Reverse Citizens United

Citizens United – if ever there were an award to be given to the name of a Congressional/Supreme Court act/decision that least represented the content of the act (and there are many, especially in PAC world), this is the one I believe would most deserve it.

Passed in 2010, it effectively relegated all legislation to the world’s largest business interests and wealthiest patrons. Once it was decided by the Supreme Court that “corporations are people too,” unlimited funds have been permitted into the electoral process, effectively displacing representation of the general citizenry by the financial “supporters” that best assure that current legislators get to stay put.

Combining partisan district gerrymandering with what should be characterized as excessively influential interests has ensured that the squeaky wheel that will receive the Congressional grease is no longer the voting majority of a state.

The flow of uber rich and corporate money permitted by Citizens United ($3 billion during the 2020 election as an example) cannot be overturned by Congress because it is a SCOTUS decision, and it is one very large assumption that Congress has any inclination to reverse it even if it could, given that many of our representatives eventually leave Washington with a whole lot more, shall we say “comfort” than when they arrived.

No, it now takes a Constitutional amendment.

When one peruses the sources of some congressperson’s larger donations and their voting records, it doesn’t take a Perry Mason to conclude that money talks as loud as it ever has. If you agree with me, contact and encourage your representatives repetitively to support appropriate legislation to reverse Citizens United.

If you disagree, well, at least you may be assured of the everlasting love of the professional American lobbyist.

Gary Verst

Bowling Green