Americans’ broad views about corporate spending in elections generally accord with the Supreme Court’s decision Thursday that abolished some decades-old restrictions on corporate political activity. Fifty-seven percent of Americans consider campaign donations to be a protected form of free speech, and 55% say corporate and union donations should be treated the same way under the law as donations from individuals are. At the same time, the majority think it is more important to limit campaign donations than to protect this free-speech right.
Your true feelings about free speech (and whether you’re actually for it and not just for it when it directly benefits you) are determined by how you feel about this recent SCOTUS decision. A private corporation and the people who make up that corporation have every right to free speech as anyone else. If a corporation’s business interests and bottom line are better served by adopting certain political positions and contributing to politicians who share those positions, then so be it. Wealth and power shouldn’t limit rights and/or determine varying levels of free speech.
