Starting next week, the U.S. Supreme Court will begin oral arguments in a case many are calling “the next Citizens United” for its potential to vastly enhance the power of money in politics beyond its already lethal hold.
Shaun McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission will begin court hearings on Tuesday. In the case, republican donor Shaun McCutcheon is challenging current campaign donation rules that limit individual donors to $123,000 in total spending on federal candidates and political parties during any two-year federal election cycle, known as aggregate campaign limits.
“In McCutcheon, the Supreme Court will decide whether to double down on Citizens United to transform further our democracy – rule by the people – into a wealthocracy.” – Robert Weissman, Public Citizen
This amount is not enough for McCutcheon nor fellow plaintiff, the Republican National Committee (RNC). Neither was the 2010 Citizens United ruling, which gave corporations and other groups the freedom to spend as much as they want on political messaging campaigns, as long as they do not donate directly to candidates.
“With McCutcheon, the attack on our democracy continues,” writes Marge Baker for OtherWords, “this time through a potential gutting of one of the last remaining pillars of our campaign finance legal structure, aggregate campaign contribution limits.”
The effects of this new potential world of campaign funding would look like “the system of legalized bribery that existed prior to the Watergate campaign finance scandals,” warns Fred Wertheimer of the group Democracy 21.
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