Republicans Working SCOTUS To Destroy Campaign Finance “Soft” Money Ban

Posted by | April 27, 2010 17:23 | Filed under: Top Stories


by William K. Wolfrum

Looking at it now, Republicans are having a tough year. They lost the stimulus package battle. They lost the health care reform battle. They’ve lost touch with the American people, and now survive with a base of voters who are just angry about everything even if their anger makes no sense. Yes, looking at it today, you see a Republican Party that’s just getting its butt kicked.

But a few years from now – if not a few months – we all may look back at 2010 as the year the Republicans dramatically turned the tide. Because just three months since the Supreme Court ruled that the government may not ban political spending by corporations in candidate elections, the RNC is now trying to get SCOTUS to overturn the ban on “soft” money contributions.

From Bloomberg Businessweek:

The Republican National Committee asked the U.S. Supreme Court to quickly consider an appeal seeking to let political parties raise unlimited funds, creating the possibility of a new campaign-finance showdown before November’s congressional elections.

Urging the court to extend the reasoning of its January decision overturning corporate election spending curbs, the RNC said federal restrictions on unregulated “soft money” violate the free-speech rights of political parties and their members.

The soft-money rule, which limits contributions by corporations, unions and individuals, was a central component of the 2002 campaign finance overhaul. The Supreme Court upheld the provision in a 2003 ruling that the RNC says should be scaled back. …

… The RNC appeal asked the court to put the case on an expedited schedule so that the justices can decide before their term ends in late June whether to hear arguments. That schedule might permit a ruling by November.

Basically, it’s come down to this: While Democrats try to govern, Republicans are doing anything they can to delay the game while they work the referees. And the referees – in the form of a conservative, activist Supreme Court – are very likely to tear down the walls of campaign finance reform once and for all. And that would make 2010 a very victorious year for Republicans and their corporate benefactors.

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Copyright 2010 Liberaland
By: William K. Wolfrum

I'm a journalist, columnist, humorist, satirist, Dogist and Husbandist

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