"Outcries against the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, extending corporations' 1st Amendment rights, point to many advantages giving corporations the edge over natural persons: "Limited liability" protects company owners from personal responsibility for business debts; and corporations are virtually immortal -- a big advantage. Mostly, though, critics point out the obvious: that a corporation's resources -- Exxon Mobil earns $1,300 per second -- typically dwarf those of ordinary mortals.
But whatever one's stand on "free speech rights" for corporations, what seems inarguable is that once the Court -- notably in its 1976 Buckley v. Valeo decision -- began conflating spending and speech corporations and the wealthiest among us have been the big winners. Their vast resources enable them to morph into ear-shattering bullhorns drowning out regular citizens."
