U.S. Supreme Court Unleashes Money Pit by Striking Down Corporate Spending Limits in Citizens United Ruling

PRESS RELEASE
-For Immediate Release-
January 21, 2010

Contact: Brian Gumm, (202) 683-4812, bgumm@ombwatch.org [1]

U.S. Supreme Court Unleashes Money Pit by Striking Down Corporate Spending Limits in Citizens United Ruling

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21, 2010—The long-awaited decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission was issued today. With a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a 20-year-old precedent, which had stated that corporations can be prohibited from using money from their general treasuries to pay for their own campaign-related advertisements. Justices also struck down parts of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, also known as the McCain-Feingold bill, which prohibited unions and corporations from running issue ads before primary and general elections. OMB Watch is disappointed in today's decision and fears it will lead to moneyed interests drowning out the voices of citizens and smaller advocacy organizations.

More specifically, the Court determined that current campaign finance regulations on corporate spending violate the First Amendment protection of political speech. The opinion applies only to independent expenditures and leaves in place a prohibition on direct corporate contributions to candidates and national party committees. It also upholds disclosure requirements for organizations that conduct advertising campaigns that promote or oppose candidates.

Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion, "The censorship we now confront is vast in its reach." However, prior to today's decision, corporations were not stripped from political speech entirely during campaigns. Rather, corporations and unions could pay for federal election spending through political action committees. The ruling will certainly alter corporate and union spending on future elections.

This decision will have a profound impact on the 2010 midterm elections and 2012 presidential election. Lateefah Williams, a nonprofit speech rights policy analyst at OMB Watch who specializes in nonprofit voter engagement issues, said, "It will allow corporate interests to significantly impact those races by funneling massive amounts of money to support or oppose candidates." Williams noted that the corporate voice will now be more powerful than ever. "Our fear is that the voices of large portions of our citizenry and the charities that advocate on their behalf will be drowned out in the process," stressed Williams.

In response to the Supreme Court's ruling, Williams said that charities and foundations should make policy and civic engagement a priority so that all voices can be heard in elections and public policy debates. OMB Watch also called on President Obama and Congress to remedy the situation by controlling the corrupting influence of money in politics with public financing of elections and other solutions.

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OMB Watch is a nonprofit research and advocacy organization dedicated to promoting government accountability, citizen participation in public policy decisions, and the use of fiscal and regulatory policy to serve the public interest. Find OMB Watch on Facebook [2] and Twitter [3].