Monday Wednesday Morning Quarterbacking: The 2018 Midterm Elections [Editor’s Note: The views expressed here are solely those of Ross Kaplan, and do not represent Edina Realty, Berkshire Hathaway (“Berkshire”), or any other entity referenced. Edina Realty is a subsidiary of Berkshire.] “(Chief Justice) John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it!” –President Andrew...Read More
The Cost(s) of Corporate “Free Speech” In this era of increasingly unfettered corporate power, it’s worth remembering that — at least once upon a time — corporate charters were issued by the sovereign (king, actually), to a relative handful of entities, and conferred extremely narrow rights and powers. Like, the right to conduct a specific...Read More
“Sunlight is the best disinfectant.” –Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis With the Supreme Court’s holding in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, No. 12-536 this week, apparently we are well on the way towards no limits on campaign contributions, by any entities, for any office. Yippee! As deplorable as that development is, it’s aggravated by ever-murkier disclosure...Read More
Entrenched Management’s Favorite Weapon Imagine a political maneuver that allowed an embattled state governor — facing widespread voter disapproval and imminent defeat at the polls — to magically conjure millions of additional votes to give to his or her political allies and supporters. Exactly how long do you suppose such a flagrant legal abuse artifice...Read More
Proposed 29th Amendment Rocks are not people. Frogs are not people. Cars are not people. Asteroids are not people. It should hardly be necessary to state something so patently obvious, but here goes one more: Corporations are not people. Cititzens United Aftermath Ahh, but according to the U.S. Supreme Court, corporations are people — or...Read More
The Supreme Court’s Ruling on “Citizens United” Does anyone — besides the Supreme Court — really believe that the problem with contemporary American politics is that there’s too little corporate money driving the nation’s political agenda? To the point where whole industries — like Wall Street and the financial sector — quite transparently now have...Read More
