6th Feb 2012

Very nice video of Robert Reich explaining the case of Cititzens United and the resulting Super PACs.

In a nutshell, corporations in the US can contribute to elections just like normal people with unlimited sums. They, obviously, have a lot more funds ready to spend and thereby they can largely influence the outcome of the election, especially since the amount of funding a candidate has is a very important factor for his success. This is easily to prove: Have you ever heard of Buddy Roemer? No!? The reason may be that Roemer has limited donations to $100 per US citizen, and is denying all PAC, Super PAC, and corporate donations.

So if a couple of wealthy people can influence the outcome of an election more than the vast part of the population, is this democracy or oligarchy?

(via Robert Reich)

♥ 387 notes