In the President’s 2010 State of the Union speech, Obama touched on a Supreme Court decision that has come to define the heated debate surrounding the financing of campaign 2012. The GOP defends Citizens United on the basis of free speech – while democrats decry the vast sums of anonymous cash as allowing unlimited corporate influence in elections. Notably, however, neither party is arguing against the power of money in politics, with major candidates reaping the benefits of the ads well-funded super PACs can afford to buy. Ilyse Hogue has a slightly different take. A columnist for the progressive magazine, the Nation, she argues “Citizens United” is inspiring a new wave of grassroots organizing that looms large, but costs little. The idea appeared in her column under the title “What if ‘Citizens United’ Actually United the Citizens?"
Power to the People
Photo by DonkeyHotey, courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons
