White House Hits Back at GOP Justice Alito

Corporate and foreign control of government v. American People controlling government.

President Obama is lining up behind the people and the rightwing is being the rightwing. This is a debate Sen. Russ Feingold and President Obama have dreamed about.

From the journal, Politico: White House: Obama is right about Supreme Court:

A senior administration official told POLITICO on Thursday morning: ‘There is a loophole that we need to address and are working with Congress to address. There are U.S. subsidiaries of foreign-controlled corporations that could influence our elections because of this ruling.’

The issue was raised by Justice John Paul Stevens in his dissent in the case, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission: ‘It would appear to afford the same protection to multinational corporations controlled by foreigners as to individual Americans.’

Stevens continued: ‘The Court all but confesses that a categorical approach to speaker identity is untenable when it acknowledges that Congress might be allowed to take measures aimed at preventing foreign individuals or associations from influencing our Nation’s political process. … Such measures have been a part of U.S. campaign finance law for many years. The notion that Congress might lack the authority to distinguish foreigners from citizens in the regulation of electioneering would certainly have surprised the Framers.’

And on Page 75, Stevens wrote: ‘Unlike voters in U.S. elections, corporations may be foreign controlled.’

See also Obama Slams Court, Hails Russ Feingold's Work.

Obama Slams Court, Hails Russ Feingold's Work

Update: See also Justice Alito's conduct and the Court's credibility (Greenwald).

Reflecting the anger of the American people towards huge-moneyed special interests, President Obama assumed a populist tone in his State of the Union Address last night, using a derivation of the word "bank" and "lobbyist" in a negative fashion some 20 times, and defending Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold's signature legislative achievement against the recent Republican-led Court decision widely blasted as ultra-activist and intellectually dishonest.

Obama singled out the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (08-205) that eviscerated the effect and policy rationale of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law (Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA)) by allowing unlimited general treasury funds of for-profit corporations to be directed to corporations' chosen candidates for political office in political ads. Said Obama:

With all due deference to separation of powers, last week the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests –- including foreign corporations –- to spend without limit in our elections. I don't think American elections should be bankrolled by America's most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities. They should be decided by the American people. And I'd urge Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps to correct some of these problems.

Supreme Court Justice Samual Alito visibly disparaged Obama's criticism of the Court's decision, Citizens United.

Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy, and Clarence Thomas of the Republican Court majority in Citizens United had previously joined an opinion issued by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist in Timmons v. Twin Cities Area New Party (951608) (1997), reading in part: ''Ballots serve primarily to elect candidates, not as fora for political expression," contradicting their supposed advocacy of First Amendment rights in election law in the case Obama alluded to in his address.

Obama to Declare War on Corporate Enemy in SOTU

Update II: Alito disparages Obama's Supreme Court criticism of Citizens United

Update: See Dave Lindorff's The Supreme Court's Right-Wing Clique has Given Us a Great Opportunity.

If he has the brains I think he has, President Obama will make a hard political charge against the titanic moneyed interests that dominate our country as the bubble-shaped storm clouds gather again.

Consider the political Supreme Court case of the last 15 years, its hypocrisy and its catering to big money.

''Ballots serve primarily to elect candidates, not as fora for political expression.''
- Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist in Timmons v. Twin Cities Area New Party (951608) (1997), joined by Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy, and Clarence Thomas.

"Because the FEC’s 'business is to censor, there inheres the danger that [it] may well be less responsive than a court ... to the constitutionally protected interests in free expression.'" ...

"The First Amendment underwrites the freedom to experiment and to create in the realm of thought and speech. Citizens must be free to use new forms, and new forums, for the expression of ideas. The civic discourse belongs to the people, and the Government may not prescribe the means used to conduct it." McConnell, supra, at 341 (opinion of KENNEDY, J.)."
- Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and two Bush appointees in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (08-205).

One step is to announce legislative initiatives to mitigate the effects of the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (08-205), that effectively vitiated [without striking down] the specific campaign finance reforms (Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA)) championed for years by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), joined by an ethically challenged Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) out to rehabilitate his name.

The exercise in hypocrisy and partisan favoritism in Citizens United is revealed by examining another landmark election law case animated by First Amendment claims used in the fight against colossal wealth dominating the political process, Timmons v. Twin Cities Area New Party (95-1608) (1997).

The stakes are high. President Obama's populist initiatives outlined tonight will define his presidency and our country for decades to come because the American people will be watching.

In Citizens United the GOP has now been caught, finally, on the wrong side of financial reform; look for much more of this branding of Republicans in the weeks to come.

- via mal contends

In the SOTU Address, Remember the Village Voice

As in the Voice's headline for Roy Edroso's piece on the Massachusetts special election:
Scott Brown Wins Mass. Race, Giving GOP 41-59 Majority in the Senate

Message: Obstruction and business as usual will not sell.

Meaning: Call for ditching the filibuster in the name of the middle class.

Make those preserving the status quo pay.

Do you really believe Washington's asinine traditions and ring kissing mean anything to the American people?

Are the White House and Congress really unable to accept a brand declaring war on obstruction and business as usual?