In his weekly address, President Barack Obama blasted opposition leaders in Congress for blocking efforts to amend the Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” ruling. The January 2010 ruling found that corporations and nonprofit organizations have free speech rights comparable to individual rights.
The trigger for the case was a documentary criticizing Hillary Clinton made by a group called Citizens United. After the court’s ruling, organizations or companies may spend unlimited funds in order to influence public opinion.
During his State of the Union address in January, Obama condemned the decision, looking sternly at the justices.
A proposed law would restrict the amount some entities could spend and require greater disclosure. “We’ve tried to fix this with a new law—one that would simply require that you say who you are and who’s paying for your ad,” said Obama in his weekly address on Saturday.
The bill has not come to a vote.
Obama said, “A partisan minority in Congress is hoping their defense of these special interests and the status quo will be rewarded with a flood of negative ads against their opponents. It’s a power grab, pure and simple.”
Bruce Josten of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said in a statement, “The Citizens United decision protects the First Amendment rights of organizations across the political spectrum and is a positive for the political process and free enterprise.”
The trigger for the case was a documentary criticizing Hillary Clinton made by a group called Citizens United. After the court’s ruling, organizations or companies may spend unlimited funds in order to influence public opinion.
During his State of the Union address in January, Obama condemned the decision, looking sternly at the justices.
A proposed law would restrict the amount some entities could spend and require greater disclosure. “We’ve tried to fix this with a new law—one that would simply require that you say who you are and who’s paying for your ad,” said Obama in his weekly address on Saturday.
The bill has not come to a vote.
Obama said, “A partisan minority in Congress is hoping their defense of these special interests and the status quo will be rewarded with a flood of negative ads against their opponents. It’s a power grab, pure and simple.”
Bruce Josten of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said in a statement, “The Citizens United decision protects the First Amendment rights of organizations across the political spectrum and is a positive for the political process and free enterprise.”
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