Court OKs Special-Interest “Issue Ads” Close to Elections
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court loosened restrictions today on corporate- and union-funded television ads that air close to elections, weakening a key provision of a landmark campaign finance law.
The court, split 5-4, upheld an appeals court ruling that an anti-abortion group should have been allowed to air ads during the final two months before the 2004 elections.
The case involved advertisements that Wisconsin Right to Life was prevented from broadcasting. The ads asked voters to contact the state’s two senators, Democrats Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl, and urge them not to filibuster President Bush’s judicial nominees.
Feingold, a co-author of the campaign finance law, was up for re-election in 2004.
The provision in question was aimed at preventing the airing of issue ads that cast candidates in positive or negative lights while stopping short of explicitly calling for their election or defeat. Sponsors of such ads have contended they are exempt from certain limits on contributions in federal elections.
Chief Justice John Roberts, joined by his conservative allies, wrote a majority opinion upholding the appeals court ruling.
The majority itself was divided in how far justices were willing to go in allowing issue ads.
Three justices, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, would have overruled the court’s 2003 decision upholding the constitutionality of the provision.
Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito said only that the Wisconsin group’s ads are not the equivalent of explicit campaign ads and are not covered by the court’s 2003 decision.
© 2007 The Associated Press.
once again any groups with money and power are allowed provisions in the law,meaning only ordinary people are forced to follow the law
Conservatives packed the courts. Time for term limits for Justices. Finding Republicrats that will do it is another story. http://ni4d.us/
and one more time, just in from Yahoo news.:
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled Monday that ordinary taxpayers cannot challenge a White House initiative that helps religious charities get a share of federal money.
The 5-4 decision blocks a lawsuit by a group of atheists and agnostics against eight Bush administration officials including the head of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
What “Government by the people”?
Anybody doubt that FASCISM IS HERE?
Since my tax dollars will be going to support religious charities, I will make no private donations to them. No point in overdoing it, and I’m a Christian, and also tired of being forced to do something I was just getting ready to do. This is this far right wing religion thingie. I remember when Protestants criticized Roman Catholics for telling their parishioners how to fast, when to fast, etc.
This simply means that so-called issue ads can air during the final two months of a campaign. Big deal. Before this decision, Big Brother was protecting our silly little heads from issue ads during the final two months of a campaign so we wouldn’t have to think too much during those final two months. Now we are no longer so protected. That’s fascism? That’s a far right religion thingie?
These ads are generally based on lies anyway and when they are so close to an election there is no time for rebuttal or, to expose them for the cheap shots that they are.
One more victory for the “Swift Boat Vets” dirty tricks team!
I got an ad:
“SWIFT BOATS FOR JESUS”
he’s tired of walking on water!
twin fifties on the fo’c’s’le for christ!
Ron wrote: “This simply means that so-called issue ads can air during the final two months of a campaign. Big deal… That’s fascism?”
Benito Mussolini wrote: “Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power”
The problem, Ron, is that only the moneyed interests can afford the blitzkreig ad campaigns in the final two months that are shown to have undue influence with voters. Witness Oregon’s Measure 37 campaign of 2004, when the business-interest “pro” campaign out-spent the “anti” campaign 20:1 in the final two months. Although polls showed disapproval before the last two months, the measure passed, and Oregon’s land-use laws were essentially discarded: 11,000 land-use exemptions involving a half-million acres and seven billion dollars have been filed. Recent polls show nearly 80% of Oregonians have remorse, and say they would not have voted for it if they had actually understood it.
Late issue ads are almost always run by moneyed interests, to “buy” an election. There are professional consultants who coach them: “You need to spend $100,000 per percentage point.” This is *not* democracy!
Here’s another vote for term limits —
and I’d say impeaching these judges who are
moving us towards corporate government.
The campaign finance “free speech” issue adopted
by the Supremes is also nonsense. Free speech
cannot be based on one’s power to “buy it.”
The ACLU had a nutsy position on it for a while
which agreed with the Court [!!] but they also
changed their minds.
Corporations are not “people.”
They don’t breathe, they are without conscience,
and their interests are contra to a people’s
government and the ideals of democracy.
The gifts corporations have given us are
Global Warming and fascism.
More money is speech BS. No money: No speech. What if the ads are lies that cost one candidate the election because he doesn’t have time to correct it?
Vote to stop sheep molesting. This is an issue ad that would vaguely imply the incumbent somehow is involved in molesting sheep.
Of course, a PR guy like a Rove would do it much smoother.
Jan - Wouldn’t the answer be for voters to educate themselves? Rather than ask the government to protect them from the ads? “I’m stupid and gullible; please don’t let me see TV ads in the last two months before an election or I might cast a really dumb vote.”
Surely those 80% should’ve smelled a rat - maybe next time they will. My point is that voters with brains should not worry about last minute ads and we are pathetic if we have to ask the government to protect us from such.
Of course I am familiar with Mussolini’s purported quote; it was actually coined by an economist but Mussolini, being Mussolini, tried to grab the credit for it.
Perhaps we will see a maturing of the electorate thanks to the Measure 37 disaster, and a concomitant drop in the effectiveness of TV ads.
Ron, the electorate voted W President a second time, you really think the U.S. has an electorate that is capable of being “educated”? The Corporates would say that “educating” is what they are doing with those one-liner adds the last few days of the campaign.
Jan Steinman Wrote. “You need to spend $100,000 per percentage point.” This is *not* democracy!
Yeah, but we’ve got the best government money can buy.
Drex wrote… the electorate voted W President a second time, you really think the U.S. has an electorate that is capable of being “educated
First of all there is a lot of doubt about who won the elections. Then there is the fact that so few of us vote at all. I believe that the people can be educated but the best means to do so.. TV and radio are being used as a propaganda tool by the rulling elite. The people are constantly inundated with messages the demonize progressives. The people of the US can certainly learn new tricks. But you know that saying… garbage in garbage out.
Ron,
The issue has more to do with an imbalance of power (money, access to media) than stupidity. The reality is that ad bombardment is quite effective. I agree that many people can minimize this kind of semi-Pavlovian conditioning if they are on the alert for it, but the fact is that we do not have an electorate which gives sufficient heed to politics, nor generally has the skills to understand media manipulation by special interest groups. This is borne out over and over again.
This is reality. A well-functioning government does protect the public. I realize that casting the government in an infantilizing role is a favorite form of argument for the libertarian-minded - I believe it’s supposed to make us grit our teeth in, ironically, childlike defiance at the thought of any limits being placed on our environment or our options - but the fact is that there are many pernicious and dangerous forces in the world that people do need help with, or that stand in the way of a well-functioning society. This issue is definitely one of them.
I have come to the conclusion that the following would be an appropriate one liner for all articles.
The US is fubar (fubar, that’s German).
Hey Jan, come on back to the Jesse getting arrested comments. We are not finished.
Vfor911 writes: “Hey Jan, come on back to the Jesse getting arrested comments. We are not finished.”
No, we’re finished. “Never argue with an idiot; a bystander can’t tell the difference.” — Mark Twain
The Supreme Court has just given the 2008 election over to the Republicans. Don’t bother voting. It’s finished.
It is time to bar ALL political advertising. Why should the public airwaves be used as advertising for ideology? If a citizen cannot take the time to actually get substantive information on an issue - it would be better that they not be “influenced” / manipulated by soundbites. There will always be local biases and soundbites from churches, civic groups, unions, employers, etc… but at least we would get to pick and choose our source of propoganda. I suggest we have come to a place in American history where we must be fully responsible for informing ourselves. Advertising through msmedia is cohersion not information, and as such should be limited to marketing products and services.
The arrogance of Dick Cheney. This will blow your mind…..
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062607Q.shtml
Richard Posner: In my humble opinion and from what I have read at Government.com, long messages and emails are not read. Inflametory comparisons like “Hitler and Mussolini” and “fascist dictatorship” gets into the wacko circular file. If you want to be heard make you email short, concise, to the point and without “radical” superlatives.
Having said that, I agree with you but they dont but if enough messages come in then they might listen.