Citizens, Unite Against 'Citizens United' Before It Destroys UsLo

All everyday Americans – except those in a MAGA daze – can agree that we don’t want our lives and futures ever more closely controlled by the obscene and preening ultra-rich

The exploding fireworks, grilled burgers, cold beer, and early corn of July Fourth may have lulled us into a self-satisfied American stupor. But red, white & blue bunting can only momentarily hide the ugliness of our corroding democracy.

How did we get to such a sobering state?

There is no one reason for the dangerous condition in which we find ourselves, but there is a single catalyst driving the drift away from the nation envisioned 249 years ago: The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.

The justices who subscribed to the argument that limiting campaign donations is a free-speech violation were hopelessly naïve. As a primer on the case by the liberal Brennan Center for Justice says, “[They] held that independent spending could not pose a substantial risk of corruption on the erroneous assumption that the money wouldn’t be under the control of any single candidate or party.”

The transparency rules in place would also allow voters to weigh the sources and motivations of political messages voters saw, the justices reasoned.

But they might as well have had their black robes pulled over their heads. Those assumptions were wildly wrong.

In the 15 years since the Citizens abomination, elections have been increasingly tainted by massive injections of cash from billionaires/oligarchs (usually through corporate entities they control), corporations, political action committees (both transparent and secret), unions, and other special interests.

All that money buys misinformation — delivered via digital platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok — that influences the uninformed and quasi-informed, making a mockery of one person, one vote.

The poster man/boy for Citizens abuses is, of course, Elon Musk, who shoveled close to $300 million into the 2024 campaign to elect Donald Trump — an unseemly and druggy display of wealth that included essentially buying votes in Pennsylvania. (How’s that working out for you, Elon?)

But at least Musk has a certain subversive charm.

The same cannot be said for Wall Street bullyboy Bill Ackman.

Street bully and enemy of democracy Ackman

Members of a Reddit financial sub that seems dedicated to detesting Ackman, CEO of the hedge fund Pershing Square, had this to say:

“…People hate bill because he's a conman who catfished people…during a huge bull run. A lot of hedge fund guys are arrogant assholes, that's not new; but billy sets the bar...too bad his performance can't match his ego.”

“…Anybody who has worked in retail for any company that he has acquired knows that he is a parasite that all he does is get a company that's in good shape, acquire it and then run it into the ground. The first thing that he does is cut every single person that he can off the sales floor….”

“Bill is an absolute scumbag who has been working overtime to silence all critics of his dear genocidal Israel. He has pushed tirelessly for doxing students who have been camping in protest in universities and has been calling for criminalizing them and preventing them from getting good jobs. His loyalty lies towards his pocket and Israel first.” 

Now Ackman is among the many knives out to stop Zohan Mamdani, the young progressive who ended the coronation of Andrew Cuomo as the Democratic candidate to be mayor of New York City.

In a post on X two days after Mamdani crushed Cuomo by 12 percentage points, Ackman went trolling for a more moderate Dem to take on Mamdani and offered to bankroll the campaign.

“…I have a superb candidate who I believe can win who meets all of the criteria, but if I were to say his name or even reach out to him, it would have a negative effect on his candidacy, as I am a supporter of President Trump, and that alone taints anyone I would recommend for many and perhaps most NYC Democratic Party members. So rather than my making suggestions, I welcome yours,” the onetime Democrat wrote to his 1.7 million followers. “If someone is ready to raise their hand, I will take care of the fundraising.”

In short, “Step up to the plate, and I’ll find the millions to make you mayor.”

It’s unclear if that offer is off the table since Ackman announced on July 3 that he is backing the independent candidacy of criminal Trump toad Mayor Eric Adams. But no matter. What Bully Bill doesn’t seem to grok is that such an outlandish power play does more than attempt to subvert American democracy. It confirms what progressives such as Bernie Sanders have been saying for years — that the corrupting influence of the moneyed class on government of the people must end and elections must be publicly funded.

There are essentially two ways for that to happen. First, the Supreme Court could hear a new case and reverse its Citizens ruling. But that’s got as much of a chance as a snowball in the exhaust of a SpaceX rocket.

The Citizens decision was an insidious example of what conservatives are always railing about: The courts, in effect, making laws that should be the preserve of Congress.

At the urging of former Justice Anthony Kennedy, a supposed moderate, Chief Justice John Roberts expanded the scope of what the plaintiffs in Citizens were asking, and his conservative colleagues — the late Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito — largely joined in delivering a gut punch to democracy.

Roberts, Thomas, and Alito are still on the court, and there is an even stronger conservative majority now with Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett (though Barrett is nobody’s sheep).

The second road to rolling back Citizens is a constitutional amendment ending limitless campaign contributions and mandating public financing of elections.

Fourteen states already have some form of publicly financed elections. That’s a start, but the legislative journey to getting 24 more states on board (ratification requires three-fourths of the 50 states) would be long and treacherous. Before states get to vote, two-thirds of both the House and Senate must sign off on sending them a proposed amendment.

The rub there is that the vast majority of representatives and senators are controlled by Big Money.

That’s why it is essential to our freedom for every non-ultra-rich voter across the political spectrum to have a one-issue litmus test for all candidates: Do they pledge to support a constitutional amendment reversing Citizens and making all elections to national office publicly funded?

If the answer is “No,” you move on to another candidate. No exceptions. How you feel about immigration, safety-net programs, the deficit, one-time boys foot-racing biological girls, etc. — all of that becomes secondary.

Every one of the 435 members of the House is up for reelection on November 3, 2026, but only 33 of the 100 senators will face the voters. Still, those senators may be pliable cowards, but they are generally not stupid. They’ll get the message.

Of course, should the drive for a constitutional amendment gain any traction, the Big Money will spend mad fortunes to save its ever-strengthening oligarchy. But this is a war for the people and, hopefully, by the people, and there are way more liberty-loving Americans than there are greedy fat cats.

T-shirts you see on progressive backs these days say, “Eat the Rich!”

Musk and Ackman don’t look that tasty.

We just need to “Beat the Rich!”

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Note to Readers

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