Lobbyists ‘intimidate’ congressional staff after Citizens United decision

[Playinghardball]

Source: Raw Story
By Eric W. Dolan

Some Democratic congressional staffers personally feel a need to respond differently to lobbyists in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision, according to a recent survey.

The Citizens United vs. FEC case overturned generations of U.S. campaign law that limited corporate donations and required the identity of donors be disclosed. President Barack Obama and other Democrats have been ardent in criticizing it as permitting limitless corporate influence.

The advocacy group Public Citizen conducted an informal survey of 80 Republican and Democratic congressional staff members in which recipients were asked about the effects of the Citizens United ruling.

Fifty-seven percent of Democratic congressional staffers said the decision strengthened the influence of lobbyists in the policy making process. In stark contrast, none of the staff members who worked for Republican members of Congress felt the same way.

More at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/05/11/lobbyists-intimidate-congressional-staff-after-citizens-united-decision/

[aSpeckofDust]

1. Of course the republican staffers felt that way, lobbyists have been writing their legislation for

decades now. :|