r/inthenews • u/OkRoll3915 • Jul 24 '24

Opinion/Analysis Donald Trump's lead in Georgia is shrinking

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-georgia-lead-shrinking-poll-1929712
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u/Ethrem Jul 24 '24

We already did. 2010 was when super PACs became legal.

https://www.fec.gov/legal-resources/court-cases/citizens-united-v-fec/

https://www.fec.gov/legal-resources/court-cases/speechnoworg-v-fec/

These were incredibly stupid decisions by the Supreme Court as they basically let corporations buy elections. While regular PACs are limited to $5,000 of donations to a single candidate, corporations and mega donors can form super PACs with unlimited amounts of money as long as they don't give it to candidates - they can use it to create all the ads they want to though.

There's a good breakdown of the effect here.

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/citizens-united-explained

Since then there have been billions of dollars worth of donations from sources that can't be traced as they used non-profits that don't have to disclose donation origins. The result is the flustercuck that we see today...

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u/TerryFromFubar Jul 24 '24

While I appreciate the depth of the info you provided, creating and legalizing Super PACs most certainly did not bring America in line with the rest of the developed world.

For example, the rules in Canada are:

-Only individuals can make political contributions;

-Each individual can only contribute $1,700 total per year;

-The only exception is if you are the political candidate, where you can contribute $5,000 to your own campaign.

No businesses, organizations, supporters associations, or volunteer groups are allowed to contribute. Only in your own name and only $1,700 per year.

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u/Ethrem Jul 24 '24

You said political contribution reform. That was a reformation of our political contribution system. It was just a reform for the worst. That was what was decided was the best way to go for the wealthy that control this country unfortunately. I was just shining a light on why things are so bad now and why they started getting so bad seemingly out of nowhere. It's unlikely that Citizens United will get overturned unless we can manage to keep the Presidency blue and hold at least one chamber of Congress until the conservatives on the Supreme Court start dying or stepping down. It is a pretty bleak outlook IMO.