The ramifications of today’s Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC are breathtaking – opening the floodgates of political money such as we have never seen before. If you thought Congress was ‘for sale’ to the highest bidder, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Nothing less than a fundamental rethinking of how our campaign finance laws is demanded as a result of today’s decision.
But one thing becomes immediately clear: Transparency about the flow of campaign cash – online and in real time – became more important. While we do not think that transparency is a panacea for the horrific consequences of today’s decision, it is critically important as the shredded system is rebuilt.
The Citizen’s United decision is awful news. It will allow corporate cash to flood into politics like never before.
But Ellen Miller finds a sliver of hope in the idea of real-time disclosure of spending, which in theory could make this influx more transparent.
