OPINION: hidden influence-peddling in Washington

Mainstream media largely ignore how special interests get what they want in nation's capital

By Wendell Potter
6:00 am, May 20, 2013 Updated: 4:13 pm, May 20, 2013

I was not among those who believed the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision would open the floodgates of corporate money to influence elections and public policy. While the decision enables corporations to call for the election or defeat of federal candidates, those expenditures have to be reported and few corporations will take the risk of losing customers by getting involved in politics so publicly.

The reality is, the floodgates have been open for years, and the attention focused on Citizens United has actually been helpful to corporations, because it has diverted the public’s attention away from the deceptive yet perfectly legal ways corporations are able to deploy enormous sums of money to advance their political agendas.