It’s no secret America’s government is controlled by corporations. In 2010, a bill was passed that gave money “freedom of speech”, meaning corporations were allowed to fund the campaigns of political candidates.
The financial power of American corporations now controls every subsection of politics — legislative, executive, and ultimately judicial. With its January 2010 decision in the Citizens United case, the Supreme Court removed all legal restraints on the extent of corporate financial involvement in politics, a grotesque decision that can have only one effect: maximizing corporate – not national — value. Today’s CEOs have been granted the power to direct political payments and organize PAC programs to achieve objectives entirely in their own self-interest, and they have been quick to use it.
More than $300 million was “invested” by corporations in the 2008 Presidential elections. The totals will be vastly higher in 2012 when the full impact of Citizens United is expressed, and the distribution will be politically agnostic. As Bill Moyers recently noted, President Obama “has raised more money from banks, hedge funds and private equity managers than any Republican candidate.
This legislation of a lack of separation exemplifies America’s prioritization of wealth over democracy, which seeps into every system.