When Money Talks: The High Price of Free Speech and the Selling of Democracy

Special-interest money is destroying our democratic process. But now that the Citizens United decision has thrown out campaign spending limits as abridgments of free speech, Americans want to know what they can do about it. There's nothing inherently unconstitutional in limiting the amount of speech, Cressman insists. We do it all the time-cities control when and where demonstrations can take place or how long people can speak at council meetings. It's not at all what the Founders had in mind when they wrote the First Amendment. Cressman examines how courts have failed attempts to limit campaign spending, details what a constitutional amendment limiting paid speech should say, and reveals an overlooked political tool concerned citizens can use to help gain the amendment's passage.