Obama's State of the Union address: Criticism of the Supreme Court campaign finance ruling

With the black-robed justices of the Supreme Court sitting not far away, President Obama took aim at a recent court decision which said that corporations could spend as much as they wanted to sway voters in federal elections.

“Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests -- including foreign companies -- to spend without limit in our elections,” Obama said tonight. “Well, I don’t think American elections should be bankrolled by America’s most powerful interests, and worse, by foreign entities. They should be decided by the American people, and that’s why I’m urging Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps to right this wrong.”

The court’s ruling overturned a century-old restriction. In a 5-4 decision led by the court’s conservative bloc, the justices said that corporations had the same right to free speech as individuals, and for that reason the government could not stop corporations from spending to help their favored candidates. Many analysts predict the ruling will benefit Republicans in next fall’s midterm elections.

-- Steve Padilla

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Photo: Members of the U.S. Supreme Court listen to U.S. President Barack Obama speak to both houses of Congress during his first State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol on January 27, 2010 in Washington, DC. Pictured are: (L-R, Front) Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer; (L-R, Back) Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Justices Samuel Alito and Sonia Sotomayor. Since taking office a little over a year ago, Obama's approval ratings have dropped significantly according to recent polls. Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Comments

[republicanblack]

I think our court is corrupted, especially with this last ruling. I did notice Justice Allito mouthing the words, "That's not true" when Obama said foreign entities can influence elections through corporations. I also saw this article by a legal columnist that details the good bad and the ugly about this past ruling

http://wendygdphillips.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/citizens-united-v-fec-%E2%80%93-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/#comment-104

[Neal]

Totally agree with Obama on this. Robert's decision was appalling and partisan.

[upchuck]

It is wrong for the president to make such a call out in the state of union address.

Plus he spent over 700 million to get elected...

Now the playing field will be level.

This president has no class.

[upchuck]

Partison is what obama did calling the supreme court out.

[John Dewey]

President Obama is mistaken. Citizens United vs. FEC was not about granting a right to a corporation. Rather, the ruling affirmed the Constitution right of the individual to decide for himself what speech he may listen to. The Court's ruling protects the citizen from a powerful government which would decide - through censorship - what the citizen may hear. The important point made by Justice Scalia is that it matters not whether the speech is made by a person, a union, a church, a corporation, the LA Times, the KKK, the Sierra Club, or any other entity. The government may not violate the First AMendment and censor the speech.

[KarlMarx]

Is it the same president who supported eliminating private votes for union elections? Talk about "special interests".

Why nobody mentioned that the ruling is as relevant to corporations as it is to the union racketeers?

[Christine]

Shame on our President for calling the Supreme Court out on this. I don't care whether he agrees or disagrees with their decision and it doesn't matter whether I do or not either. The Supreme Court are not elected official for a reason and if they make a decision, I have to trust that they are more qualified to interpret the US Constitution than any one of us are, including the President. President Obama crossed the line - respect our system of government. If you don't agree, then work to change the constitution.

[Anonymous Coward]

Hearing all the angry shouting, I wonder how many people criticizing the ruling, include President Obama, actually read it.

During the oral argument of Citizens United, the government explicitly admitted that a book could also be banned under McCain-Feingold even just to have one occurrence of "Vote for XXX".

This is America. We don't ban books.

[Down with tyrany]

For a president to publicly insult the honorable judges of the peoples supreme
court during the state of the union speech has to be the most monumental
faux pas a president can make.Especialy when the president,by doing so
actually takes a stand against freedom of expression.This administration will
go down in history as the most socialistic incompetent one to have ever
afflicted the USA.