Reid Backs Constitutional Amendment Limiting Campaign Contributions
Going off on — wait for it — the Koch Brothers, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced on the Senate floor Thursday morning that he backed a constitutional amendment limiting campaign contributions. “The Constitution does not give corporations a vote, and the Constitution does not give dollar bills a vote,” Reid said.
Calling the Koch Bros. a “couple of oil barons,” Reid argued that unlimited contributions gave outsized influence to the wealthy, to the point that elections had become a contest between political parties to choose “which billionaires they liked the best.”
“The Supreme Court has equated money with speech, so the more money, more speech you get, the more influence on democracy,” Reid said. “What kind of a system is that? It’s wrong. Every American should have the same ability to influence our political system. One American, one vote. That’s what the Constitution guarantees.”
The amendment, introduced by Senator Mark Udall (D-NM), would reverse Citizens United and the recent McCutcheon ruling, which struck down aggregate limits on total campaign contributions.
Watch the clip below, via C-SPAN 2:
[Image via screengrab]
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