Now Democrats are crying about John Roberts and Samuel Alito

democrat-logoMaybe Democrats have evolved from blame Bush/Cheney to blame the Supreme Court. According to Politico, Senate Democrats are whining about Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito. They also continue to cry the blues over Alito’s silent “Not True” mouthing during the State of the Union Address where Obama showed how disgusting he truely his when he “scolded” them in front of the nation on their decision about the McCain/Feingold act. The Democrats are now whining that Roberts and Alito misled them during their confirmation hearings when they represented themselves as jurists who would respect precedent.

“You bet they misled,” said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the assistant majority leader and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

At issue is the ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the campaign finance decision Obama was discussing Wednesday night when Alito mouthed his objections.

In last week’s 5-4 decision, a majority of the justices — including Roberts and Alito — ruled that the government cannot restrict corporations and labor unions from spending general funds on advertising to support or oppose specific candidates in federal elections. Some analysts predict that the decision will open the door to a flood of campaign advertising by corporations and unions leading up to Election Day — and that Republicans will be the primary beneficiaries.

The decision overruled a 1990 case that upheld restrictions on corporate spending as well as a 2003 ruling upholding a portion of the campaign finance law written by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) that dealt with regulations on labor union and corporate financing.

Supporters say that Alito, Roberts and the three other justices in the majority simply returned to the original meaning of the First Amendment — that the ruling was intended to uphold the right of free speech.

“I really believe that an injustice was done to the First Amendment and political speech in the earlier decision,” said Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), a Judiciary Committee member who has argued before the high court. “I don’t think that’s activism.”

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January 29, 2010 · Filed Under Democrats


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