If someone had told me this (horrific) Supreme Court decision dated back to 1974, I would have argued it was far more recent - and been dead wrong! How time flies... I have referenced this periodically in comments, tonight ran across the specifics of it. Here is where money equals freedom of speech first originated from; Supreme Court Decision – Buckley vs Valeo (1974) In 1974, Congress passed amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, creating the first comprehensive effort by the federal government to regulate campaign contributions and spending. The Supreme Court ruled against this, declaring money counts as Freedom of Speech (as that is how the wealthy communicate their political views) eliminating constraints on unlimited spending in US election campaigns. Essentially, this allowed people with more monetary support to become more politically influential. This decision set the United States at odds with the rest of the democratic world, particularly in Europe, Latin America, and Canada, where rules designed to limit spending at elections are common, and used to prevent conflicts of interest and to promote political equality. The Court further restricted state authority to regulate campaign finance restrictions, striking down provisions of Arizonas public financing system that gave extra government money to candidates who faced high spending opponents or high levels of independent expenditures. ... etc ...
Posted on: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 04:23:40 +0000
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