Citizens United decision far from "devastating"

We’ve been fans of U.S. Rep. Dan Boren for a long time. Bright and dedicated, Boren, D-Muskogee, has served our state with distinction during his four terms in the House of Representatives. His moderate voice will be missed when he steps aside in November.

But Boren’s assessment of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision is a head-scratcher. Speaking in Tulsa last week, he said the ruling is “one of the worst decisions in the history of the Supreme Court. Absolutely devastating to democracy.”

Devastating to democracy? The ruling allowed corporations and unions to spend as much as they want on the political process, provided they don’t coordinate with candidates or campaigns. Liberals in particular bemoan the potential for corporate sway to drown out individual voices. This is based on their presumption that all corporations have a conservative bent, which isn’t true. On the other hand, unions are overwhelmingly liberal.

Washington Post columnist George Will wrote recently that through March 31, 86 percent of the money donated to the eight leading super PACs supporting Republican presidential candidates had come from individuals, not corporations. Will made another great point: “This media and liberal anxiety (about Citizens United) was not conspicuous in 2004, when George Soros spent $24 million supporting Democratic candidates.”