Vast Majority Oppose Supreme Court Ruling on Campaign Money

I'm kind of getting tired of saying this, but with popular opinion jibing with actual Democratic stands, could the geniuses at the DNC start sending out some qualified (and talented) talking heads to hammer the R's with it? Please? I'd take Weiner, Sanders and Wasserman-Schultz with maybe a nice sarcastic Cliff Schecter to ply the death blow. Via Taegan-

A new Washington Post/ABC News poll finds that Americans of both parties "overwhelmingly oppose" a Supreme Court ruling that allows corporations and unions to spend as much as they want on political campaigns.

Interestingly, the poll reveals relatively little difference of opinion on the issue among Democrats (85% opposed to the ruling), Republicans (76%) and independents (81%).

"The results suggest a strong reservoir of bipartisan support on the issue for President Obama and congressional Democrats, who are in the midst of crafting legislation aimed at limiting the impact of the high court's decision."

Meanwhile, Republican leaders "have praised the ruling as a victory for free speech and have signaled their intent to oppose any legislation intended to blunt the impact of the court's decision."

Video- Rep Alan Grayson on Countdown 1/21/09

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Supreme Court rolls back campaign spending limits

Holy crap, we're gonna be the United States of Big Business. Remember this was all started by that Citizens United group that did that hit job movie on Hillary.

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court has ruled that corporations may spend freely to support or oppose candidates for president and Congress, easing decades-old limits on their participation in federal campaigns.

By a 5-4 vote, the court on Thursday overturned a 20-year-old ruling that said corporations can be prohibited from using money from their general treasuries to pay for their own campaign ads. The decision, which almost certainly will also allow labor unions to participate more freely in campaigns, threatens similar limits imposed by 24 states.

It leaves in place a prohibition on direct contributions to candidates from corporations and unions.

Critics of the stricter limits have argued that they amount to an unconstitutional restraint of free speech, and the court majority apparently agreed.

"The censorship we now confront is vast in its reach," Justice Anthony Kennedy said in his majority opinion, joined by his four more conservative colleagues.

However, Justice John Paul Stevens, dissenting from the main holding, said, "The court's ruling threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions around the nation."

GOP departures to cost party millions

By Paddy


Heartbroken I tell ya, just weeping into my cocktail. Whatever are they to do?

The number of Republicans leaving Congress will cost the GOP millions of dollars in party-building funds for the fall congressional elections, campaign-finance records show.

Of the 32 Republicans who have resigned or announced plans to retire, 26 have political action committees known as leadership PACs — which members of Congress typically use to make donations to colleagues facing tough campaigns. Those 26 PACs raised $17 million in the last campaign cycle, but only $5.3 million for this election, a USA TODAY analysis of the latest campaign reports filed in March and April shows.

There is little evidence that fundraising will pick up: Five current or former members of Congress, including former senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, have closed down their PACs. Others, including Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico, have sharply curtailed their fundraising activity.

McCain's Murderers Row

A new website (firethelobbyists.com) has been created by the pro-campaign finance reform organization Campaign Money Watch, to convince Senator McCain to fire three lobbyists in the top levels of his organization that have lobbied for ruthless dictators. You may recall that over the past two days, two McCain aides have resigned because of their willingness to do public relations work for the Burmese Junta.

Ahh, working for the public good. It must feel so refreshing.

Of course, turn over any stone in The McCain Campaign, and one can only guess what might come crawling out. It turns out that they have even more friends in low places. I contacted David Donnelly, Director of Campaign Money Watch, for a comment. He explained what his group is trying to accomplish:

John McCain ought to immediately fire three lobbyists — Charlie Black, Tom Loeffler, and Peter Madigan -- whose lobbying for brutal dictators and foreign governments is every bit as bad as the two lobbyists who left his campaign over the weekend. Frankly, McCain’s campaign is turning out to be an effort of, by, and for these types of Washington influence peddlers. His credentials as a reformer are gone.

Pretty strong words. Yet, if you read what this triad of McCain lobbyists have been up to, perhaps not strong enough. It ain't pretty:

Charlie Black, McCain’s senior counsel and spokesman, began his lobbying career by representing numerous dictators and repressive regimes

Black’s firm represented the governor