[EL] Two Cheers for Corporate Political Activism

Wed Apr 6 07:58:36 PDT 2016

I look forward to hearing more from these thoughtful critics of Citizens United, as they seem to be a rare breed, at least when compared to the “Corporations Aren’t People!” wing of the “reform” movement.

Best,

Sean Parnell

President, Impact Policy Management LLC

Alexandria, Virginia

571-289-1374

sean at impactpolicymanagement.com

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Rick Hasen
Sent: Wednesday, April 6, 2016 10:37 AM
To: law-election at UCI.edu
Subject: [EL] ELB News and Commentary 4/6/16

 <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=81603> Two Cheers for Corporate Political Activism

Posted on  <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=81603> April 6, 2016 7:34 am by  <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3> Rick Hasen

I have written  <http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2016/04/05/corporations-may-be-progressive-but-that-still-doesnt-make-them-people/> this oped for Reuters (with a headline I really don’t like).  It begins:

 <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__twitter.com_jadler1969_status_714462660046299138&d=CwMDaQ&c=4ZIZThykDLcoWk-GVjSLm9hvvvzvGv0FLoWSRuCSs5Q&r=6_YVtp-PIP2cnboviHDqvRYY6Py_ZdIcHRj1ni_HIsxG56iheF9WHS_Vj2kQ9yEU&m=t3L_prYmVkb8SFuGmBx5gtOzTXuJvzxlaE9A98W7vcU&s=H6sWJLvO57DZhmpI4XGgUgOqFQ1pGvSdK4lm_wsJFWo&e=> Conservatives were  <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__twitter.com_AdamKissel_status_712966950817808385&d=CwMDaQ&c=4ZIZThykDLcoWk-GVjSLm9hvvvzvGv0FLoWSRuCSs5Q&r=6_YVtp-PIP2cnboviHDqvRYY6Py_ZdIcHRj1ni_HIsxG56iheF9WHS_Vj2kQ9yEU&m=t3L_prYmVkb8SFuGmBx5gtOzTXuJvzxlaE9A98W7vcU&s=5RZ2dY9WeJvyDoVSRaJKvlWeIrWImVkuvoZxC5mv_Vk&e=> quick to  <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__twitter.com_SShackford_status_713043011664351233&d=CwMDaQ&c=4ZIZThykDLcoWk-GVjSLm9hvvvzvGv0FLoWSRuCSs5Q&r=6_YVtp-PIP2cnboviHDqvRYY6Py_ZdIcHRj1ni_HIsxG56iheF9WHS_Vj2kQ9yEU&m=t3L_prYmVkb8SFuGmBx5gtOzTXuJvzxlaE9A98W7vcU&s=SCHUwv85bS3J0qdDqAUGDXqomKcI5fbWvbb6KLgeye4&e=> pounce on liberals who cheered the corporations that objected to  <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.nytimes.com_aponline_2016_03_30_us_ap-2Dus-2Dreligious-2Dexemptions-2Dpolitics.html&d=CwMDaQ&c=4ZIZThykDLcoWk-GVjSLm9hvvvzvGv0FLoWSRuCSs5Q&r=6_YVtp-PIP2cnboviHDqvRYY6Py_ZdIcHRj1ni_HIsxG56iheF9WHS_Vj2kQ9yEU&m=t3L_prYmVkb8SFuGmBx5gtOzTXuJvzxlaE9A98W7vcU&s=hQ99hnrQPQu8A5Qk8mrV253QqZoPWpkA2_-tiuGHTIY&e=> a Georgia bill that would have allowed some forms of discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) community. It could well have been corporate pressure that convinced Georgia Governor Nathan Deal to veto the bill.

What hypocrites, conservatives charged, for liberals to applaud this corporate political activity, which benefitted the progressive side, and condemn the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in  <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.law.cornell.edu_supct_html_08-2D205.ZS.html&d=CwMDaQ&c=4ZIZThykDLcoWk-GVjSLm9hvvvzvGv0FLoWSRuCSs5Q&r=6_YVtp-PIP2cnboviHDqvRYY6Py_ZdIcHRj1ni_HIsxG56iheF9WHS_Vj2kQ9yEU&m=t3L_prYmVkb8SFuGmBx5gtOzTXuJvzxlaE9A98W7vcU&s=dbmFRe0lTf3vHfW8Zfje2RYcXdpXixFBE0fF5MZqzXM&e=> Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which held that corporations have a First Amendment right to spend money independent of candidates to influence their election.

In fact, corporations before Citizens United had an important role to play in the U.S. political system — and they continue to play that role. Thoughtful critics of Citizens United don’t contend that corporations should have no political rights. Rather, they claim, corporations should be able to take political stands but not to turn their immense wealth into disproportionate political influence.

 <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D81603&title=Two%20Cheers%20for%20Corporate%20Political%20Activism&description=> 

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