Citizens United Ruling Corrupted Midterm Elections, Say Campaign Finance Reform Advocates

By Kyle LaFleur

With midterm elections less than a week away, the Committee for Economic Development held a panel discussion today on the nation’s campaign environment in the aftermath of a monumental Supreme Court decision earlier this year.

In a case known as Citizens United v. FEC, the Court famously ruled to lift restrictions on the amount that corporations could spend on elections. That decision opened the floodgates for donations this election cycle, where it is estimated that a total of $3.5 billion will have been spent when it’s all said and done.

“Our political system is so badly corrupted that it is imploding in front of our eyes,” said Ed Kangas, chairman and former CEO of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.

Kangas argued that politicians who have accepted large contributions from either wealthy individuals, corporations, unions or other special interests will be forced to return favors once they are in office.

“The first step in rebuilding this political system is reform campaign financing. What is going on is bad for business, it’s bad for our economy, it’s bad for our economy,” he said. 

Reform, argued Kangas and others on the panel, would produce enhanced transparency, thus driving out corporate sponsorship of candidates.  

“History tells us that secret money and political campaigns breed corruption and scandal,” said Fred Wertheimer, founder and director of Democracy 21.  

Data gathered by a recent Zogby International Poll suggest that many in the private sector agree. In a survey of over 300 business leaders, 61 percent said they feel that businesses are pressured into making political contributions. Furthermore, 51 percent said corporations should be prohibited from giving unlimited and undisclosed amounts of money to organizations to put toward campaign ads.