Sunday, January 24, 2010

President Blasts Supreme Court Over Citizens United Decision.



Obama uses his weekly radio address to talk about the Supreme Court ruling:

"This ruling opens the floodgates for an unlimited amount of special interest money into our democracy," the president said in his weekly radio and Internet message. "It gives the special interest lobbyists new leverage to spend millions on advertising to persuade elected officials to vote their way -- or to punish those who don't."

"This ruling opens the floodgates for an unlimited amount of special interest money into our democracy," the president said in his weekly radio and Internet message. "It gives the special interest lobbyists new leverage to spend millions on advertising to persuade elected officials to vote their way -- or to punish those who don't."
And he has vowed that their will be a response. He intends to link up with some Republicans, and McCain seems the most obvious choice, to fight it.

We don't need to give any more voice to the powerful interests that already drown out the voices of everyday Americans.

And we don't intend to. When this ruling came down, I instructed my administration to get to work immediately with Members of Congress willing to fight for the American people to develop a forceful, bipartisan response to this decision. We have begun that work, and it will be a priority for us until we repair the damage that has been done.

This decision from Roberts and his cohorts reveals just how extremist and reactionary the four conservative judges actually are.

The Bush legacy was the first thing I thought of when I read of the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, because it showed how a right wing Court would not only pose a threat on hot-button issues like abortion and civil rights, but would actually be a danger to our long-cherished basic democratic principles.

President Obama said of the decision that he could not "think of anything more devastating to the public interest." In the often-hyperbolized world of political statements, it's easy to dismiss his concern as exaggerated. I assure you it is not. In short, in my opinion, there is no internal threat to traditional American principles of democracy greater than Scalia, Thomas, Roberts and Alito, as revealed in this decision, and it is time for Americans to wake up and see what these four extremists, far out of step with the average citizen, are doing to our country.

[...]

But here is the dirty little secret the GOP doesn't want you to know: The four extreme right wing Supreme Court justices are as activist as any judges can get, seeking to use their seats on the Court as a way to undo decades (sometimes more) of precedent in the service of enacting conservative policies. More precisely, the Roberts Court consistently chooses the side of those with power over those without it.

Bush's two terms in office continue to do damage long after he has bolted thanks to the people he chose for the Supreme Court.

2 comments:

daveawayfromhome said...

Those people that Bush put on in the SCOTUS are young, also, and so will continue to wreak havoc for decades.

Kel said...

That is what was so brutal about what he - and his neo-con thugs - have done.

They have ensured that their particular brand of right wing ideology will continue long after they have left office.

And long after most of us have recognised it as the failure which it was.