• $36.4
  million the amount the Chamber of Commerce (which represents businesses) spent on political campaigns in 2008, mostly Republican Senate campaigns
• $30.7
  million the amount the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (a major union group) spent on mostly Democratic campaigns source

• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission is an important case. This may be one of the most important cases that we see in our lifetimes, because it’ll have a direct effect on who gets elected, what laws get passed, and who can say what during an election. It’s such an important case that the dissenting opinion is as important as the decision itself. So, here goes.

The case at hand:

• It was about a movie that trashed Hillary Clinton. The producers of “Hillary the Movie,” which was designed by a highly-funded conservative nonprofit political organization to smear the then-presidential candidate, wanted to show the film during the 2008 primaries, but couldn’t because of campaign finance laws (most notably, one passed by John McCain and Russ Feingold back in 2002). Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission had a narrow scope, and dealt with a small part of campaign finance law.

Key points in campaign finance reform:

• 1971 The Federal Election Campaign Act passes, requiring campaigns to report hard-money contributors to their campaigns, but leaving the door for “soft money” contributions wide open.
• 1990 Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce was decided by the Supreme Court, a key decision which upheld the longstanding restriction on corporate speech that could influence elections.
• 2002 The McCain-Feingold Act passed, which limited so-called “soft money” contributions and limited the broadcast of corporate and non-profit political messages near elections, passes.

Main points of the majority opinion:

• Chilling political speech Anthony Kennedy’s opinion argues that the “speech that is central to the meaning and purpose of the First Amendment” is getting frozen with current campaign finance laws, despite their good intentions.
• Broad, not narrow Instead of focusing on the narrow view of Citizens United, the court decided to widely interpret the law, rendering nearly 100 years of campaign finance laws and judicial rulings useless.
• Corporate ad crazy The court decided to overturn some of the most important elements of Austin and McCain-Feingold, so now we can be barraged with annoying political ads all the way up to election day!

Why John Paul Stevens is awesome:

• 89the age of John Paul Stevens, the Supreme Court’s oldest justice and also its most liberal
• 90 number of pages of pure, unadulterated dissent from Johnny boy; not bad bro source

The main point of his (mostly) dissenting opinion:

• The Court’s ruling threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions across the Nation. The path it has taken to reach its outcome will, I fear, do damage to this institution.
• John Paul Stevens • In his lengthy, massive dissenting opinion in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, probably the most dramatic decision the court has made in at least a decade, due to the impact it has on the electoral process. He apologizes for the length for the document before leaping in. But he really had to. This thing is huge – it’s nearly twice the size of the opinion it refutes. source

What does all this mean for you, ShortFormBlog fan?

• one Corporate influence is once again going to be a major factor in political campaigns. And they won’t have any limits on their speech.
• two You’re going see more ads on TV in the days leading up to major elections. The ads could be from corporations or nonprofits.
• three If Fred Thompson runs for president again, TNT can air repeats of his episodes of “Law and Order” all the way up until election day. source

• 5-4 douches beat cool people once again source

• Countries or individuals that engage in cyber attacks should face consequences and international condemnation. In an interconnected world, an attack on one nation’s networks can be an attack on all.
• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton • In a speech she plans to give this morning on China’s reported hacking of companies like Google. Clinton reportedly also will bring up concerns specifically about the Google attack. China, for its part, says the attack shouldn’t be overstated. source

• It is clear that my nomination has become a lightning rod for those who have chosen to push a political agenda at the risk of the safety and security of the American people.
• Transportation Security Administration chief nominee Erroll Southers • Regarding his decision to drop out after a brutal, months-long stalling created by Sen. Jim DeMint. DeMint’s big problem with Southers? He didn’t like the fact that he might unionize the TSA. This nomination became contentious, by the way, after the attempted terror attack in Detroit last month. source

• cause Clearly in a favorable spot due to his status as the 60th-vote blocker in the Senate, Scott Brown took victory over Martha Cloakey in the Massachusetts Senat race tonight.
• effect Know that supermajority vote the Democrats had for a number of months that ensured they could get some stuff done (and that they wasted)? It’s gone, boys. source

• We believe the offer represents good value for Cadbury shareholders and are pleased with the commitment that Kraft Foods has made to our heritage, values and people throughout the world.
• Cadbury Chairman Roger Carr • On the $19.5 billion buyout offer that Kraft showed the company today. For months, Cadbury rejected Kraft’s advances. No longer. While Cadbury is open to other offers – get your #(&^ together, Hershey – they seem quite happy with the offer that the world’s second-largest food company has put forth. If they combined, they would become the largest. source

• If Scott Brown wins tomorrow, the Senate bill hits the House floor. Facing a possibly embarrassing loss for the Democratic party in Massachusetts tomorrow, President Obama has a pretty good solution in mind for the health care bill that he’s long fought for. The Senate bill – which has already passed – will get sent, with no changes, to the House. Then it gets voted on. And if it passes, this massive cluster#(&@ of a bill will finally get signed by Obama. A little sneaky, but it technically works – and fast! Well, as long as everybody goes along with the plan. source

• morning Apple announced a vaguely worded “special event” will take place on the morning of the 27th, which will likely be whatever this slate thingy is. Nerds are excited.
• evening Obama, after nearly angering “Lost” fans by picking the day of the show’s season premiere, will have his State of the Union on the 27th. The GOP has their claws out.