Citizens United: What Has Been Wrought?

With the June election just around the proverbial corner, rumination is called for... Four years ago, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) found for free speech in the controversial Citizens United case. The liberals/Democrats said the decision discarded a century of precedent. In a 5-4 decision, the Court held that corporations and unions were entitled to the same First Amendment rights as people. Dissenting Justice Stevens penned the Dems lament by calling it a rejection of the common sense of the American people.

The resulting infusion of hundreds of millions of dollars from “secret donors” in undisclosed amounts into political campaigns, sayeth the Dems, has marginalized voters and left our democracy more vulnerable to corruption (READ: GOP money). However (the inevitable however), here are a few of the top 10 special interests who contribute to political campaigns, and they almost all leaned heavily DEMOCRATIC. (BTW: I’m not noting this as some GOP screed – could care less – but to illustrate the ‘goose-and-gander’ aspect of campaign finance.)

Let’s begin with ActBlue. It’s a federally registered political action committee that was launched in 2004. It calls itself “the online clearinghouse for Democratic action.” The group donated $97,192,340 between 1989 and 2012 with 99 percent of its contributions going to Democrats. Then in no particular order, you have:

The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees which comprises 3,400 local unions representing 1.6 million members as well as 240,000 retirees. They donated $60,667,379 between 1989 and 2012, with 81 percent going to Democrats. The National Education Association,  the nation’s oldest and largest teachers’ union, donated $53,594,488 between 1989 and 2012. Sixty-one percent went to Democrats, and just 4 percent went to Republicans.

An there are the other unions as a whole: The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), United Auto Workers (UAW), Carpenters and Joiners Union and Service Employees International Union (SEIU), who combined donated $163,752,070 with a high of 92 percent going to the Donkeys from the IBEW to just 71% from the UAW. BTW: The UAW gave zero to the Pachyderms and SEIU only 2 percent.

In the interest of full disclosure, also on the list is the National Association of REALTORS®, who contributed $51,207,902 between 1989 and 2102… but considering NAR lobbies on issues such as the mortgage interest deduction, flood insurance rates, private property rights, bankruptcy legislation and tax reform (all ostensibly non-partisan), 44 percent went to the Dems and 47 percent to Republicans.

Now on the heels of Citizens United comes McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission. SCOTUS struck down the limits on the aggregate amount that any individual can give to candidates and political parties in an election cycle. The Court erased the overall limit of $48,600 for political contributions individuals can make to candidates, and the overall limit of $70,800 for contributions to political parties and political action committees (PACs). It's only going to get more interesting.