Cleveland Heights Hosting Discussion on Corporate Influence on Politics

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH - One of the hottest debates in the country among regular people interested in politics is the impact of the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling, which said corporations could donate money to a political cause as they saw fit because political spending is a form of protected speech.

Since that ruling, we have seen historic amounts of fundraising money funneled into politicians' pockets, usually via a Super PAC (Political Action Committee). The Center for Responsive Politics reports that the 2016 election cycle saw 2,421 groups organized as super PACs have reported total receipts of $1,799,364,335and total independent expenditures of $1,122,685,471.

The residents of Cleveland Heights, in Nov. 2013, passed a codified ordinance saying that corporations are not human beings and money does not constitute a form of free speech and regulating the flow of money in politics is not a limiting of free speech. It was a sweeping rebuke of the Citizens United decision.

Now the citizens will get a chance to voice their thoughts on that ordinance and the state of local and national politics. A public hearing will be held Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. at City Hall. The city says on its website that the hearing will examine the impact on Cleveland Heights, the state of Ohio, and the nation as a whole, of the political influence of corporate entities and big money.

Member of the general public will be given space to share their thoughts on the matters.

No member of city council responded to a request for comment on the meeting or what corporate influence in politics means to them.

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