It's been a few days since the Supreme Court decided Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and some of the dust has settled. But I don't want the dust to settle; I think this is a big deal and I want people to get mad. I'd really like one of those moments, like in the movie Network, with a national outcry of "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more!" Even E.J. Dionne Jr., the even-keeled liberal voice at the Washington Post, is calling for a "populist revolt" and fears our "liberal democracy...is in jeopardy." This op-ed by Michael Waldman also at the Post does a good job of explaining the the new-found audacity of the Court's conservative majority, arguing that for the first time in generations, the Court is acting in opposition to the Administration. I would go farther than that. While analysts always remark that the court prefers remaining within the mainstream of public opinion, Citizens United is by definition an act of judicial activism, and well beyond the mainstream of American opinion.
Waldman focuses not on the flood of corporate money that may well dominate future campaigns, turning his attention instead to what this decision says about the court itself - and it's not pretty. Basically, this is an activist court that went well beyond what the original case called for in order to make a drastic and sweeping ruling. The court could have ruled narrowly, on statutory grounds, but instead called for a re-argument, "making clear they were itching to overturn a century of constitutional doctrine." Today, Republicans will stop at no lengths to win political battles, with little regard for the real impact of their obstructionism. Similarly, their conservative allies on the high court seem willing to seize their moment, and will go to lengths to trip up the left-ward trend of recent elections.
Observers of the court often remark that they are tentative to make rulings that are out of sync with popular opinion; for example, proponents of marriage equality fear the court will reject rational constitutional arguments for the protection of homosexuals because gay marriage tends to fail when put to popular vote. But if you look at what Americans want of Obama, and why polls indicate they are disenchanted with our pro-change commander-in-chief, it seems clear that giving more power to corporations is the last thing they want.
(Wash. DC) The White House and Congressional leaders from both parties announced a tentative bill to bailout failed financial institutions. The bill is a response to the $700 billion initially request by the White House last week. The bill allocates $250 billion to start with a total authorized of $700 billion. The money will cover the losses of distressed Wall Street firms facing bankruptcy due to bad investments, primarily in risky real estate securities known as subprime securities and "derivatives."
There were no provisions announced to bailout citizens facing foreclosure or help with their bad investments.
(Wash. DC) We're being blackmailed into accepting the responsibility and debt for the worst managed financial institutions in the history of this country. The starting price, our debt, is $700 billion dollars.
What's really about to happen is that the failed financial institutions will be rewarded for their bad behavior. As a result, they and others will be encouraged to do it again. It's just a matter of time.
The American public made clear in the 2006 midterm elections that it was no longer satisfied with Republican rule in Washington. According to a report today from ABC News’ Scott Mayerowitz, some of the biggest firms on Wall Street are voicing the same concern the best way they know how - $$$. The report reads:
Workers at Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Lehman Brothers and elsewhere are putting their cash behind Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards over the Republican front-runners, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission filings by ABC News.
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