Parts of Campaign Finance Law Struck Down By Sharon Theimerattribution: The Washington Post via courreges
The Associated Press
Friday, May 2, 2003; 4:02 PMWASHINGTON - A federal court Friday struck down most of a ban on the use of large corporate and union political contributions by political parties, casting into doubt the future of the campaign finance law that was supposed to govern next year's high-stakes presidential election.
The court also ruled unconstitutional new restrictions on election-time political ads by special interest groups and others. It barred the federal government from enforcing them and all other parts of the law it struck down.
The ruling clears the way for an immediate appeal by the losing parties to the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court's decision will lay the ground rules for the 2004 presidential election and beyond.
I lament election after election because I feel I am not given a "real" choice at the ballot box. By the time the primary roles around, the candidates left on the ballot have already been trimmed to those select indivisuals who had enough big money support to think they had a viable chance of succeeding to the next level. I am always wondering who is pulling their strings, who is going to benefit most from their election, and what kind of benefit do the big money investors hope to gain in exchange for their contributions. Are we actually voting for the Jeffersons and Hamiltons and Adamses of the new century or are we being spoon fed a selected slate of hand-picked "yes men" to do the bidding of special interests?
Posted by Tiger at May 4, 2003 10:27 AM