End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller released the following statement on the 12th anniversary of the Citizens United v. FEC Supreme Court case:
“Twelve years ago when the Supreme Court opened the door to a flood of unlimited, undisclosed, and corporate spending in our elections, it further stacked the system against hard-working American families and in favor of big money special interests.
“Unlimited corporate and big money spending has poisoned our politics, funding and propping up dark money groups and extremist politicians who are doing everything they can to enact radical, right-wing policies and restrict the freedom to vote and sabotage our elections. That same money has been used to capture the courts with justices who are fighting for corporations and the wealthy, not for American workers, families and their freedom to vote.
“On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate had a chance to shine a light on dark money corrupting our system and undo some of the worst effects of the Supreme Court’s decision, but Senate Republicans instead chose to side with their special interest donors and the un-American restrictive voting laws they support. While this was a setback, the fight for a free and fair democracy continues.
“On this anniversary, we rededicate ourselves to do all we can to end unlimited and unchecked spending in politics and undo one of the court’s most disastrous decisions that has had significant and negative ramifications on our country.”
See below for 9 facts on the worst outcomes of the Citizens United decision:
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Since the 2010 Citizens United decision, there has been $7.4 billion of outside spending in federal elections.
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Over $1 billion in untraceable “dark money” was spent in 2020 alone.
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90% of all outside spending in federal elections since 1990 has come since the 2010 decision.
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$5 billion spent by super PACs since 2010 is almost triple what it cost to make all eleven Star Wars movies.
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Just 12 wealthy donors accounted for $3.4 billion in federal donations from 2009-2021, amounting to one in every $13 that all federal campaigns and outside groups raised.
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Wall Street is the top industry contributor since Citizens United, giving over $2.5 billion, including a record $805 million in the 2020 cycle.
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Drug companies have spent over $123 million in federal elections, including $28 million in the 2020 cycle.
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The gun lobby spent $155 million in outside spending since 2010, more than three times what gun violence prevention advocates spent.
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Oil & gas companies accounted for nearly half of corporate contributions to outside groups in the 2020 cycle of over $1 million – with every contribution going to GOP super PACs or dark money groups.
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