Lets Talk About Citizens United

[Heywood]

The point you miss, in your arrogant lazy ignorance, is that corporations are persons ONLY with regard to property issues and legal/financial liabilities. They can't vote by law (likely to be struck down next). They don't have religion. They aren't conscious individuals who can have opinions about political matters. Owners can and they can hold picket signs like everyone else.

The point you miss, in your arrogant lazy ignorance, is the people don't lose their rights just because they get together to accomplish some goal.

Suppose the janitorial company's truck had a bumper sticker on it reading "Support our troops". If Citizen's United was upheld, the government could force the 3 guys janitorial company to remove that bumper sticker....simply because they decided to do business as a corporation.

Do you want to live in a country where the government has that much power? If you do....go to North Korea.

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In hindsight, the best way to have kept money in politics proportionate to what it was prior to 2002 would have been not to enact McCain Feingold in the first place. It's the poster child for the law of unintended consequences. Unfortunately, getting rid of it now is unlikely to have much impact now that all these new methods of getting money into the political system have been devised as a response to it.

I have a solution to the problem and it's really simple yet will transform American democracy to make it more robust, more responsive to the people and more focused on real issues and not talking points and sound bytes.

Ban
All
Paid
Political
Media
Ads.

No TV ads. No newspaper ads. No billboards. Campaign finances would be limited to be just enough to buy bumper stickers and yard signs to hand out to supporters. That's it.

You shouldn't be able to spend money to buy more speech than your fellow citizen. The Koch brothers can make picket signs and protest on the street corner like everyone else.

Madison Ave soundbites littering our TV time would be replaced by bi-weekly debates during the campaign season where substantive issues would be discussed.

These debates should also be done under oath. Knowingly lying to the people during a political debate should be punished with the charge of perjury.

This is silly.

Suppose You are on the north corner of a street and I am on the south corner. I tell people to vote for Libertarians....You tell them to vote for communists. My voice is stronger than yours and more people are hearing me. Aren't you entitled to spend some of your money to buy a megaphone to project your voice? Sure. Money facilitates speech. Taking money out of politics like you suggest is curtailing an individuals ability to engage in speech.