April 27, 2010 02:11 AM UTC

One Dollar One Vote? Life After Citizens United

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• by: morgancarroll

(‘Disclosure and no limits’ talking point peddlers can now put their money where their mouth is – promoted by Colorado Pols)

There is really no way to overstate the significance of the recent U.S. Supreme Court Decision in Citizens United v. FEC (2010).  

It overturns significant Supreme Court precedent and campaign finance reforms passed by the voters in Colorado (with 66% of the vote) in Amendment 27. It further expands on the absurdity of corporate “personhood”.

It repeals prior prohibitions against corporate and union contributions in independent expenditures. You will recall there are NO limits or caps on independent expenditures.

The impact of this decision is to:

*Allow unlimited corporate and union spending in independent expenditures.

*Fail to capture any of that spending in our current Colorado campaign finance disclosures.

*Prohibit foreign human beings from making campaign finance contributions (but allow foreign corporations to do).

Today Rep. Paul Weissmann and I introduced SB 203 closing the disclosure loopholes and closing the foreign corporation loophole.

We are embarking into a surreal world where artificial “persons” have more rights (and certainly more money) than “natural” persons.

When does extending personhood rights to corporations extinguish or dilute the rights or real human persons?  Few facts to consider below:

• In 1996 Colorado voters overwhelmingly approved a statutory form of campaign finance in “Amendment 15” with 66% of the vote.  The legislature reversed those reforms in 2000.  In 2002 voters approved a constitutional form of campaign finance in Amendment 27 with 66% of the vote.  Among other campaign finance reforms this law prohibited corporate and union contributions (unless via PAC or SDC).

• Citizens United v. FEC, overturned precedent in two cases and opened up independent expenditures to corporations and labor unions without limit in the United States.

• Even with the bans on direct corporate and union spending corporations and labor unions were still spending a significant amount of money on elections in PACs, Small Donor Committees, 527s.

• In 2008:  business spent $1.9 Billion on elections and labor unions spent $74 Million in total contributions through PACs, 527s with the current restrictions in place. [Open Secrets, FEC]

• That will pale in comparison to the new, undisclosed, spending that will be allowed under Citizens United  (if the Colorado legislature does not act to close disclosure loopholes).

• The Supreme Court has explicitly upheld our right to require full disclosures, even in the Citizens United case.

• Our bill (M. Carroll – Weissmann) aims to close significant disclosure loopholes to avoid having millions of dollars of untraced money impacting Colorado’s elections.  The voters at least have a right to know who is spending what on their elections.

• How much money are we talking about?  We won’t know for sure but…

• In 2009 Corporations reported $1.3 Trillion in Profits. In 2007 corporate pretax profits were $1.9 Trillion.  [US Bureau of Economic Analysis, IRS].  (More than Gross Domestic Product for all but top 10 wealthiest nations).

• Unions collect an estimated $13 billion in annual dues, a portion of that is available for spending on elections and political activity. [Makinac]

• One company, GlaxoSmithKline spent as much in advertising alone in 2007 as the entire 2006 midterm elections in 2006.

• If Exxon Mobil shifted just 3% of their profit ($45.2 Billion) to politics that would dwarf the amount spent by Obama ($730 million) and McCain ($333 million) combined in 2008.