Here is what I'm worrying about... will there be a purpose formed corporation whose sole goal is the election of an individual? They could accept money from investors to finance their operation. Then in the last 2 weeks of an election buy all available airtime nationwide (or just in swing states) and say just spout total lies about an opponent. Something like "XXX will force us into a fascist government". 24x7 before an election. Given enough money, they could buy all the airtime available, leaving no time for any opposition ads.
They have the right to lie, and if they are sued for liable / defamation, etc... they are a corporation that can be disbanded. And because they are a corporation, there is limited liability to the owners.
Corporations are already formed for the sole purpose of electing an individual aka. The Committee to Elect Barack Obama.
Also, buying all the airtime is basically impossible as it decreases supply while increasing demand. Once investors realized someone was trying to do that, they'd buy ad space just to sell to that company. It would be incredibly expensive to organize all the sub-companies needed to buy it all with out anyone noticing. If anyone notices the gig is up as investors will swoop in to take a cut of the action.
Besides, if anyone actually managed to do that, it would be VERY easy for the other side to get articles written about how their viewpoints can't be expressed.
It would generate so much free publicity for the other campaign that it would likely be counterproductive. I'd love to be the candidate opposing the guy who bought all the ad time. It's pretty much a guaranteed victory because of the public backlash that would result.
It would be incredibly expensive to organize all the sub-companies needed to buy it all with out anyone noticing.
Rockefeller did it. Both Senior and Junior, actually. On multiple occasions. Now, there's probably nobody alive today with that kind of capital and influence to burn on this (with possible exception of Bill Gates and the House of Saud, both of whom seem to have other plans for their money).
>will there be a purpose formed corporation whose sole goal is the election of an individual?
I believe this already exists and is called a campaign. There are already rules governing fair play for campaigns, along with political action committees (PACs) and 501(c)3 groups.
Yes, there are rules for these entities. However, there aren't any for for-profit companies. There is nothing stopping a for-profit company from running ads saying anything that they'd like.
Now, I'm not sure how they'd be able to try and make a profit...
Have you never heard of PACs, MoveOn - or for that matter, political parties?
These are organizations that exist for this sort of purpose. Why would some special-purpose single-election non-profit be any more "dangerous" than the sort of organizations that already exist?
> They have the right to lie, and if they are sued for liable / defamation, etc... they are a corporation that can be disbanded.
I'm not familiar with the exact legalities, but I'm pretty sure it's not legal to flat-out lie.
Also, there's only so much money can buy. If huge advertising budgets was a silver bullet, we'd all be running Windows (and loving it!) while chatting on AOL and drinking New Coke.
The legal system is not a programming language compiler, mindlessly deterministic and oblivious to loopholes. Violate the intent of the law egregiously enough, and they'll find something that will stick.
The point is, if you make an ad that lies about your opponent, he can (and will) get an injunction against it. You don't get to lie on air 24/7 for two weeks and then file for bankruptcy after the election, is my point.
Also, a corporation isn't a silver-bullet-proof shield against personal responsibility. Kenneth Lay was convicted on (among others) four counts of fraud and false statements, and faced 20-30 years in jail.
That already exists today, and has existed for a while. McCain Feingold did nothing to stop it. If anything it made it worse by restricting direct contributions to candidate campaigns.
1) Buy a large corporation
2) Create lots of child companies
3) Run them for congress
4) Create lots more child companies
5) Use them to vote
6) Take over government
7) Profit!
They have the right to lie, and if they are sued for liable / defamation, etc... they are a corporation that can be disbanded. And because they are a corporation, there is limited liability to the owners.