Blogpost by Jesse Coleman
Two years ago the Supreme Court delivered a near-fatal blow to our already weakened campaign finance regulations by giving corporations the right to spend unlimited amounts of money on supporting or attacking political candidates. The decision is called Citizens United v Federal Election Commission, and it changed one hundred years of election laws with the stroke of a pen. Now, top executives within corporations can use their company’s immense treasuries to tip public opinion in favor of the candidate that supports their corporate agenda. These corporate manipulators do this through so-called corporate SuperPACs, which spend immense sums on PR campaigns designed to frame important campaign issues in their own interest. SuperPACs spent well over $300 million in 2010 mid-terms on attack ads and other public outreach – more than three times the amount spent in the 2006 mid-terms.