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Source: The Eagle, Bryan, TexasOct.mini storage 13--There was a time in American politics when the government belonged to the "little guy." Not any longer.Increasingly, the government is owned and controlled by the rich and the incredibly rich.There's nothing wrong with being rich, to be sure. Most of us probably wish we were. The problem arises when the rich use their money -- lots of their money -- to, in effect, buy the election of politicians who will pass laws that will make them even richer.In the wake of the Watergate corruption of the early 1970s, Congress wisely passed laws to limit the influence of money on politics. Limits were placed on how much individuals could give, corporations were banned from contributing, public financing with spending limitations -- now a quaint notion -- and other measures were implemented. Average Americans at least had some voice in the electoral process, but that has been whittled away by those who wish to control the government.Three years ago, the Supreme Court, in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, decided that corporations, associations and labor unions are -- surprise -- people with First Amendment Rights. In that case, Citizens United, a conservative lobbying group, tried to run a film critical of Hillary Clinton prior to the 2002 party primaries. The effort violated the McCain-Feingold Act, which said that only people are, well, people and can spend money on elections.It doesn't matter what point of view Citizens United held or what the subject of the film was. Under years of American history, it was not entitled to spend money to broadcast the film.Citizens United sued and the case reached the Supreme Court, which held 5-4 in 2010 that portions of McCain-Feingold violated the Constitution, specifically the freedom of speech provisions of the First Amendment. We didn't know corporations or labor unions could speak, but according to the high court, they can indeed.And speak loudly they did. Only one-third of Barack Obama's financial support came from donors who gave $200 or less. Mitt Romney took in only 18 percent from smaller donors. The rest came from fat cats and newly-annointed "pself storageople."Corporations, labor unions and associations gave hundreds of millions of dollars. The Republicans took it. The Democrats took it. And, like Oliver Twist, they both asked for more.On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard a case involving the amount an individual can give in an election cycle. Under laws passed by Congress -- and supported 41 years ago by the Supreme Court -- individuals may give only a total of $123,200 in any federal election cycle, including a maximum $48,600 to one or more candidates. You are right: that's more than a good number of Americans make.Shaun McCutcheon of Alabama doesn't like the limits on how much he can give, so he sued to overturn them. He was joined by the national Republican Party and Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell. It is quite probable that the Supreme Court later this term will overturn the limits.If that happens, Solicitor General Donald Verrilli said, "Less than 500 people can fund the whole shootin' match." And if they do, who do you think the politicians will listen to?Of course, this isn't the only assault on free elections in America. For more than 200 years, we have seen legislators draw state and federal districts to hurt minority voter participation. In recent years, a new ploy is to require voters to show a photo ID in order to cast a ballot. Can't have too many of the real "people" trying to influence an election, can we?But those efforts will pale if the Supreme Court overturns campaign finance limits. If that happens, the majority of the people no longer will have a voice.When our Founding Fathers established the vote, they really didn't mean all people are created equal. Back then, only white males who owned property could vote. It took close to 200 years to make one-person, one-vote a reality.Now, the justices of the Supreme Court -- who by the way have spent most of their careers being appointed to their positions -- want to make it one fat-cat, one corporation, one labor union, one vote.And, sadly, none of gets a vote in the matter.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Eagle (Bryan, Texas) Visit The Eagle (Bryan, Texas) at .theeagle.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesmini storage