News
Opinion
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — “We have the best government money can buy.” This compliment is attributed to Mark Twain, but Mark Twain never set eyes on the Supreme Court decision allowing unlimited corporation and union spending on political advertising. He must be spinning like a lathe...
Move over little dog (democracy), the big dog is moving in (oligarchy).
Very well, in an effort to establish some accountability here, let's at least put a face on the special interest that purchases a political ad. Let's require Lloyd Blankfein to tag a Goldman Sachs sponsored ad with, “I'm Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman, and I approve of this ad.”
If we are determined to treat a corporation or a union like an individual we should put a face on that corporation or union and demand a certain level of transparency in corporate and union decision making while we're at it.
When Isaac Roop was taking his oral Nevada Bar Exam in 1860 he was asked to define a corporation. Roop's answer was as telling today as it was witty back then. “A corporation is a band of fellows without any soul, of whom the law is a creature, who have some powers and take a great deal many more, and entirely ignore the statutory duties imposed upon them.” With that remark, Roop was admitted to practice law in the Nevada Territory. As an interesting side note, when Honey Lake's first newspaper appeared in 1860 the Richmond Times offered a subscription price of 200 pounds of rutabagas.
The “Citizens United” ruling, carried by justices Roberts, Alito, Scalia, Thomas & Kennedy, while recognizing a corporation or union as a natural person, turned a blind eye to the potential perils of undue political influence, and delivered a hurtful blow to the common good.
Justice Stevens, in a dissenting opinion, leaves us with this food for thought: “Corruption can take many forms. Bribery may be the paradigm case. But the difference between selling a vote and selling access is a matter of degree, not kind.”
Justice Steven's words serve as a reminder of the dissenting opinion he delivered nine years ago following the Bush v. Gore decision: “Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner in this year's Presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the Nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law.” Here again, in a new decade and a new century, the loser is the nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law. Does the name Dred Scott ring a bell?
The Citizens United decision will be revisited after sufficient damage has been done, but for now, we'll let Mark Twain weigh in with the last word. “I don't vote for politicians, it only encourages them. Well, look at it, look how difficult it is to find a politician today with ethics high enough that he will stay bought.”
— McAvoy Layne is an Incline Village resident who visits area schools as the ghost of Mark Twain.
Move over little dog (democracy), the big dog is moving in (oligarchy).
Very well, in an effort to establish some accountability here, let's at least put a face on the special interest that purchases a political ad. Let's require Lloyd Blankfein to tag a Goldman Sachs sponsored ad with, “I'm Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman, and I approve of this ad.”
If we are determined to treat a corporation or a union like an individual we should put a face on that corporation or union and demand a certain level of transparency in corporate and union decision making while we're at it.
When Isaac Roop was taking his oral Nevada Bar Exam in 1860 he was asked to define a corporation. Roop's answer was as telling today as it was witty back then. “A corporation is a band of fellows without any soul, of whom the law is a creature, who have some powers and take a great deal many more, and entirely ignore the statutory duties imposed upon them.” With that remark, Roop was admitted to practice law in the Nevada Territory. As an interesting side note, when Honey Lake's first newspaper appeared in 1860 the Richmond Times offered a subscription price of 200 pounds of rutabagas.
The “Citizens United” ruling, carried by justices Roberts, Alito, Scalia, Thomas & Kennedy, while recognizing a corporation or union as a natural person, turned a blind eye to the potential perils of undue political influence, and delivered a hurtful blow to the common good.
Justice Stevens, in a dissenting opinion, leaves us with this food for thought: “Corruption can take many forms. Bribery may be the paradigm case. But the difference between selling a vote and selling access is a matter of degree, not kind.”
Justice Steven's words serve as a reminder of the dissenting opinion he delivered nine years ago following the Bush v. Gore decision: “Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner in this year's Presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the Nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law.” Here again, in a new decade and a new century, the loser is the nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law. Does the name Dred Scott ring a bell?
The Citizens United decision will be revisited after sufficient damage has been done, but for now, we'll let Mark Twain weigh in with the last word. “I don't vote for politicians, it only encourages them. Well, look at it, look how difficult it is to find a politician today with ethics high enough that he will stay bought.”
— McAvoy Layne is an Incline Village resident who visits area schools as the ghost of Mark Twain.
