A Bow to Money

In a decision that shows the extended impact of the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia struck down limits on contributions to political groups that spend money to support or oppose candidates. The court found that the $5,000 annual limit on contributions to such groups is unconstitutional, writing that the Citizens United ruling "resolves this appeal," in favor of SpeechNow.org, a group that seems to have been started with the specific purpose of challenging campaign-finance regulations. SCOTUSblog concludes that this ruling "significantly broadens the impact of Citizens United, extending its constitutional reasoning from campaign spending to campaign donations." Unless something is done quickly - like amending the Constitution to say that corporations aren't persons are don't get Bill of Rights protections - we can expect to see more and more of our elected officials having to bow to the wishes of the world's largest corporations or get creamed by multi-million dollar corporate financed ad campaigns.

I'm getting dizzy.
Sarah Palin at a Tea Party rally paid homage to the Constitution. She said, “Our vision for America is anchored in time-tested truths that the government that governs least governs best, that the Constitution provides the path to a more perfect union — it’s the Constitution." So it's puzzling that she also said, "In these volatile times when we are a nation at war, now more than ever is when we need a commander-in-chief, not a constitutional law professor."

Thom's Blog Is On the Move

Hello All

Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.

Please follow us across to hartmannreport.com - this will be the only place going forward to read Thom's blog posts and articles.

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to understand how to respond when they’re talking about public issues with coworkers, neighbors, and friends. This book explores some of the key perspectives behind his approach, teaching us not just how to find the facts, but to talk about what they mean in a way that people will hear."