@Cruiser – I’m sorry, I misspoke, I should have said, “There needs to be some way to even the playing field between the citizen’s abilities to influence politics and those of corporate entities.” Corporations have been buying influence for years thanks to, in most cases, nearly bottomless coffers. Likewise, the politicians have been peddling their loyalties to the highest bidder. It’s the little guy, the citizens, who could use a level playing field right about now.
I DO understand the legalities involved and support free speech, but when was the last time you were able to hire your own lobbyist to promote your own interests? The field seems pretty tilted when our representatives are more worried about the assurance of corporate backing and their own re-election than in doing the right things. Allowing corporations to bankroll an ad campaign under the guise of free speech could simply become another way for corporations to silently back a favored candidate by pouring as much money as they like into whichever issues or legislation they choose without having to call it a campaign contribution. And they’ll get away with it too, just as long as their campaign supports issues and a platform similar to the candidate they’re backing. and that’s assuming that they haven’t already bought and paid for that particular candidate to begin with.
Granted, there ARE limits to how much a corporation can contribute to any one candidate, but it isn’t so much the about the scalable contributions they’re allowed to make, as it is the ability to afford an army of lobbyists to help spread their influence even further. Corporations are providing much of the language and helping draft legislation which all but guarantees their profits will increase and that the politician’s pocket remain well-lined with cash.
Because of the vast amounts of cash being used, the ability of corporations to easily afford and purchase full page ads promoting one’s own interests is more apt to be a corporate endeavor than of a private citizen. If that isn’t additional influence, I don’t know what is.