Politics as usual: Still in corporate back pockets

"Freedom of speech has been destroyed." This is the response from MSNBC TV host Keith Olbermann about the Citizen United v. Federal Election Commission Supreme Court decision on Jan. 21 which relaxed restrictions on campaign elections. This is one of the many reactions people have toward this result, but is it justified? The issue hinged on whether corporations' ability to pour money into election campaigns could be strictly regulated, or whether corporations have free-speech rights to spend their cash to influence elections just as individual donors do. This ruling has not over-ridden the landmark campaign finance bill in 2002, the McCain-Feingold bill. There are still donor disclosure requirements and spending limits for Political-Action-Committees. Shortly after the decision, President Obama issued a statement: "The special interests and their lobbyists have even more power in Washington-while undermining the influence of average Americans who make small contributions to support their preferred candidates. It's noble for the president to take a stand on this issue, but he has been just as guilty as any other politician in receiving money from donors that affect special interest. He received almost $1 million in contributions in PAC money from Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase, the same banks that received the first bailout money at the beginning of last year. I'm sure contributions made by these banks have had some sort of influence on him and shaping fiscal policy. But, this is not a Democrat or Republican issue, as corporations pour their money to both sides to hedge their bets on who will get elected, so when somebody does, they can try to influence the person because of their donations. This isn't earth-shattering political strategy. It's just how people get elected. The First Amendment states in part that "Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech." It does not specifically say "the people have the right to free exercise of speech." It does not matter if it is a person, a corporation or anything else. Corporations and unions are made of people, and under the Constitution, have the same rights as any of us. The Supreme Court's sole responsibility is to interpret the Constitution, nothing else. If you disagree with something in the Constitution or Bill of Rights, be angry at your Congressperson for not pushing for an amendment, not at the Supreme Court for being objective and functioning precisely as it should. People who label this ruling as the death-knell of democracy are being overly dramatic. The landscape of politics has always operated under the corrupt side. That's not being cynical. That's just how some public officials manipulate votes in order to get elected. Corporations, unions and special interest groups have had politicians in their back pockets for many years. Again, this is not some new political tactic that just started to creep up. Corporations have a cold-blood mentality where they view people as numbers and profit. In a way, politicians are the same. They see voters not as people but as a number. How many can be swayed by smiling at babies and taking pictures with the real people? It makes sense for them to be in bed together. Unfortunately, politics is treated like a competitive sport in this country. Each party wants to undermine the other; they want to see themselves as the winner and the other lose miserably. This is where it's brought us though, a dead heat. Nobody is winning, but there sure are a lot of losers. As long as there are partisan games, we all continue to be on the losing side. Yes, all this money being poured into campaigns by big companies makes it seem disheartening for the common person. But the last time I checked, people can think and act for themselves. No matter how much money is spent to promote or oppose candidates, voters remain free to reject any ideas of what's being force-fed to them. Being swayed by the barrage of campaign ads every election season is exactly what these crooked officials that keep getting elected want Voting isn't just a right, it's a responsibility. Right now, we are not doing our jobs.