badgenome said:
They can't, though. Not directly, at least. Sure, they can take out their own ads that basically echo a campaign's own attack ads or whatever, but there is a cap on direct donations and collusion is still strictly illegal (though I'm sure it happens, of course). The problem is that it's exceedingly arbitrary to say that a corporation like the New York Times Company can essentially spend millions of dollars on campaigns by taking an editorial stance on a particular issue or endorsing a particular candidate, but a corporation like Koch Industries can't. Freedom of speech and press belongs to everyone, not only to some properly anointed priesthood of so-called journalists. |
I consider PACs "directly". It's a media blizzard for 2 years out of every 4, instead of a 6 week, low-key, low-budget tour like the UK.
Koch can publish all the editorial it wants. The line on when something is advertisement is very clear.
