What a development! And not a moment too soon. I have wondered where the Supreme Court has been all these years as the rest of the Federal government continues to violate the provisions of its Constitution. Now free speech has finally been vindicated and I can only hope that more vindications of our Constitutionally-enumerated freedoms and the rule of law are on the horizon.Here's the headline:
The Hill:
Supreme Court strikes down campaign finance restrictions
"The Supreme Court struck down major provisions of campaign finance reform on Thursday, clearing the way for an influx of corporate and union money in politics.
The court upheld disclosure requirements for corporations but struck down the distinction between individual expenditures and corporate ones. That should allow corporations to spend freely in support or opposition to candidates.
'No sufficient governmental interest justifies limits on the political speech of nonprofit or for-profit corporations,' Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the 5-4 decision, led by the court's conservative wing."
Live Coverage:
And SCOTUSblog is covering developments on this story with live updates (Hat tip: Instapundit).
Analysis:
HotAir.com has some great analysis here:
"In the first challenges to the BCRA (McCain-Feingold), the earlier court appeared to accept the notion that one has to break a few First Amendment eggs to get a clean-elections omelette. This court has apparently decided that Congress should amend the First Amendment if it has grown tired of it, rather than pass laws that contradict it. The fact that only five of the nine justices could reach that rather obvious conclusion shows how much judicial activism and Congressional overreach have in common — especially the sense that they can manipulate clear boundaries of power for whatever end they seek."
...and an answer to the concern that the Supreme Court ruling will corrupt our campaign process with corporate money:
"Will this open the floodgates to corporate and union money in elections? Well, it never really left. The restrictions in the BCRA and other campaign-finance 'reforms' just forced the money into less-transparent channels, creating mini-industries of money laundering in politics. This ruling will just allow the money to be seen for what it is, rather than hiding behind PR-spin PAC names and shadowy contribution trails."
Transparency = Real Campaign Finance Reform
They've got the right idea at the Liberty Papers:
As I’ve said many times before, the only campaign finance regulation that we need is full and complete disclosure.
EXACTLY! Transparency. You know? That thing that Obama promised we'd get, but that we've actually had less of during his year in office? (Which is a remarkable feat considering how much transparency suffered under Bush's onslaught.)
One More Stick In McCain's Eye
I do love Michelle Malkin's jab here: "Yet another reminder of how wrong-headed McCain has been on so many, many issues." Yup. Go get him, Chris Simcox!
