Can Sotomayor Save Congress From Itself?

I LOVE Diane's Rheims' "Weekly News Roundup" - it's the only NPR show that I get really upset about missing... This week, one of the panelist made a statement that I thought was pretty profound:

Justice Sotomayor openly questions why we treat companies as people anyways? It has been that way since the 1900s...

This is the jist of the comment anyway, since I haven't had time to listen again for the direct quote (I think it's around 40-45 min mark or so), sorry. But I remember feeling excited because this highlights the hingepin of campaign finance reform!

Corporation are only allowed to pay lobbiest to do their job or donate directly to a politician precisely because of a supreme court ruling giving corporation First Ammendment rights to free speech and equating speech with money. This was a very hasty ruling with very little evidence explaining why they made the decision they did.

If this new Supreme Court Justice is coming on board from this point of view than I am for the first time truly pleased at her nomination. I supported it from the beginning and felt that she would make logical decisions and was a worthy candidate. That is a bit different than "truly pleased" though.

Welcome Justice Sodomeyer, I'm glad to have on our Supreme Court!

Crashing The Party

I would not try to pretend for a moment that Democrats are not just as guilty of this shit as the Republicans - I do NOT view this as a partisan issue!

The problem is that banks and corporations have unparalleled access to our politicians under the excuse of "First Amendment Rights" to freedom of speech. I am sorry, but a business is NOT a person and is not entitled to rights given to a citizen. It can not vote. It does not have the capacity to behave morally nor does it have any real responsibility for the negative consequences of its actions. It only functions to sell a product for as much profit as possible for the least cost. Our current campaign finance policies just serve to make the rich richer and to keep the same people and power year after year (regardless of the quality of their service to their consituency). What happened to a Government "...for the People"?

Check out the Sunlight Foundation's "Party Time" website HERE to read up on similar stories.

(**climbs down from soapbox**)