Remember Citizens United? Back in 2010, the Roberts Court decided corporations are people and money is speech, and the money in politics floodgates opened.
Well, they just did it again.
Last month, the Supreme Court ruled in NRSC v. FEC that political parties can now spend UNLIMITED money in direct coordination with their candidates. No cap. None. The 6-3 majority (yes, Kavanaugh wrote it) tossed out decades of precedent that existed for one simple reason: to stop the kind of donor-to-party-to-candidate flow of money that could look an awful lot like a bribe with a few extra steps.
Let me translate what this actually means. Before last week, a national party committee could coordinate up to a few million dollars with a Senate candidate. Now? Sky’s the limit. A handful of billionaires can hand a party committee whatever they want, and that party can turn around and spend it hand-in-glove with their handpicked candidate’s campaign.
Here’s the thing though: we can still make a difference with smart, targeted investments. That’s what Midwest Values PAC has done for over 20 years — take the small-dollar donations from nurses and teachers and retirees and put them to work electing Democrats.
We can’t outspend billionaires. We never could. But we can still win, race by race, door by door.
Al
P.S. I used to think Citizens United was the worst campaign finance decision I’d see in my lifetime. The Roberts Court, ever the overachiever, is out here proving me wrong on a rolling basis.
