Was it rude of President Obama to criticize the Supreme Court, whose members sat opposite him during his State of the Union address? Or did Justice Samuel Alito commit the greater breach of decorum by shaking his head and appearing to mouth the words, “It’s not true?”
I’ll leave this debate to more qualified arbiters of political etiquette. On the merits, however, the president was right: the Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC can only enhance the power of private money in Washington.
Here’s the key passage from Obama’s speech Wednesday:
Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests – including foreign corporations – to spend without limit in our elections. Well I don’t think American elections should be bankrolled by America’s most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities. I’m urging Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps to right this wrong.
A bold statement, but Obama then went on to rather weakly implore Congress to “pass a bill that helps to right this wrong.” Well, OK, but what kind of bill?
The presidential punt was puzzling, because there’s already a bill before Congress that enjoys bipartisan support and is wholly consistent with Obama’s campaign call for public financing of legislative elections. The Fair Elections Now Act, with over 130 cosponsors, embodies an innovative approach to public financing that’s been pioneered in some big cities and eight states.
The Supreme Court’s decision to lift restrictions on spending by companies (and unions) to influence elections was based on the dubious premise that corporations should enjoy the same rights to free speech as individuals. Nonetheless, as Americans for Campaign Reform President Daniel Weeks noted here, it creates an opportunity to reframe the debate over campaign finance reform. For decades, reformers have focused on limiting what candidates and groups can spend on political speech. The Fair Elections bill expands speech by ensuring that credible candidates can get public financing and will not have to answer to fat cat contributors if they win.
The president should seize on this approach to show he’s serious about reducing the power of special interests in Washington. That will resonate with independents angry at what they see as a broken and corrupt political system. And public financing of congressional elections may be the indispensible precondition for passing the big reforms Obama has vowed to keep fighting for.
