Obama vows "forceful, bipartisan response" to campaign finance decision

We’ve been making steady progress. But this week, the United States Supreme Court handed a huge victory to the special interests and their lobbyists – and a powerful blow to our efforts to rein in corporate influence. This ruling strikes at our democracy itself. By a 5-4 vote, the Court overturned more than a century of law – including a bipartisan campaign finance law written by Senators John McCain and Russ Feingold that had barred corporations from using their financial clout to directly interfere with elections by running advertisements for or against candidates in the crucial closing weeks.

After a week of setbacks for Democrats and progressive causes, President Barack Obama took to the airwaves this morning to attack the Thursday Supreme Court decision that lifted restrictions on corporate spending in elections, sounding a populist alarm and vowing to work with Congress to formulate some sort of legislative response.

When this ruling came down, I instructed my administration to get to work immediately with Members of Congress willing to fight for the American people to develop a forceful, bipartisan response to this decision. We have begun that work, and it will be a priority for us until we repair the damage that has been done.