MASTER PLAN, Ep 5: Corporations Are People, My Friend

You might remember Mitt Romney’s infamous line: “Corporations are people, my friend.” But where did the idea that businesses have the same rights as humans come from?

In Master Plan’s fifth episode, we explore how an unlikely catalyst — Robert Kennedy’s 1968 assassination — created an opportunity for the Powell Memo movement to deal the first and perhaps most important blow against America’s new campaign finance laws: a court ruling equating money with constitutionally protected speech.

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With a supporting cast including James Buckley, John Bolton, Charles Koch, and Robert Bork, this U.S. Supreme Court case was the first to frame the fight against campaign finance regulations as a crusade to protect First Amendment and third-party rights. 

The master planners were just getting started. While Buckley v. Valeo blew the lid off limits to some campaign expenditures, Big Business also wanted to ensure that corporations could spend as freely as their human counterparts. This is where Justice Lewis Powell would work behind the scenes to deliver an expansive ruling that laid the foundation for Citizens United. 

To access Episode 5 bonus content, including a booklet arguing money equals free speech and secret Supreme Court documents detailing the Justices’ personal thoughts on their cases, become a paid subscriber at a discount right now.

If you become a paid subscriber, you can also listen right now to Episode 6 and score early access to all future episodes. Here’s what’s in store:

Episode 6: The Maverick Vs. The Corruption Machine (Premium Access Only)

When five U.S. senators get caught pressuring a regulator on behalf of a financial magnate, they become known as the “Keating Five.” The public is predictably outraged. But what no one expects is that one of those senators will learn from his mistakes and become the staunchest campaign finance reformer in decades.

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