The Chair recognizes the Senator from Wellpoint

Since I've already set you up with one downhead riff for today, here's another from three public health lawyers in the new NEJM. You probably haven't thought much about that pesky Citizens United Supreme Court ruling since it came down in January but that's because you're living in a fool's paradise. That's the one about how corporations are people and therefore have the same First Amendment rights as you do to spend a billion dollars on an election campaign. Hey, what are you complaining about? You can spend a billion dollars if you want to, kwitcherbitchin.

Anyhow, they point out that insurance companies can now spend unlimited bucks to run attack ads against candidates they don't like, in the month before the 2010 election. Of course they would never do such a thing, just to protect their pecuniary interests. I mean, come on, corporations have souls, they have moral scruples, they care what happens to you.

If you think about it, drug companies have certain ideas about the FDA, beverage companies have certain ideas about sugar taxes and what's in school cafeterias, Monsanto has certain ideas about what can and cannot be dumped into the river . . . and just like you, they can now spend billions of dollars to elect the candidates they like. Viz the previous post, consider the poor, beleaguered coal companies.

It's gonna be a wonderful second decade of the 21st Century, lemme tell yuh.