What will be the “net effect”? My crystal ball hints it will be far, far less than the imaginary phantom menace of big, scary Monsters Of The Oligarchy that has the left wetting their wadded-up panties and BO so wee-wee’d up he actually (and inaccurately) blasted Supreme Court justices to their faces in public.
One need only consider the real world. Corporations exist for just one purpose: profit. Even non-profits require capital to make manifest their good deeds. To risk one’s business capital in pursuit of a candidate or cause past the extent of making a minor expenditure is corporate suicide because when all is said and done, in the final analysis humans are selfish creatures. No shareholder in their right mind is going to allow their dividend to be reduced because a corporation wants to get Joe Blow elected or a certain piece of legislation passed. Investors want their pennies on their dollars today, not on some politically-dependent whim of a human’s ego. And we cannot forget “the market”, those purchasers of a product or a service. By spending their capital on campaigns, corporation will be taking the great risk of alienating the very people it needs to reap profits and this is not a decision that will be made lightly. And certainly not when it will be easier than ever to find out – and put into national circulation – just what company is sponsoring what ad. Simply put, companies that support things against the public interest must bear the consequences of that dreaded word: boycott.
On the flip side, the benefit of this ruling is that smaller fish may rightfully enter the campaign seas. It was no fluke that Scott Brown found himself with national support, the same nickel-and-dime support so touted by candidate BO (but backed with Wall Street funding). Now smaller groups can get the word out and by their advocacy encourage broader participation in the election process. Even if it is only getting someone who can’t afford to make a contribution up off the couch to cast their ballot.
So, yes, the election landscape will change. But I believe it will be for the better. The Democrats can feel the wall at their backs and rightfully fear the traditional support given to the GOP by business. In stereotypical fashion they will do everything legal and illegal to silence the opposition but, as this past year has shown, such tactics are continually backfiring on them and I would bet the penny left in my pocket things will only get worse.
Which is actually a good thing for the American people as truths continue to come to light. All we need do is hold fast to the Constitution and to our inalienable rights and look past the parties to the candidates themselves. And choose wisely.
