Supreme Court Strikes Down Key Campaign-Finance Provision

Well the voting went as I expected.

The five conservative judges:
Alito
Kennedy
Roberts
Scalia
Thomas
ruled for Citizens United.

The four liberal judges:
Breyer
Ginsburg
Sotomayor
Stevens
made up the minority voting for the Federal Election Commission.


All of this means that President Obama only needs one more appointment to swing the balance of power on the court and many of these types of decisions revert to five to four in the other direction. I don't see Justice Ginsburg remaining through Obama's entire first term let alone beyond 2012. Granted this would most likely be a neutral appointment unless the President were to nominate an individual with very far left views something that prior to last Tuesday's election was not out of the realm of possibility. Should one of the conservative justices retire or, God forbid, develop a serious health problem and the court could change dramatically.

So unless the Republicans can take back the House and the Senate in the mid term elections which could happen there could be some real long term effect from Obama's election as he will surely make at leas one more appointment to the court.

Retaking the majority in congress is not completely out of the question but certainly not a sure thing. The much bigger question will be if they, the Republicans, do regain power will they grow a back bone and learn to use it. Perhaps if the Tea Party movement can sustain its momentum holding representatives responsible to the citizens, combined with the bitter taste of the treatment received at the hands of the Democrats during Obama's first year in office the Republicans will manage to move in the direction that their constituents elected them to take when they sent them to Washington. Only time will answer this question.

The real answer of course is to elect representatives in Washington who will return to the Constitution as envisions by it's authors. The Supreme Court should interpret if laws passed by the congress do or do not fall within the restrictions set forth by the United States Constitution. When we return to the concepts of the documents by which the country was created many of these issues will be resolved. Until that time I continue to pray for the nation and it's leaders.