Oct 12 - John McCain: Citizens United Is 'Worst Decision Ever'

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) continued his harsh criticism of the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling this week, calling it the bench's "worst decision ever."

“They said money is free speech. Since when is money free speech?” McCain asked a crowd at an event put on by the Oxford Union at the University of Oxford, according to the Oxonian Globalist. “Money is money.”

The Supreme Court's 2010 ruling, which allowed corporations, unions and individuals to pour unlimited amounts of money into elections through super PACs, has elicited a strong responses from McCain in the past. Earlier this year he predicted that the unfettered influx of money, often from undisclosed sources, would lead to "huge scandals" in upcoming elections.

McCain has traditionally been one of Congress' most enthusiastic supporters of campaign finance reform, and he lamented the demise of such efforts in the wake of the Citizens United decision. At times, he's appeared to act as if he's willing to accept defeat.

Congressional Democrats have since pushed the DISCLOSE Act, a response to Citizens United that sought to rein in the flow of secret and foreign money into elections. McCain first refused to support it in 2010 over his belief that it disproportionately favored unions. Democrats proposed another version of the bill this year, but McCain again demurred over the same concerns, despite guarantees that it treated corporations and unions fairly.

John McCain: Citizens United Is 'Worst Decision Ever' ... 'Money Is Money,' Not Free Speech
Kind of weird, considering Citizens United actually kinda screwed Conservatives. Cause in the primaries Romney just outspent everyone. If he didn't have all that money, we could have a different Nominee.

10-12-2012, 09:23 AM

I don't recall the last time I agreed with McCain. But he is spot on with this one!

10-12-2012, 09:50 AM

lol...

corporations are "people"

money is "speech"

country is a shambles

10-12-2012, 09:54 AM

Originally Posted by stogz

lol...

corporations are "people"

money is "speech"

country is a shambles

That money in the pocket of the justices

10-12-2012, 12:50 PM

I agree with McCain

10-12-2012, 01:46 PM

Hah.......McCain speaking on ideas that were the worst ever..........

10-12-2012, 10:05 PM

Money is free speech.. Who I make my donations to is my support to that group...in the same why the CEO of chick fila donates to these church groups that got him in trouble.. So by in large it causes alot of issues when u dont really know where that money comes from and when you don't exactly "approve of this messgage". But you can flip the ruling but that just means you won't get ads that say approve this message. They will just buy time and run spots. I'm convinced romney donated to himself tho. But then again all he had to do is look cool while the rest of those folks k!lled themself with regular scandal. I don't think ads are influential at all so don't think it's a big deal.

10-12-2012, 10:57 PM

wow one thing i actually agree with him on

10-13-2012, 12:10 AM

The old McCain is coming back [pic]

People forget, he was actually pretty moderate and a good candidate, before he actually got the presidential bid. And then of course, picking Palin [pic]

I agree with OP, it's screwing a lot of politicians who aren't "wealthy". Sets the precedent to have these rich business men take control of our public office, even more so than now. This is definitely one of the worst decisions ever. It had good intentions, but was very poorly written [pic]

01:24 AM

Yeah, I don't think it had good intentions lol. But its hard, money is a very corrupting agent. I think lots of these guys knew this would enable them to get their pockets lined by corporations and usually have cushy jobs after they leave Gov. to lobby or w/e. Corporations loved it, because as it turns out, lots of politicians sell out for cheap, considering the kind of returns the Corporations get for owning legislators. The returns are incredible lol. So they packaged it as a "freedom of speech" issue and most regular people who don't pay lots of attention to this type of stuff said "oh well yeah that sounds reasonable." I think opinion is changing though.

10-13-2012, 01:44 AM

Originally Posted by NoTitleSince73

[pic]

Kind of weird, considering Citizens United actually kinda screwed Conservatives. Cause in the primaries Romney just outspent everyone. If he didn't have all that money, we could have a different Nominee.

Here's a good article on why.

John McCain has been calling for campaign finance reform for many years.

10-13-2012, 01:44 AM

[pic] [pic] [pic]

To McCain here.

03:36 AM

politics are so dumb. McCain hates Citizen's united but wont vote for a democrat proposed bill that basically reverses what he doesn't like about the bill[pic]

10-13-2012, 06:48 AM

Originally Posted by monrowe

Money is free speech.. Who I make my donations to is my support to that group...in the same why the CEO of chick fila donates to these church groups that got him in trouble.. So by in large it causes alot of issues when u dont really know where that money comes from and when you don't exactly "approve of this messgage". But you can flip the ruling but that just means you won't get ads that say approve this message. They will just buy time and run spots. I'm convinced romney donated to himself tho. But then again all he had to do is look cool while the rest of those folks k!lled themself with regular scandal. I don't think ads are influential at all so don't think it's a big deal.

You are an individual tho, not a corporation....think about that for a sec. Should a corporation have the same rights as an individual?

10-13-2012, 09:42 AM

Originally Posted by supervillain

You are an individual tho, not a corporation....think about that for a sec. Should a corporation have the same rights as an individual?

Man people are corporation to, they just out here trying to function!!!!! [pic]

10-13-2012, 03:26 PM

Yeah, McCain going back to his sane ways, it appears.

John McCain was one of the best Senators for at least a decade before his 2008 presidential run, when he came face to face with what the issues with campaign finance really are.. and he had to sell out to keep up. It really is a shame, since he fought against it for so long.. only to be rendered a victim of the broken system in the end, and have to sell out to even attempt to keep pace with guys like Romney.. and eventually Obama after he won the nomination.

As for Citizens United... it's easy to get on the judges.. and probably accurate enough.. but the problem with the Supreme Court is that (ideally) they just interpret law. It's not their job to decide whether a law is good or not.. they just decide whether the law is constitutional, and interpret the law in the specific cases they see. In the case of CU, they were naive enough to not think the Super PAC would be born, and so easily abusable (at least that's what they said in the decision).. but even if they weren't so naive, and they knew this would happen.. even if it's not what they wanted (doubtful enough...), that doesn't mean they would or should have voted another way. It's not about right versus wrong, or good versus evil.. It's about whether or not something is constitutional.

We need a constitutional amendment to really tackle campaign finance... and it will never come, because the only ones with the power to bring about campaign finance reform, are the very politicians that benefit from the system. If you are a congressman or senator.. it's because you won your election. In most cases, it's because you outspent your opponent. If you won, thanks to outspending.. chances are you don't wanna change the rules of the game that allowed you to win before. You don't wanna give up your kickbacks, and you don't wanna cede your advantages.

The people can cause a groundswell... but !!.. it's 2012... the days of meaningful protest in America are in the past.

10-13-2012, 11:19 PM

let's not forget this f*cker was cosponser of 2012's NDAA. Co-wrote the Bill. As far as I'm concerned, despite all the rhetoric and party lines bull!!, Obama and him are in bed together politically and morally

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