Font Resize"I am extremely disappointed but not surprised that the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Montana court ruling that would have allowed limits on campaign contributions."
The Supreme Court on Monday effectively overturned a century-old Montana law that prohibited corporate spending on political races in the state, ruling 5-4 that the measure violates the First Amendment rights of companies to spend funds on elections, according to the Washington Post.
The decision fell along similar lines as the high court's 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission , which found that corporations and unions have a free speech right to spend unlimited amounts of money for and against candidates.
"The U.S. Supreme Court's absurd 5-4 ruling two years ago in Citizens United was a major blow to American democratic traditions. Sadly, despite all of the evidence that Americans see every day, the court continues to believe that its decision makes sense.
"In recent weeks, multi-billionaires such as the Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson have made it clear that, as a result of the Citizens United decision, they intend to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to buy this election for candidates who support the super-wealthy. This is not democracy. This is plutocracy. And that
"I intend to work as hard as I can for a constitutional amendment to overturn this disastrous Supreme Court decision.
"In his famous speech at Gettysburg during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln talked about America as a country 'of the people, by the people and for the people.' Today, as a result of the Supreme Court's refusal to reconsider its decision in Citizens United, we are rapidly moving toward a nation of the super-rich, by the super-rich and for the super-rich. That is not what America is supposed to be about. This Supreme Court decision must be overturned."
