-- SamHershey - 02 Feb 2010 Nate,

This is my first responsive post on this site, so I do not know if it will even come up under your topic. In the hope that it does, here is my answer to your open question.

Your comment is aimed entirely against corporations, but you need to remember that the Court's ruling applies not only to corporations, but also to labor unions and not-for-profit organizations. (Citizens United was itself a not-for-profit group.) Labor unions and not-for-profit organizations can be just as self-serving as corporations. Would you have supported the Court's ruling if it had included unions and not-for-profit groups but excluded corporations?

Moreover, I cannot see why the individual members of those groups, in their capacity as private citizens, should be able to fund political advertisements while the corporations that comprise them should not. If a CEO wants to fund an ad campaign with his private wealth, should he be allowed to do so? Why does he lose that right in his public capacity as CEO? As with all decisions CEO's make, he is liable to be removed if his company's shareholders disagree with his judgments. Why should political endorsements be different?

Ultimately, the purpose of groups like unions, not-for-profits, and corporations is to give greater power to their members beyond what they could accomplish individually. Collective bargaining is such a power. The ability to make meaningful political endorsements is another. I do not know why an arbitrary limit should be placed on these groups' vital functions.