WASHINGTON – Today, January 21, 2020, marks the 10 year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s monumental decision in Citizens United v. FEC. The ruling marked a new era for the American political system by declaring high-dollar campaign donations from corporations and special interest groups a protected right under the First Amendment, leading to unprecedented levels of untraceable political spending.
In response, members of the Patriotic Millionaires issued the following statements:
“In Citizens United, the Supreme Court ruled that rich special interests have the right to pour money into politics as a matter of “free speech.” We believe our laws should inspire and enable all citizens to participate, not just us wealthy folks. That is why we vitally need the campaign finance reform that the House passed in H.R.1, to give everyday Americans the ability to have the kind of access to our political system that is now only enjoyed by the very wealthy.”- Morris Pearl, former managing director at Blackrock, Inc., and Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires
“The principle of one person, one vote is the bedrock of any democracy. Citizens United has threatened to completely upend that principle by opening the floodgates to limitless dark money from special interests. It was a shameful decision in 2010, and the far-reaching consequences of putting our politics up for sale over the last decade have merely reinforced that. We can’t afford another 10 years of a selling our political system to the highest bidder and essentially locking out the voices of the rest of the country.”—Jackie Boberg, member of the Patriotic Millionaires
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Common Dreams | Radio Free (2020-01-21T16:39:35+00:00) A Decade of Citizens United: “10 Years of Selling Our Political System to the Highest Bidder”. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2020/01/21/a-decade-of-citizens-united-10-years-of-selling-our-political-system-to-the-highest-bidder/
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