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Would you be in favor of a challenge to the SCOTUS decision in Citizens United?

Posted on 7/27/22 at 11:41 am
Posted by HubbaBubba
North of DFW, TX
Member since Oct 2010
51231 posts
Posted on 7/27/22 at 11:41 am
That single decision opened the floodgates of bribery, and has led to the creation of enormous wealth and corruption of the political process.

Anyone of wealth, any country or corporation seeking to influence US, state and local government policy can now act with impunity while politicians and policy makers can get fat off of their corruption with almost zero expectations to be criminally charged.

This is an interesting video from Unrig 2018 with Jennifer Lawrence that sort of lays out how corrupt the current system is and how politicians, like Patch McCain and Nancy can become exceedingly wealthy. The entire 12:48 video is worth a watch. It's plain language and examples of how corrupt the current system of funding PACs is and how even blatant bribes are dismissed by the court.

YouTube

And, yes, I know the rules:



Posted by CPTDCKHD
Member since Sep 2019
1487 posts
Posted on 7/27/22 at 11:53 am to
Yes absolutely I agree with whatever she said
Posted by the808bass
The Lou
Member since Oct 2012
127274 posts
Posted on 7/27/22 at 11:56 am to
quote:

That single decision opened the floodgates of bribery, and has led to the creation of enormous wealth and corruption of the political process.


A ruling in the opposite direction would have been a huge blow to the actual freedom of speech.
Posted by HubbaBubba
North of DFW, TX
Member since Oct 2010
51231 posts
Posted on 7/27/22 at 11:59 am to
quote:

A ruling in the opposite direction would have been a huge blow to the actual freedom of speech.
Understandable, but the outcome has not met the expectations of that decision.
Posted by BlackAdam
Member since Jan 2016
7097 posts
Posted on 7/27/22 at 12:01 pm to
quote:

A ruling in the opposite direction would have been a huge blow to the actual freedom of speech.


I just can't see how everyone doesn't come to that conclusion. Political speech is the most important thing to keep free, and people pooling money to broadcast a message they want heard accomplishes just that.
Posted by gaetti15
AK
Member since Apr 2013
15034 posts
Posted on 7/27/22 at 12:10 pm to
individuals have the right to free speech/free press, so why wouldn't a collection of individuals also have the right to free speech/press.

Scalia's torches the dissents interpretation of the first amendment in his concurring opinion.



Posted by tigerpoboy
Everything is rigged
Member since Nov 2021
223 posts
Posted on 7/27/22 at 12:12 pm to
quote:

A ruling in the opposite direction would have been a huge blow to the actual freedom of speech.


How do you figure? Citizens United determined that corporations were suddenly citizens with first amendment protections. A corporation is clearly not a citizen.

The people we elect should serve our interests, not the interests of shareholders who may or may not even be Americans.
Posted by gaetti15
AK
Member since Apr 2013
15034 posts
Posted on 7/27/22 at 12:17 pm to
quote:

that corporations were suddenly citizens with first amendment protections.


how can citizens that share the same rights suddenly lose protection when they associate with one another?

Posted by Mr.Perfect
Louisiana
Member since Mar 2013
17593 posts
Posted on 7/27/22 at 12:18 pm to
quote:

people pooling money to broadcast a message they want heard accomplishes just that.


However those pools have become tainted fast and the crux of the problem lies in corporations picking sides without 100% of their employees believing if the causes that are getting the money.
Posted by the808bass
The Lou
Member since Oct 2012
127274 posts
Posted on 7/27/22 at 12:22 pm to
quote:

How do you figure? Citizens United determined that corporations were suddenly citizens with first amendment protections. A corporation is clearly not a citizen.


Here’s a fella who doesn’t know what Citizens United was about.
Posted by gaetti15
AK
Member since Apr 2013
15034 posts
Posted on 7/27/22 at 12:22 pm to
quote:

However those pools have become tainted fast and the crux of the problem lies in corporations picking sides without 100% of their employees believing if the causes that are getting the money.



sounds like a corporate and employee relationship problem...if the employees don't like the way their company is picking sides (and it really goes against what they believe in), surely the employee would be compelled to go to a company that fits his belief system more (if it is indeed that big of an issue)
Posted by Masterag
'Round Dallas
Member since Sep 2014
20162 posts
Posted on 7/27/22 at 12:23 pm to
Can a corporation register to vote? No, then it’s not a person.

And money is not speech. If that were the case, prostitution must necessarily be legal.

Scalia was basically a conservative RBG, it’s why they got along so well. Clarence Thomas, not Scalia, is who all justices should emulate.
Posted by Great Plains Drifter
Flyover, U.S.A.
Member since Jul 2019
9328 posts
Posted on 7/27/22 at 12:24 pm to
It seems the ruling only served to further diminish the voice of individual Americans. Sure, people are part of big corporations but lots of people aren’t.
If you agree with the Corporate voice, fine. If you don’t, you might as well be whistling in the dark.

To whatever extent this country was already on it’s way to a Corporatocracy, Citizens United put it into overdrive.
Posted by Bestbank Tiger
Premium Member
Member since Jan 2005
80181 posts
Posted on 7/27/22 at 12:24 pm to
Overturning it wouldn't help, because corporations own most news outlets.
Posted by gaetti15
AK
Member since Apr 2013
15034 posts
Posted on 7/27/22 at 12:28 pm to
quote:

Scalia was basically a conservative RBG, it’s why they got along so well. Clarence Thomas, not Scalia, is who all justices should emulate.



Clarence concurred with the decision and concurred with Scalia's concurrence

so I don't see how this proves the point you are trying to make.
Posted by Flats
Member since Jul 2019
27230 posts
Posted on 7/27/22 at 12:28 pm to
quote:

Overturning it wouldn't help, because corporations own most news outlets.


Overturning it wouldn't help because lobbyists are a symptom, not the disease. The disease is a federal government with too much power. Nobody's ever bribed you or me because we don't have any influence over the leviathan. If the leviathan were a poodle they wouldn't bother to bribe legislators either.
Posted by AUTiger1978
Member since Jan 2018
1200 posts
Posted on 7/27/22 at 12:30 pm to
quote:

A ruling in the opposite direction would have been a huge blow to the actual freedom of speech.


I see this all the time but can you explain it? I say this sincerely, as it’s entirely possible that there’s some way we’ve legally painted ourselves in a corner.

From a common sense perspective, freedom of speech is distinct from political donations/contributions. All of the people that work for those corporations still retain freedom of speech and the ability to donate as they please on an individual level. If they do choose they can all donate to a pac or campaign. How exactly is freedom of speech curtailed if a corporation can still make it’s official position known but is not able to donate to a politician? Is there some legal reason that a monetary transaction counts as speech? If so, it needs to change.
Posted by keks tadpole
Yellow Leaf Creek
Member since Feb 2017
8577 posts
Posted on 7/27/22 at 12:35 pm to
quote:

Political speech is the most important thing to keep free, and people pooling money to broadcast a message they want heard accomplishes just that.

The problem arises when people is "person(s)" with enough money and or power to broadcast ad nauseam, via a complicit MSM, a message that a majority of the population does not have the appropriate level of critical thinking to digest. See Germany 1930's.
"We are now entering a pandemic of the unvaccinated" has never set well with me
Posted by VolcanicTiger
Member since Apr 2022
5933 posts
Posted on 7/27/22 at 12:37 pm to
quote:

Can a corporation register to vote? No, then it’s not a person.
So minors aren't people and have no right to free speech?

quote:

And money is not speech. If that were the case, prostitution must necessarily be legal.
Prostitution shouldn't be illegal, but that's an inane analogy.
Posted by Wednesday
Member since Aug 2017
17110 posts
Posted on 7/27/22 at 12:46 pm to
Agree with this totally.

Citizens United being overruled would result in the violent doxxing of any conservative in the US.

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