Democrats mull ways to counter Supreme Court election spending ruling
25 Jan 2010
The Democratic party in the US is exploring ways to counter a Supreme Court ruling that struck down the cap on corporate political spending, hoping the populist issue will give them a handle to stem a Republican surge.
President Barack Obama reserved his weekly address on the decision and termed it a victory for ''special interests and their lobbyists." He invoked the words of one of the great Republican presidents, Teddy Roosevelt who ''warned of the impact of unbridled, corporate spending'' on elections.
Democrats are reportedly weighing legislation that would require corporations to obtain approval from shareholders for funding political advertisements. There are also proposals for blocking companies from deducting election spending as a business expense on their taxes.
Also under consideration is a proposal on the lines of existing rules for political candidates, requiring the CEO of the corporation to make a declaration at the end of an ad saying: " I'm the CEO of X Corp. and I approved this ad," according to Rep Chris Van Hollen (D, Md.), who heads the House Democrats' campaign committee.
On Thursday the US Ssupreme Court justices returned a split 5-4 majority ruling along their ideological leanings to grant corporates and unions the right to fund election campaigns without limits, for promoting or attacking candidates. (See: US Supreme Court rejects corporate spending limit in campaigns)
Democrats who had anticipated the Supreme Court's decision over months lost no time in rolling out both political rhetoric and legislative proposals.
