Patrick Murphy Jabs Citizens United Decision, Koch Brothers

U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., now running for the Democratic nomination to replace U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in the Senate in 2016, doubled down on his support for campaign finance reform, calling out the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. 

“We’ve all seen the political ads that come up in an election year,” Murphy emailed supporters on Monday. “It’s hard to miss them. They’re full of dark images and sinister-sounding music. And they’re paid for by groups with names like ‘Americans for Freedom’ and ‘Prosperity of a Greater America GPS.’

“Of course, these groups aren’t backed by everyday Americans -- they’re backed by billionaires and corporations. These groups funnel huge sums of money, many times without disclosure, and dump it into elections to influence voters,” Murphy added. “How do they get away with it? Two words: Citizens United. The Supreme Court opened the spending door with that decision back in 2010 -- and special interest groups have burst right through, spending more and more as time goes on.”

Murphy insisted the decision had “disastrous effects...on our democracy,” especially in regards to  “Koch brothers’ network of outside groups.”

“In the 2014 elections, the Koch network spent $100 million and ran more than 44,000 ads,” Murphy wrote. “They’re planning on going even bigger in the 2016 elections -- they’ve pledged to spend almost a billion dollars. When groups can spend that much, their issues get heard most. Which is a problem, because the issues these groups care about are not the same issues Florida families care about. The Koch brothers, and their big-money donors, get one vote each -- just like everyone else. Their voices shouldn’t be heard a billion times louder than any other American. Their issues shouldn’t dominate elections across the country. This isn’t the United States of Koch & Friends. This is the United States of America. And this isn’t how our democracy should work.”