Representative Edward J. Markey refused to back down Thursday from comments he made this week that seemed to compare the US Supreme Court’s ruling on campaign finance law to the high court’s 19th-century Dred Scott decision, a notorious pro-slavery ruling.
On Tuesday, at a campaign rally in Pittsfield, the Democrat said that if he is elected to the Senate he will fight for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, the 2010 case that allowed unlimited third-party spending in political campaigns.
Comments
This is the kind of man we need in the United States Senate. He is willing to take on the rich and powerful lobbysits that have bought the Supreme Court.
Now if he'd only apply the same logic to Hollywood, Unions and the Obama Mafia, he might have something.
'Hollywood, unions and the Obama mafia" funny!
Maybe his comparison was a bit over the top, but so what. He was saying the Supreme Court made a serious mistake, and I agree.
The whole country is being enslaved by the toxic secret big money in campaigns. Why are so many of our elected leaders scared of their own shadows? The toxic money has shut down many government officials at all levels. That fact is enslaving us all!
I am glad Obama lived up to his promise not tyo take any private money.....oh wait
How about the slavery of the middle class paying for the poor inner city welfare recipients who multiply without any concern for the consequences?
I don't get any racial allusions here. You didn't mean any, right, Brer Possum?
What an absurd comment. First, how can democratically determined tax and spending policies be deemed "slavery"? Secondly, does vladjr have any concept of how little tax money is actually spent on poor inner city welfare recipients? Finally, the veiled racism of the "multiply" language is repugnant.
just trying to make news. ads dont influene us how to vote. focus on the economy and unfairness of the tax code instead ed
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His point is that Supreme Court decisions can be overturned regardless of whether it's slavery, Roe v Wade or Citizen's United. Some people don't get it especially Steve Lynch, the Southern Democrat.
Absolutely on the mark. It is about the process...bad decision=overturn it by changing the law, in this case the constitution. Can't let the Court establish a precedent that corporations are people, and let that stand as the law of the land. Clearly there is a parallel to the process in the Scott case. Not everthing needs to be racialized, it tends to dilute serious consideration of the very persistant and real issues of racial inequality. You know; boy and wolf. Even Al Sharpton seems to have realized that and as a result has become more focused and more believable and therefore more listened to than he used to be and as a result more effective.
the is the stupidest, most ignorant and just downright weird article I've seen in a long time - and reason, by itself, to stop paying the obscene amount of money the Globe charges each month for the precious right to read its stupid, ignorant and weird take on the news. Markey was simply saying that Citizens United, like Dred Scott, needs to be overturned. He wasn't comparing it to the earlier decision in any sense. Why is this a page one story?!
You guys are absolutely crackers.
The article is sufficient reason for any Globe subscriber to ask for DOUBLE his money back.
"Lynch said in a statement ..." If Lynch (and others) issued a public statement criticising Markey, as opposed to responding to a question from the Globe, that made it news. On the otherhand if all of these statements were in response to solicitation from the Globe, I agree, this is just an issue manufctued by the Globe. Either way, I still don't see why folks like you that hate the Globe so much spend so much time here.
On Feb. 13, 2013 U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, announced on the House floor, “I stand here as a freed slave.”. Ms. Lee was asked "Who sold you, and how much was the price?" .Rep. Lee refused to answer. ....Ed Markey is the ONLY Congressman who believed her.
Rhetorical statements are obviously beyond your pay grade.
Markey is absolutely right about "Citizens" United both about how nefarious it is to our democracy and that it should be overturned. It's about time that someone in Congress (especially the House) has the courage to stand up to the money. Look at what happened in Westford when someone had the good sense to suggest that normal people in their town didn't need anti-aircraft weapons for self-defense. In comes the money, out goes the idea.
Yup, look what happened. A whole bunch of citizens showed up, and the Selectmen voted unanamously that Jeffrie's idea was a real bad one. Even Jeffries voted against his idea.
By the way, the issue was NOT anti aircraft weapons, it was ALL weapons. Jeffries is actually not the brightest bulb in the pack.
There was no money involved in what happened in Westford.
The analogy of the Dred Scott decision is accurate to the extent that it speaks only of the duty of people in our country to overturn absurd, tragic decisions. This analogy is plain and simple to me. Markey is spot on and no extrapolation of the meaning of what he said in terms of racial wrong doings were intended. Stick to your guns!!
Just so we are clear...everyone is against the Supreme Court decision on Citzens United ...well, not everyone. Newt kinda liked it. Karl Rove loves it (it pays his salary). But both Markey and Lynch are opposed to it. The question is, how bad a decision was it? Bad? Very Bad? Very Very Bad. Should we just stick to those kinds of descriptors?
For some who might have wavered on Markey this kind of thing marks him as the real McCoy. And the Globe doing a syntax analysis on his speaking is beyond obnoxious. Oh wait didn't we just have a US Senator who became Secy of State with precisely the same speech pattern.
Sorry if neither of these men speak like Scott Brown. On the issues Markey is just fine, and that is why I will vote for him, beginning and end of story.
Markey is very far from the first person to draw parallels between Dred Scott and Citizens United, and with good reason. Both decisions favor(ed) property over individuals and federal law at the specific expense of state law. Both seem to have been arrived at more by ideology than by legal reasoning.
Is this a case of the Globe anticipating criticism of the so-called liberal media?
More divisive politics. Say whatever will get one press & $$$ for one's campaign. When elected, do the special interest's, and corporate lobbyists's bidding. American electoral politics...advertising at it's best. What a sham, and a shame.
This is one of the reasons this long-time congressonal seat warmer has earned the well-deserved sobriquet, "Loudmouth". He is a somewhat maniacal idiot.
Earned it from whom? We should all be so honored as to merit such disdain.
I know Lynch's job is to differentiate himself from the competition, but would have more respect for him if he got on board with the program and quit the hair splitting. He knows where Markey was coming from.
Once again Lynch lines up with the republicans!
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“I think the day of African-Americans automatically supporting the Democratic candidate are over,” Swan said. “We have a more informed electorate that wants to weigh where the different candidates stand on the issues.”
Oh, sure.
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“The whole idea that the Koch brothers, Karl Rove can say we’re coming to Massachusetts, that we’re coming to any state in the union, with unlimited amounts of undisclosed money, is a pollution that must be changed...”
Thanks, Ed, but why no mention of the unions. They spend more on elections than anybody else.
That statement is false. Unions will never be able to compete with these interests by collecting money from their membership.
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And the candidate is going to do what to create JOBS? The guy doesn't even live in Massachusetts.
I like this! A white guy got to play the race card!
Now, if I had my way. . . . .
Nobody except citizens would be able to contribute to campaigns. $5 max. On your income tax form. Divided evenly between all candidates.
Think of it! With that little bit of money, we would only have to hear their nonsense for a few months, instead of years. Presidents would actually have to do their jobs instead of go off campaigning.
Our votes would really mean something for a change.
Please send all donations to: HistoryIsJustThat. Thank you!
Dems play the race card all day long. they just get prtected by our wonderful mdia
What a twit!
Can anyone say anything that might involve black history without bringing out the faux offended defenders of everything black? This comment is a nothing, but it gives the pseudo moralists a chance to get some publicity.
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"progressives" please provide data/facts that CU had any detrimental impact on the last election. Ill wait
Unfortunately, most of the postions presented in the "Comments" sections of these articles lack supporting data. They represent knee-jerk reactions...by readers on both sides of the "aisle." If you want to participate in a more thoughtful, fact-based discussion, you may want to try the Wall Street Journal.
I can't be the first one to notice this, but has anyone pointed out to our would-be senator that neither the brothers Koch nor Karl Rove are corporations? Perhaps unwittingly (though "tellingly" may be more apt), Markey is advocating for government censorship of **individuals** whose opinions he does not like.
Remarkable.
Yes, corporations are not people. But they are associations of people.
Were we to repeal Citizens United, would anyone care to offer criteria for our government censors to apply when determining which groups of people get to speak out on political issues and which we will silence under threat of fines and/or imprisonment?