Today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling will not drown out the voice of the individual. It supports our First Amendment rights. It is important to remember that this decision leaves in place a ban which prohibits both corporations and unions from directly contributing to candidates.
The Supreme Court overturned laws on the books for nearly a century that corporations can spend freely on political campaigns to buy ads. TV viewers will likely be bombarded by more corporate ads during campaigns and that will most certainly be annoying. Without this ruling however, Congress could ban corporations from posting their views on You Tube, Facebook or Twitter. Today’s ruling is a win for the First Amendment. We all should be able to express our political views. Without today’s ruling other free speech in the form of movies, books and periodicals could be banned.
I disagree with the Supreme Court’s four dissenters: Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, John Paul Stevens who predicted that corporate money will drown out the voice of the little guy. I also think President Obama is making a mistake by directing his staff to make changes to the law to undermine the Supreme Court’s decision.
Constructive public discussion only helps our country. Critical thinking requires hearing all points of view regardless of who is footing the bill.