Welcome to your oligarchy! The Los Angeles Times reported this morning, Supreme Court Lifts Overall Limits on Congressional Campaign Donations. It used to be that donors could only give a total of $123,000 per year to Congressional candidates or political parties. This decision is not a shock, of course. The reasoning is the same as it was for Citizens United. And the same five justices voted in favor of it just like the same four justices voted against it.

According to the article, “The justices noted that donors must still abide by rules that prevent them from giving more than $2,600 per election per candidate.” That’s actually kind of shocking. If money is speech and there is no reason to stop total campaign contributions, how is limiting the amount someone can give to an individual candidate justified? I think I know the reason and it is really upsetting.

If the justices simply removed all campaign finance at once, there would be a backlash. The people would demand a change to the Constitution. The justices know this. So it is their plan to eliminate all limits gradually. That way, by the time the rich own our democracy, it won’t be shocking. It will be just another negative step, but not that much worse than the way things were just before. So there’s no cry for change.

The big problem here is just how radical the activism of the Supreme Court now is. Remember all the discussion of stare decisis when John Roberts was nominated? This is the idea that if you are going to overturn long settled matters, you had better have a good reason. Well, in the case of Citizens United and today with McCutcheon vs FEC, the Court overturned decades-old law. And they have not done it with a scalpel but rather with a baseball bat.

I hope everyone sees just how dangerous this all is. Already, the Court decided that state campaign finance law in Montana was unconstitutional. Step by step, the Court is tightening a noose around the neck of democracy in America. Soon, we will have an oligarchy. Of course, in good American tradition, we will still call it democracy.