Supreme Court ruling on campaign money: Are campaign donations free speech under the First Amendment?
Yes, I think campaign donations are free speech under the First Admendment.
I think that people should be able to express their views and opinions in the form of donating money to a politician who is running on a platform that they agree with, I think that a donation is indeed a form of free speech because you are directly supporting those ideas.
Campaign donations are not free speech
Campaign donations destroy the democratic process by allowing powerful individuals to control politics. Companies, super PACS, and billionaires represent 90% of campaign funding but are comprised of 1% of voters. Money and politics do not mix, and when money becomes a legal expression of your political opinion, the richest begin to have the most influence and the democratic process is destroyed.
No, they are not.
Let's get this out of the way. This has nothing at all to do with free speech, and it was foolhardy of the Supreme Court to treat this matter as such. All this does is open up the door for the wealthy to have even more power than they already do.
No, camapign donations should not be considered an expression of free speech.
Campaign donations should not be considered "free speech." The American people have a compelling interest in controlling the amount money that can be donated to a political campaign. We (the public) have an interest in ensuring the our elected officials have not been unduly influenced by large amounts money being donated to their campaigns.