Supreme Court rolls back campaign cash limits

[Rachmaninoff]

[FONT="Trebuchet MS"]As the title says, our courts decided it was a bright idea to remove laws that prevented corporations from using their profits to buy political campaign ads. If you haven't heard about this then the details can be found here:

[URL="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34822247/ns/politics-supreme_court/"][U]Supreme Court rolls back campaign cash limits[/U][/URL]

So what do all of you think about this? Personally I think it's a bad idea and does nothing but open things up for even more special interests to be shoved through the system. Considering our current economic woes, we need that about like we need a hole in our heads. :/[/FONT]

[Sabrina]

[FONT="Tahoma"][quote name='Rachmaninoff][FONT="Trebuchet MS"']Personally I think it's a bad idea and does nothing but open things up for even more special interests to be shoved through the system.[/FONT][/quote]This. I feel the same about it. Also, am I the only one who thinks the reason why it happened is pretty stupid as well?

Since when did the Courts decide a movie looked like a campaign ad? And if so how does that justify what they did? If it was one then the producers are the stupid ones. If it's not, I honestly haven't seen it so I can't say, then the Courts are the stupid ones.

It just feels like they jumped on that movie and used it as an excuse to open things up for special interests that we don't need in politics. [/FONT]

[eleanor]

[font=trebuchet ms] Sorta OT, but it's times like these that I love the independence of the Supreme Court.[/font]

[James]

[font=franklin gothic medium]I'm not sure I disagree with their decision, so long as campaign advertising maintains the need to publicly list the contributors (and it looks like this is still the case).

I don't quite know at what point a film can become a campaign tool. You could argue that any number of Hollywood movies were a commentary on the Bush administration's policies - but they were not subject to these rules. So I'm not really sure how this can be measured.

The biggest way to kill off special interests in politics in America, in my view, is to fundamentally reform the lobbyist system. The access that lobbying firms have in the U.S. Congress is nothing short of criminal, in my opinion.

Whereas public advertising (whoever is producing it), isn't quite as sinister. I don't see a problem with trade unions or corporations producing political advertising if they choose - if nothing else, I suspect that this could turn off enough people that these entities could damage themselves anyway.[/font]

[Rachmaninoff]

[FONT="Trebuchet MS"][quote name='James][font=franklin gothic medium]The biggest way to kill off special interests in politics in America, in my view, is to fundamentally reform the lobbyist system. The access that lobbying firms have in the U.S. Congress is nothing short of criminal, in my opinion.[/font][/QUOTE]That's an opinion we both share. [QUOTE=James][font=franklin gothic medium']Whereas public advertising (whoever is producing it), isn't quite as sinister. I don't see a problem with trade unions or corporations producing political advertising if they choose - if nothing else, I suspect that this could turn off enough people that these entities could damage themselves anyway.[/font][/quote]I certainly hope it turns people off. I hadn't considered that people might be turned off by it. I guess we'll just have to wait and find out if that's the case or not.[/FONT]