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Jens 'n' Frens
Idle thoughts of a relatively libertarian Republican in Cambridge, MA, and whomever he invites. Mostly political.
"A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures."
-- Daniel Webster
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Thursday, January 21, 2010 :::
The Washington Post has a news analysis piece on a Supreme Court decision to rule in favor of free speech for corporate entities in political campaigns.
It frees corporations, and by extension unions, to spend as much as they want to call for the victory or defeat of federal political candidates - by name - in commercials and literature....
More voices in the mix means candidates and parties will have even less control of the message. And they won't be able to do anything to stop groups from running ads they don't like.
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WINNER:
-The First Amendment. The ruling was clearly a victory for this pillar of democracy. Critics of the stricter limits had argued that they amount to an unconstitutional restraint of free speech, and the court majority agreed. There certainly will be even more of a marketplace of ideas.
...
Watch out candidates: You may not like what you hear. And there will be little you can do about it. Both Republicans and Democrats say ads are likely to get tougher now that outside groups can expressly advocate for or against candidates. There's probably a downside, but I'm not sure it's worth my time hunting for it.Labels: free speech
::: posted by dWj at 4:38 PM
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