Obama: Campaign ruling is 'devastating'

WASHINGTON (AP/WANE) - President Barack Obama said he can't imagine "anything more devastating to the public interest" than the Supreme Court's decision to ease limits on campaign spending by corporations and labor unions.

He also suggested in his radio and Internet address Saturday that the ruling could jeopardize his domestic agenda.

In the 5-4 decision Thursday, the high court threw out parts of a 63-year-old law that said companies and unions can be prohibited from using their own money to produce and run campaign ads that urge the election or defeat of particular candidates by name.

"This ruling opens the floodgates for an unlimited amount of special interest money into our democracy," the president said. "It gives the special interest lobbyists new leverage to spend millions on advertising to persuade elected officials to vote their way -- or to punish those who don't."

Obama said that means lawmakers who stand up to Wall Street banks, oil companies, health insurers and other powerful interests could find themselves under attack at election time.

"I can't think of anything more devastating to the public interest," he said. "The last thing we need to do is hand more influence to the lobbyists in Washington or more power to the special interests to tip the outcome of elections."

On the other hand, U.S. Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN) praised the decision and issued a statement Thursday.

Pence said, “Freedom won today in the Supreme Court. Today’s ruling in the Citizens United case takes us one step closer to the Founding Fathers’ vision of free speech, a vision that is cherished by all Americans and one Congress has a responsibility to protect. If the freedom of speech means anything, it means protecting the right of private citizens to voice opposition or support for their elected representatives. The fact that the Court overturned a 20-year precedent speaks volumes about the importance of this issue."

“In 2003, the Supreme Court unwisely supported the oppressive restrictions on free speech that were part of the 2002 campaign finance law. At the time, I was honored to stand with Senator Mitch McConnell and various state and national organizations in challenging this historic error in court. Since that time, the Court has taken important steps toward restoring to the American people their First Amendment rights. This decision is a victory on behalf of those who cherish the fundamental freedoms protected by the First Amendment.”

The ruling came out as lawmakers make re-election plans and as Obama's Democratic Party feels the pressure from losses in New Jersey, Virginia and in Massachusetts, where Republican Scott Brown came from behind to win a Senate seat on Tuesday that Democrats had held for decades.

Obama said the decision will make it harder to enact financial, tax, health care and energy changes.