(AP) Characterizing their stalling as "politics at its worst," President Barack Obama says Republicans should quit blocking a bill to limit the amount of money corporations and unions can spend on campaign advertising.
At issue is a Supreme Court ruling in a case known as Citizens United. The court reversed a centurylong trend of limiting the power of big money in politics by saying corporations and unions may spend heavily to influence presidential and congressional elections.
"This is common sense," Mr. Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday. "In fact, this is the kind of proposal that Democrats and Republicans have agreed on for decades. Yet, the Republican leaders in Congress have so far said 'no.'"
Republicans, seen as mostly benefiting from the ruling, argue that Democrats are only trying to protect themselves with the bill.
The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives has passed legislation to scale back the ruling and require greater disclosure by donors. Senate Republicans have blocked it and it's unlikely that the Senate will act on the measure in time to affect the Nov. 2 elections, when control of the House and Senate is at stake, along with 37 governorships.
President Obama said a partisan minority in Congress wants to "ride this wave of unchecked influence all the way to victory" on Nov. 2.
Really, what Citizens United is all about is FREEDOM OF SPEECH, for individuals and for groups of individuals (liberals always use their favorite bogeyman nomenclature "corporations" to mean an association of individuals.) When you cut through all the rhetoric and histrionics from Obama, it's about the Democrats who favor controlling/limiting who can say what and when they can say it, and the majority on the Supreme Court who, along with the founding fathers, favor freedom.
The president, along with his allies in Congress, had hoped to undo the court's ruling. They failed.
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