3 ms·
Some very sensible reforms are: If you cannot become eligible to vote, you cannot donate to any campaign. All donations must be reported online with 24 hours.
by veqon 17y ago
Some very sensible reforms are:
If you cannot become eligible to vote, you cannot donate to any campaign.
All donations must be reported online with 24 hours.
- brown9-2 17y agoThis is exactly what this article speculates on - if they have free speech, are they not entitled also to vote? Voting is a form of speech.
- yummyfajitas 17y agoThe answer is simple: corporations only have the rights they are granted by their owners. I have the right to free speech and and I can use my possessions to exercise this right. I can criticize Obama verbally, in a document on my computer or I can publish that document to my website. Why can't I use my corporation to pursue the same goal? I also have the right to vote. I don't get a second vote for my computer, however. Similarly, my corporation doesn't give me another vote. Corporations don't have free speech. Their owners have free speech, and they can use their corporation to exercise those free speech rights.
- DanielBMarkham 17y agoAgreed. This does seem like an over-complicating of something very simple. Five guys sit in a room and decide to use their poker profits to run a political commercial. It's all fine. Same five guys sit in a board room and vote to use company money to run a political commercial. It's all bad. I must be missing something.
- yummyfajitas 17y agoWhat you are missing is that the people pushing regulations also want to prevent 5 guys spending their poker profits on political speech. Some history: Back in 2000, a bunch of guys decided to use their money to run political commercials. These commercials persuaded people vote against McCain in the Republican primary. 2 years later, McCain pushes a law which tries to prevent this. The goal of political speech limitations is to prevent anyone besides certain elites (and not other elites) from affecting an election. Since spending money is necessary to get a message out, they try to restrict spending money on political speech.
- hga 17y agoBingo. Look at how Washington State persecuted the DeFoley8 people or in California the people who waged a campaign against Roberti and Roos. With any luck this ruling will eventually result in an environment where people like the above who are merely expressing their dislike of powerful politicians will find it easy to follow a straightforward set of disclosure rules (and only that) and therefore the establishment won't be able to then ruin their lives.
- BearOfNH 17y agoIf you are not eligible to vote, you should not have to pay taxes. I'm with you on reporting donations. Sunlight is still the best disinfectant.
- yummyfajitas 17y agoI just wish I could simultaneously give up my right to vote and my obligation to pay taxes.