Justice Alito during Obama's SOTU: Not true

Duct tape may be used during the next Obama speech. Darn those Supreme Court Justices. They can't stop mouthing their dissent while Obama's lying about them.



The Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United v. FEC that companies cannot be muzzled during elections because they are protected under the First Amendment.

Last night, Obama said the decision

"open[ed] the floodgates for special interests — including foreign corporations — to spend without limit in our elections. Well I don't think American elections should be bankrolled by America's most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities."

Of course, that isn't true. Foreign entities cannot make political contributions. That law hasn't changed. Thankfully, Obama doesn't let something like truth and legal ignorance stand in his way.

UPDATE:
Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times gives an explanation of Obama's wrongness.

This time, Justice Alito shook his head as if to rebut the president’s characterization of the Citizens United decision, and seemed to mouth the words “not true.” Indeed, Mr. Obama’s description of the holding of the case was imprecise. He said the court had “reversed a century of law.”

The law that Congress enacted in the populist days of the early 20th century prohibited direct corporate contributions to political campaigns. That law was not at issue in the Citizens United case, and is still on the books. Rather, the court struck down a more complicated statute that barred corporations and unions from spending money directly from their treasuries — as opposed to their political action committees — on television advertising to urge a vote for or against a federal candidate in the period immediately before the election. It is true, though, that the majority wrote so broadly about corporate free speech rights as to call into question other limitations as well — although not necessarily the existing ban on direct contributions.