8 ms·

A couple years too late. With the two Supreme Court decisions there really are no reforms that can stop Super PACs in any meaningful way.

smsm42 12y ago
You think if this happened earlier the Supreme Court would have different view on the First Amendment? The SC has powers to overturn any legislation, including one proposed by people supported by this campaign. Short of FDR-style tricks I don't see how you could overcome that.
- dragonwriter 12y ago
  "Legislation" initiated by Congress isn't limited to statutes, it can include Constitutional Amendments.
  - smsm42 12y ago
    True, but the chance of passing an amendment of such a controversial topic is virtually nil, so I did not consider this as a real option. The bar for the Constitutional Amendment is very high.
    - dragonwriter 12y ago
      A Constitutional Amendment is where the legislative effort on the issue in Congress is focussed now; if MayDay.US is successful in pushing the legislative balance farther in favor of efforts to reverse the effect of Citizen's United, I hardly imagine that the effort would shift to less powerful remedies than those that are already the focus.
      - smsm42 12y ago
        For Constitution Amendment to pass, it's not enough to get a couple of House members. You need 38 states to sign.
        dragonwriter 12y ago
        > For Constitution Amendment to pass, it's not enough to get a couple of House members. True, but so what? First, the Constitutional Amendment currently on the table in Congress has a lot more support than that (the version in the Senate has, IIRC, 43 cosponsors), and, second, a PAC aiming to increase legislative support can target both Congress and state legislatures, and, third, as the issue cannot be addressed legislatively except by a Constitutional Amendment, since the Supreme Court has already determined that legislation in this area violates the Constitution as it currently stands, so no other mechanism is meaningful.

smsm42 12y ago

You think if this happened earlier the Supreme Court would have different view on the First Amendment? The SC has powers to overturn any legislation, including one proposed by people supported by this campaign. Short of FDR-style tricks I don't see how you could overcome that.

dragonwriter 12y ago
"Legislation" initiated by Congress isn't limited to statutes, it can include Constitutional Amendments.
- smsm42 12y ago
  True, but the chance of passing an amendment of such a controversial topic is virtually nil, so I did not consider this as a real option. The bar for the Constitutional Amendment is very high.
  - dragonwriter 12y ago
    A Constitutional Amendment is where the legislative effort on the issue in Congress is focussed now; if MayDay.US is successful in pushing the legislative balance farther in favor of efforts to reverse the effect of Citizen's United, I hardly imagine that the effort would shift to less powerful remedies than those that are already the focus.
    - smsm42 12y ago
      For Constitution Amendment to pass, it's not enough to get a couple of House members. You need 38 states to sign.
      - dragonwriter 12y ago
        > For Constitution Amendment to pass, it's not enough to get a couple of House members. True, but so what? First, the Constitutional Amendment currently on the table in Congress has a lot more support than that (the version in the Senate has, IIRC, 43 cosponsors), and, second, a PAC aiming to increase legislative support can target both Congress and state legislatures, and, third, as the issue cannot be addressed legislatively except by a Constitutional Amendment, since the Supreme Court has already determined that legislation in this area violates the Constitution as it currently stands, so no other mechanism is meaningful.