Money will rule in our system

That should be the revised beginning to the Declaration of Independence as a result of last month's shocking 5-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that opens up new and wide-ranging avenues for corporations (and unions) to donate funds for independent political campaigns.

While we are at it, why not go ahead and change the Preamble to the Constitution as well, now reading "We the corporations of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union...." Has a nice democratic ring, doesn't it?

For a Supreme Court that supposedly stresses precedent and restraint, this one certainly knows how to extend its reach in what can only be described as an activist manner. You see, activism where the court is concerned is in the eye of the beholder -- and most often revolves around political issues. The most memorable occurred when the court ruled that a state court-authorized presidential election recount could not be carried out because it would be disruptive to the political system and might alter the final results.

One can go all the way back to 1907 when Teddy Roosevelt (ironically, a Republican) saw the need to sponsor and promote legislation to limit the scope of corporate influence in the political arena. Congress has strengthened such laws several times over the years and previous courts have upheld the concept in several important rulings.

All that went out the window last month in a ruling that, in the opinion of many observers, will make the role of campaign contributions, and raw money, even more important in an already fractured system.

One imaginative artist outlined the ruling humorously by depicting the five pro-money justices solemnly wearing their black robes adorned with corporate logos in much the same manner as NASCAR racing teams.

"This supposedly conservative court swept all that away," the Star-Ledger of New Jersey wrote concerning the precedent of limited corporate involvement in campaigns. "So now, instead of soliciting their employees or members for voluntary donations to political action committees, unions and corporations can tap their general funds for political causes, allowing them to spend much more.

"In a day when special interests already hold democracy by the throat, the court helped them tighten the grip."

The entire political system now is seriously tainted by the over-emphasis on raising money. We are reading a book currently by an author who describes his childhood days in the Mississippi Delta. One of the chapters is devoted to the importance of political rallies and effective rhetoric shown by the candidates during all-day events attended by hundreds of voters. Those days of extensive personal contact and relationship are over.

In the present day, it's all about raising money. In fact, that is what all the statewide candidates are doing right now -- sitting at phone banks trying to raise funds for mind-numbing television advertising that everyone is sick of before it ever begins.

With the recent Supreme Court ruling, there is absolutely no doubt such a process will remain with us and expand. Corporate money, some of it from foreign owners of questionable allegiance to the United States, will flow forward like never before.

As one observer (a registered Republican) said of the misguided ruling, "we the people indeed!" adding that corporations will now have a voice that can and will drown out all others.

--REK