Money politics has long dominated American politics, but the scale of the problem has gotten much worse since the Supreme Court made its infamous 2010 ruling popularly known as Citizens United. It seems that a new D.C. court makes the situation worse. The decision which landed yesterday allows federal candidates to loan money to their campaigns and then later raise unlimited amounts to pay themselves after elections. Donald Shaw had this information in Sludge. Here is an excerpt:

A D.C. court yesterday delivered good news to wealthy politicians and those looking to curry favor with them: federal candidates with the means to personally loan money to their campaigns can now raise unlimited amounts after their elections for the purpose of repaying themselves.

In a case brought by the campaign of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) against the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the D.C. District Court determined that the previously existing loan-repayment limit of $250,000 “burdens political speech and thus implicates the protection of the First Amendment.”

The case stems from Cruz’s 2018 Senate run against Beto O’Rourke. Cruz lent his campaign $260,000 in the final days of the competitive race but was only able to pay himself $250,000 from his campaign due to a loan-repayment cap that was enacted in the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. 

Find the full article through this link. Also, visit the main Democracy Chronicles section on American Democracy, our section on Money Politics, or our articles on Political Lobbying.