Max Kittner

Period 1
12/10

Money v. People
The Supreme Court case Citizens United v. F.E.C. was a 5-4 decision that means the
average person will just see more political advertisements on television or the Internet. The result
of this ruling is actually very dangerous because it creates the idea that corporations are people,
too, and should have the same exact rights as an individual. Many of these corporations pay
different taxes, and exist to make money, not to live and eat like a person. Citizens United v.
F.E.C. was ruled incorrectly because it tampers with an individual's First Amendment right of
expression, it assumes that corporations are people and hurts the legitimacy of the democratic
system of government.
Corporations have already been messing with individuals rights, with PACs and negative
commercials influencing people to vote for a person yet not knowing anything about who they
are voting for. A Politico cartoon titled Another Dam Breaks, is a visual example that
illustrates how the decision will impact the First Amendment right. In the bottom-right of the
cartoon there two elderly voters casting a ballot, and then floods of money surrounding them and
Washington, D.C. (Document L). This is a limitation on a persons right to express their choices,
while also showing the fact that the people it will affect the most are old people because they go
to the polls much more versus younger people. Equating the First Amendment to people and
corporations also hurts an individuals right; the New York Times says, It is a fundamental
misreading of the constitution to say that these artificial legal constructs have the same right to
spend money on politics as ordinary Americans have to speak out in support of a candidate
(Document N). This statement is coming from a media corporation, while exempted under the
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA), the NYT knows that the Supreme Courts choice
crossed the line.

Max Kittner
Period 1
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The decision makes the assumption that corporations are now people, entitled to
everything that a person is, despite being a construct to make money. The dissenting opinion of
the Supreme Court said that unlike our colleagues, the Framers had little trouble distinguishing
corporations from human beings, but corporations as they function now did not exist when the
Constitution was made (Document J). Because corporations function to make money, it
introduces a bias where a corporation can easily give thousands of dollars without a problem, but
an individual still deals with the BCRA restrictions of payment, and wont have any influence on
a campaign compared to a corporation. The concurrent opinion makes the claim that the
association of individuals in a business corporation is no different than an individual American,
but is wrong since there is clearly more power in a group versus a person (Document K).
Corporations should have free speech, but should not have it on the same terms as a person since
that could create an elitist or hyperpluralist governance.
The result also hurts our legitimate election process of democracy, with big money
always running in the background, more noticeable than before. Obama said in his 2010 State of
the Union address that I dont think that American elections should be bankrolled by Americas
most powerful interests they should be decided by the American people (Document O). It is
rare for Obama to say anything about a Supreme Court case, but he is bias since he ironically
benefitted from the ruling when he had a SuperPAC in the 2012 general election. The erosion of
people power in elections will become more and more present with the ruling because it limits
republican government, from doing its job to protect the interests and government of the people,
not the money. Before laws were passed to limit corporate influence when Theodore Roosevelt
was in office, there were many groups that had swept in and corrupted the government as
portrayed in The Bosses of the Senate, a political cartoon made in 1889, a time full of

Max Kittner
Period 1
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Rockefeller and Carnegie empires. The cartoon shows how too much money and power of
interest groups loom behind the congressmen, making it hard for them to function (Document
D). Madison wrote about the rise of factions, which includes corporations, and how they should
be controlled so that the government can still work the way it was intended. The causes of a
faction cannot be removed relief is only sought in the means of controlling its effects If a
faction consists of less than a majority, relief is supplied by the republican principle, which
enables the majority to defeat its sinister views (Document A). The government will once again
become The Bosses of the Senate, which is similar to what Madison is urging against, that
could do damage to this institution, hurting the current democracy in place today stemming all
the way back to James Madisons time (Document N).
Citizens United v. F.E.C. is unconstitutional because it will change the game for every
future election. If there was some information about how the ruling has affected every election
since, one could start to notice the significant increase in money being given from anonymous
sources and the more active role that groups such as Citizens United make. Being transparent
with money is also a key thing that is missing because of the ruling; no SuperPAC or group is
under any obligation to tell who gives what until they feel like it. Group influence on campaigns
are not a bad thing as it contributes to a pluralist government, but too much can overshoot the
functioning of government. Citizens United v. F.E.C. is a decision that will be looked back at as
one that drowned out peoples rights of speech and created a hyperpluralist system of
government.