This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Over 100 years ago, political cartoonist Joseph Keppler drew a political cartoon. It depicted larger than life robber barons representing various trusts and special interests on the Senate floor towering over the politicians.
That cartoon is as timely today as it was then, especially after the Supreme Court's decision in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission ("Court loosens rules for big political campaign donors," Tribune, April 2).
This decision, coupled with Citizen's United, will create a new class of "robber barons" who, with their wealth and influence, will help create a new corrupt class of "gilded age" politicians to get elected. Political offices will go to the highest bidder and the average citizens' voice drowned out by greenbacks.
Justice Stephen Breyer got it right in his dissent when he said "Where enough money calls the tune, the general public will not be heard. Insofar as corruption cuts the link between political thought and political action, a free marketplace of political ideas loses its point."
Brent Smith
Ogden