President Obama Wednesday called on lawmakers to “reverse this trend” of “dark money” flowing into campaign coffers, criticizing the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision on the five-year anniversary of the influential case.
“Five years ago, a Supreme Court ruling allowed big companies — including foreign corporations — to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence our elections,” Obama said. “The Citizens United decision was wrong, and it has caused real harm to our democracy.”
The 5-4 Supreme Court ruling removed restrictions on the amount of money large corporations and unions can donate to political campaigns.
The president has frequently criticized the case, including a rare rebuke of the high court during his State of the Union address five years ago. However, critics say he hasn’t devoted much time to pursuing campaign finance reform — and the president himself has certainly benefited from some of the massive contributions to presidential candidates.
Obama on Wednesday vowed to restart a debate over the implications of the decision.
“With each new campaign season, this dark money floods our airwaves with more and more political ads that pull our politics into the gutter,” he said. “It’s time to reverse this trend. Rather than bolster the power of lobbyists and special interests, Washington should lift up the voices of ordinary Americans and protect their democratic right to determine the direction of the country that we love.”
