Implications of the Supreme Court Ruling - Essay Example

In January, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturned a ban on corporate and union involvement in federal elections that had been in effect since May 1990. This applies that corporations, unions and other organizations can now spend unlimited sums of money which are drawn from their own treasuries to fund political advertisements taking one side among the competitors and supporting them contrary to what had been going on when they were banned from engaging in such activity. The money cannot, however, be used on direct contributions to the candidates but only as independent expenditures.

The ruling which opened the floodgates to unlimited corporate and union spending in elections was a major victory for the groups which wanted to participate in the campaign process but had been barred from doing so by the laws. On top of that, the Supreme Court ruled that donors need not be disclosed and so it will be no longer be possible to tell which interest groups are funding which politicians. The contributions the groups make towards the campaigns should be regulated and the names of the contributors should be made public so that they can shy off from such expedition.

By concentrating on the super PAC Stephen Colbert wanted to raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions and other groups as well as wealthy individuals. He specified that the money raised would not only be used for political ads but also for normal administrative expenses which would include private jet travels, hotel stays, and PAC mementoes from Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. In this way, Colbert was able to raise $1.02 million in their January 2012 filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

The increased amount of money drawn from outside sources will change the face of politics and the results as well. The groups funding the candidates will also have a say once the candidate gets into position and this will increase biasness. This is one of the reasons why the Supreme Court’s Ruling was uncalled for at this specific time. The current officeholders will have to replicate the goodwill done during the campaign period and this will affect the way they execute their administrative duties and responsibilities.