Campaign Finance and the Left's War Against Free Speech
Based on reports, the Supreme Court did not look kindly on Arizona's Clean Elections Law, which means we might even get another SCOTUS decision upholding the First Amendment -- and the liberals are gnashing their teeth. The Arizona law creates a public financing system for all state elections. A candidate can opt out of the system, but if he spends more than the pre-set limit, the state sends money to his opponents. Does this "chill" speech? Hell, yes. Why air another commercial if it means that you're funding your opponent's response.
My question is: why do liberals love public financing? Spending limits favor incumbents and there are a lot more GOP incumbents these days. And yet Slate's Dahlia Lithwick sums up the liberal righteous indignation when she suggests that “there is no principle” that the Chief Justice and Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, and Alito “will fight harder to preserve than the right of the impossibly wealthy to purchase as much speech as they want and need to win a political campaign.” I understand that the Left has a visceral hatred of rich people, but how that hatred can lead otherwise intelligent people to conclude that the First Amendment simply doesn't extend to them -- well, it's a wonder to me.
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Comments :
Aug '10
Re: Campaign Finance and the Left's War Against Free Speech
Anything to get the people they deem worthy of being elected into office. There isn't necessarily a principle behind it other than that.
May '10
Re: Campaign Finance and the Left's War Against Free Speech
Why do socialists love socialism? Because some people just know better than others.
Jan '11
Re: Campaign Finance and the Left's War Against Free Speech
The Cato Institute has a very informative podcast on this case available here: http://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=7874
Dec '10
Re: Campaign Finance and the Left's War Against Free Speech
I my experience very few of the people who support "campaign finance reform" have had the practical problems with the system respectfully described. Pretty much everyone I talk to in favor of spending limits in elections just wants things to be "fair". Once you actually explain to them the inherent advantages an incumbent has in getting airtime and ask them how they would propose to deal the situations where the news media was backing one candidate over the other, they usually admit that "campaign finance reform" isn't "fair".
That doesn't address the free speech issues with "campaign finance reform", but it does usually get people to stop supporting the current "campaign finance reform" laws.
Nov '10
Re: Campaign Finance and the Left's War Against Free Speech
That's liberalism in a nutshell; they don't believe rich people have any rights at all. They believe the Constitution only applies up to a certain income level, after which everything from speech regulation to outright theft is not only justifiable, failure to do it is a grave injustice.