In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that it was legal for corporations and billionaires have the right to spend as much as they want to essentially buy elected officials. There are no limits to how much they spend. They do not have to disclose how much money they spend. I believe that this decision brings us back to the age of political machines and a corrupt system.

For a little bit of background, Citizens United is a PAC that promotes corporate interests and candidates that will advance their goals which are “limited government, freedom of enterprise, strong families and national sovereignty and security.”

During the 2008 election season, Citizens United tried to produce a documentary criticizing then Senator Hillary Clinton. This documentary violated the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. This act prevents corporations or unions from paying for media that mentions a political candidate immediately before an election.

Citizens United sued the Federal Election Commission. In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court declared that it was “unconstitutional” to limit “independent” political spending. This is where I, and many other citizens, have a problem.

This decision, basically, declared that corporations should be afforded the same rights as every human of the United States. My problem is that corporations are not humans. Corporations are in the business of making a profit. That is what drives them, what drives our economy. It would make sense that corporations would not invest in a candidate, because they believe that candidate will do what is right for their constituents. They will, obviously, invest in a candidate that will do what is best for them and their profit margins.

This Supreme Court ruling basically declared it legal for corporations to buy a politician. Just like the political machines of days of old. Now corporations that control a large portion of our economy can control a large portion of our politicians. How do we know that the politicians that are supposed to represent us are going to do just that? What’s to say that they won’t just focus on the corporations that fund their election or fill their pocket book? Citizens United is a tool for corporate greed to combine with already rampant political corruption.