January 21 will mark 13 years since the Supreme Court made its ill-fated Citizens United ruling, which allowed special interests to wield more influence than ever before on our political system.
From 2010 through 2021, more than $4.4 billion in outside money was spent on federal elections alone (more than $1 billion of that was untraceable “dark money”).. And more than $2 billion in outside money was spent on the 2022 midterm elections. Imagine what we’ll see during the next presidential election!
These big-money contributions aren’t coming from regular people. They’re coming from Wall Street ($1.3 billion and counting), Big Pharma, oil and gas companies, military contractors, the NRA, and billionaire megadonors with their own agendas. That’s why a whopping 76 percent of Americans feel their government is “run by a few big interests looking out for themselves.”
Many people saw this disaster coming. Consider what President Barack Obama said just six days after the Supreme Court’s ruling, during his State of the Union address:
“The Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests – including foreign corporations – to spend without limit in our elections. I don’t think American elections should be bankrolled by America’s
most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities.”
Let’s see if, together, we can make Citizens United’s 13th birthday its final one.
What Can We Do?
We’re renewing our commitment to stamp money out of politics, and we hope you’ll join our Society of Stampers.
There’s also a good chance that Congress will reintroduce the Democracy for All amendment to overturn Citizens United. Stay tuned, as we will be looking to draw attention to legislative efforts to help restore democracy to the people.