Thursday, February 5, 2015

The Citizens United decision...

...famously held (all emphasis mine):

...that the First Amendment prohibited the government from restricting independent political expenditures by a nonprofit corporation. The principles articulated by the Supreme Court in the case have also been extended to for-profit corporations, labor unions and other associations.

Now, forget all that criticism from lefties like President Obama or Justice John Paul Stevens, here's what some Republicans had to say about the decision:

Republican Senator John McCain, co-crafter of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act and the party's 2008 presidential nominee, said "there's going to be, over time, a backlash ... when you see the amounts of union and corporate money that's going to go into political campaigns." McCain was "disappointed by the decision of the Supreme Court and the lifting of the limits on corporate and union contributions" but not surprised by the decision, saying that "It was clear that Justice Roberts, Alito and Scalia, by their very skeptical and even sarcastic comments, were very much opposed to BCRA." Republican Senator Olympia Snowe opined that "Today's decision was a serious disservice to our country."

Today, I read in the Times, "Governor of Illinois Takes Aim at Labor: Bruce Rauner Backs ‘Right to Work’ Laws in State Address." In his first State of the State address:

Joining the ranks of Republican governors taking aim at the power of labor unions, the new chief executive of Illinois, Gov. Bruce Rauner, said on Wednesday that the state should ban some political contributions by public employee unions and allow local “right to work” laws.

That didn't take long, did it? (Corporations are people; unions, not so much.)

Makes me wonder (again), is folksy Bruce Rauner just Scott Walker without the scowl?

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