions.
Democrats spent 2011 and the first part of 2012 wallowing in self-pity that President Obama would be vastly outspent by Mitt Romney thanks to Citizens United unleashing an avalanche of negative ads from a financial sector angry at the president, but that hasn't happened. In fact, it's been the exact opposite.
The conventional wisdom is that Citizens United treats political spending by corporations and labor unions equally. But the freedom that the Court’s Citizens United decision gives to corporations and unions alike, other cases take away from unions alone. The result? A legally constructed advantage for corporations over unions when it comes to politics.
In case you were worried you would never get to see the documentary Andrew Breitbart made about Occupy Wall Street, you can rest easy: Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner are on the case.
Look at 2012 as labor’s rude welcome to politics in a post-Citizens United world.
By donating $10 million to a pro-Romney Super PAC today, the right's favorite money man, casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, brought himself a little closer to making good on his boast of possibly contributing $100 million to the GOP cause in 2012.
Before retiring from the Supreme Court in 2009, liberal Justice David Souter penned a dissent so critical of the court's conservative justices, Chief Justice John Roberts went to great lengths to prevent it from being published.
There may be another benefit for corporations from the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision that opened up the way for unlimited corporate spending on politics: tax breaks.
It's official: Americans hate super PACs. A new Washington Post-ABC poll says nearly seven in 10 registered voters think they should be illegal.
Have a story we missed? A link we have to click? A sharp opinion about the news? Instead of waiting for us to post it, tell us on the Open Wire.
Submit your news and ideas | See all reader postsThe Atlantic Wire is your authoritative guide to the news and ideas that matter most right now. Our team tracks newsmakers and opinions across the entire media spectrum: newspapers, web sites, television, radio and magazines.
But we do more than just collect information. By synthesizing, analyzing and summarizing what’s out there, and adding new information when we can, we are a news engine that gives you a quick and valuable account of the issues of the day.
Have a hot tip? A story we missed? Tell us on the Open Wire
How to send us editorial or technical feedback
Get Five Best Columns in your inbox each morning (preview)
