Citizens United influences court decision in Hillary Clinton campaign finance lawsuit

May 27, 2011 - The Citizens United v. FEC Supreme Court decision is having a profound influence on the American political system. A new ruling in Federal Court involving corporate donations to Hillary ClintonHillary Clinton’s 2006 and 2008 Senate campaigns has been affected by the controversial Citizens United 2010 ruling.

“A federal judge ruled Thursday that corporations should be allowed to give donations directly to candidates for Congress and the White House, a decision that runs counter to campaign finance rules that have been in place for more than a century,” according to Roll Call.

In 2010, the Supreme Court opened the floodgates for political corruption with their decision in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case. The 5 to 4 ruling essentially redefined corporations as people, and eliminated all limits on how much money a corporation, foreign or domestic, could give to an American political campaign.

The New York Times said, “President Obama called it “a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans.”

The results of the Citizens United decision were felt in the 2012 mid-term elections, which gave control of Congress to extreme right wing lawmakers who once elected, began attacking unions, consumer rights, environmental protection, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Planned Parenthood, and other programs that have been in place for generations.

The first congress elected after the Citizens United decision has been refusing to raise taxes, close tax loopholes, or reduce government subsidies to big oil companies in order to reduce the federal budget deficit.

The signs of corporate corruption are all over the American political system. Everything from tax cuts for the wealthy to transferring billions of dollars in potential revenue to insurance companies through the Paul RyanPaul Ryan budget plan to end Medicare are under pressure from lobbying groups who made campaign contributions to elected officials. The proposed changes are threatening the American way of life.