Citizens United v Federal Election Commission

Nothing less than the integrity of our democracy is at stake. That's why New York is leading a bipartisan coalition of twenty-two states and the District of Columbia in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold state restrictions on corporate campaign spending in the wake of Citizens United.

WASHINGTON -- One of the most consequential campaign finance loopholes affecting the 2012 race -- the one allowing big-money donors to secretly funnel...

WASHINGTON -- Newt Gingrich voted with Nancy Pelosi for money to support China's one-child policy. Rick Santorum joined Hillary Clinton in supporting ...

WASHINGTON -- Vermont has become the third U.S. state to pass a resolution calling on Congress to amend the Constitution to get money out of politics ...

The grassroots movement for a constitutional amendment to return control over our democracy to We the People just got a big endorsement from more than a dozen members of the United States Congress.

WASHINGTON -- On Wednesday morning, dozens of activists and more than a dozen members of Congress gathered in a Capitol Visitor Center hearing room to...

WASHINGTON -- The progressive grassroots organization Democracy for America launched a new campaign to push back against the Supreme Court's 2010 ruli...

In today's polarized political environment, commentators can get caught up in the partisanship, and assume that government action not to their liking is necessarily driven by political bias. That borders on the silly and, at a minimum, shows a lapse of historical memory.

WASHINGTON -- Progressive activists angered by the Supreme Court's 2010 ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission allowing corporations...

WASHINGTON -- The two most controversial campaign financing practices of the post-Citizens United era aren’t actually the Supreme Court’s fault. ...

Citizens United created an environment in which it is perfectly legal for a shell non-profit corporation to engage in election-related spending on behalf of a hidden interest. And there is nothing to ensure that the hidden interest is not a foreign national, a foreign company or a foreign government.

The equivalent of 0.000351% of the population of the United States (or just 35 of every 10 million Americans) has given 96% of the money determining who stays and who goes in the Republican primary.

In the midst of a lively political campaign, with big spending a big issue, even the media can get the Constitution wrong. There is a link, but it is only indirect, between the Court's 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and the rise of super PACs.

For those who think that our election system is fundamentally on the wrong track, the only option is to amend the Constitution to allow Congress and the States to do what is necessary to restore some level of sanity to campaign finance rules.

If the 2012 election involves way too much money and way too little substance, we have no one but ourselves to blame.

Serious grassroots work is afoot in states and municipalities across the country working to build the movement to pass an amendment striking down the Citizens United decision

Many observers have blamed the Court's January 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission for supposedly turning on the corporate money-in-politics spigot. But even some members of the Court are questioning anew whether that was a mistake.

This is a chance for President Obama to put his money where his mouth is. An amicus brief from the United States Justice Department would be a powerful statement to the Supreme Court.

Last December, the Montana Supreme Court ignored Citizens United and continued its ban on corporate election spending, upholding the Montana Corrupt Practices Act. But those corporate interests that were upset by this law are now petitioning the Supreme Court to have it reversed.

A famous political cliché is that money is the mother's milk of politics and it would be impossible to eliminate money from campaigns. But what is most disconcerting is when that funding comes from a very small number of individuals and organizations.

Our elections have replaced horse racing as the sport of kings. Only these kings are multi-billionaire, corporate moguls who by the divine right, not of God, but the United States Supreme Court and its Citizens United decision, are now buying politicians like so much pricey horseflesh.

The Citizens United decision was more than just a blow to democracy. It was a blow to states' rights. Now states are scrambling to overturn the ruling and put their own campaign finance laws back in place.

Take the money out of politics, protect Americans right to vote, and make it easier for more Americans to exercise their Constitutional rights -- three issues it's hard to oppose and can help bolster your credentials as a man of the People, Mr. President.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia offered this advice about our political process: if you do not like the rash of intensely negative campaign commercials on television this year, the ones made possible by the court's 2010 decision in Citizens United, then turn off the television.