Money has whispered in the ears of some politicians for centuries. Now the dollars will be able to shout.

The U.S. Supreme Court voted earlier this month to equate political donations with free speech. The
justices came to the conclusion that limiting political donations is the same as limiting free speech.

By a vote of 5-4, the court ruled that donors can give to as many campaigns as they want – making the
maximum of $5,200 to any single candidate a moot point since so many political donations are shuffled
among candidates within political parties.
Apparently, the majority of the court missed the irony of equating money with "free" speech
-rendering speech and the influence it creates as anything but free.
In my experience, the vast majority of people don’t hand over money without wanting something in return.
Even charitable donations come with the expectation that the money will be put to use achieving a
particular mission. And it’s just not reasonable for us to think that big money doesn’t have a big role
in decisions.
To me, freedom of speech gives people the right to express their opinions – not the right to pay
politicians to do what the donors want.
Elected officials, like the rest of the nation, do not always have the most pristine political
motivations. It’s a logical conclusion that free speech accompanied with a large donation might drown
out other citizen voices that have no dollar signs attached.
The court’s ruling was the second blow in the last four years to efforts to keep big money from further
polluting the political process.
In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled, also by a vote of 5-4, that the government cannot ban political
spending by corporations in a candidate election.
Maybe I’m naive, but I prefer elections to be won by candidates who earn voters’ confidence and support.
I don’t like the idea of elections being bought by those with the deepest pockets.
The court rulings don’t pit Republicans against Democrats. They pit wealthy citizens against people of
middle and modest incomes.
We all know that money talks. But it doesn’t speak up for the little guy who’s quite likely to suffer
more deeply by political decisions made with a deaf ear toward those with little money to spare on
political donations.
It’s bad enough when the big money whispers over the little guy. It’s a shame that our highest court
doesn’t care if it shouts so loud that the average citizen stands little chance of being heard.