Politics: The Numbers Don?t Lie

Now playing: Slate V, a video-only site from the world's leading online magazine. Visit Slate V at www.slatev.com.
Politics The Numbers Don't Lie If you aren't sure Citizens United gave rise to the super PACs, just follow the money. By Richard L. Hasen Posted Friday, Mar 09, 2012, at 07:56 PM ET Most of what you hear about Citizens United v. FEC is negative. By opening the door for corporations to spend unlimited sums in elections and to allow for the creation of super PACs, the Supreme Court has made a campaign finance system that was already flooded with money much worse. But Citizens United obviously has its defenders, and they have advanced a number of arguments to try to blunt criticism of the Supreme Court's controversial decision: The public actually learns from the flood of negative advertising coming from these super PACs; super PACS increase competition; The Supreme Court's Citizens United decision didn't create super PACs, so stop blaming the court for the flood of dollars and the negative campaign ads they buy. This last argument has recently gained a lot of traction, and has been made by First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams, his son the legal commentator Dan Abrams (who accused the media of "shameful, inexcusable conduct" in describing the Citizens United-super PAC connection), columnist George Will, and the Atlantic's Wendy Kaminer. The argument goes like this: The Supreme Court back in 1976 held that individuals had a constitutional right to spend unlimited sums on elections. And before Citizens United, rich individuals like George Soros gave large sums of money to so-called "527 organizations" (named after an obscure section of the tax code) with innocuous names like "Americans Coming Together." These 527 organizations were just like super PACs, so there's nothing new here. This ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate How Radical Was That Law Professor Obama Hugged? Game Change: Julianne Moore Is So Good, She Can Make Even a Liberal Feel Sorry for Sarah Palin Hate Groups Are Thriving. KKK Membership Is Dwindling. Why?	Advertisement
Manage your newsletters subscription: Unsubscribe | Forward to a Friend | Advertising Information
Ideas on how to make something better? Send an e-mail to slatenewsletter@nl.slate.com. Copyright 2011 The Slate Group | Privacy Policy The Slate Group | c/o E-mail Customer Care | 1350 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 410 | Washington, D.C. 20036