# If money is speech, and speech is money... **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 8, 2016, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-money-is-speech-and-speech-is-money/745523 "2016-02-08T08:52:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-money-is-speech-and-speech-is-money/745523/262 "2016-02-17T18:23:44Z")
But BCRA only applied to corporations. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-money-is-speech-and-speech-is-money/745523/263 "2016-02-17T18:26:55Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > But BCRA only applied to corporations. But Buckley didn’t say “except for corporations.” Buckley established the link between money and speech. The status of a speaker was already irrellevant to whether speech is protected (though if you asked me for cases, I’d have to go look, so don’t ask me). ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-money-is-speech-and-speech-is-money/745523/264 "2016-02-18T00:18:11Z")
There already are slight limits on speech and campaigning. In California, on election day, you’re not allowed to carry campaign materials (e.g., wear a “Vote Democratic” t-shirt" or make political speeches, within a certain radius of the voting site. I can stand X yards away with my placards, but no closer. In a hyper-strict interpretation, this law should be struck down, as it restricts speech. But somehow it never has been. Is this a real problem to anyone? Are there any major advocacy groups arguing against this law? Is it a principle that could be “slippery sloped” to a more general prohibition on campaign speech? (I like the law as it is, as it guarantees me a hassle-free voting experience. I don’t have to shove through barricades of advocates to get to the polling place. But I don’t want it expanded or generalized.) ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-money-is-speech-and-speech-is-money/745523/265 "2016-02-27T14:59:39Z")
So now we have a corporation (Apple) asserting constitutional rights, including the right to freedom of speech, in a fight with the government. And I’m guessing many of the same people who go around saying corporations have no rights (which would mean they can’t even mount a legal defense against the government in the first place) are now cheering Apple for standing up for privacy. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-money-is-speech-and-speech-is-money/745523/266 "2016-02-27T15:07:30Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > people who go around saying corporations have no rights I just asked **Linus** this question, since he said almost exactly the same thing in another thread: Who on earth are all these people who assert that corporations have _no_ rights? ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-money-is-speech-and-speech-is-money/745523/267 "2016-02-27T15:55:59Z")
> [@andros](#): > > I just asked **Linus** this question, since he said almost exactly the same thing in another thread: Who on earth are all these people who assert that corporations have _no_ rights? You’ve never heard the “corporations aren’t people” refrain? That’s what it’s about. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-money-is-speech-and-speech-is-money/745523/268 "2016-02-27T15:58:55Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > You’ve never heard the “corporations aren’t people” refrain? That’s what it’s about. It’s about asserting that corporations have no rights? Cite? ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-money-is-speech-and-speech-is-money/745523/269 "2016-02-27T16:06:20Z")
> [@andros](#): > > It’s about asserting that corporations have no rights? Cite? See my response on the Apple thread please. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-money-is-speech-and-speech-is-money/745523/270 "2016-02-27T16:52:44Z")
> [@andros](#): > > I just asked **Linus** this question Cheesus, my humble apologies for confusing you and **Linus**. I can only blame the lack of caffeine. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-money-is-speech-and-speech-is-money/745523/271 "2016-02-27T17:34:51Z")
> [@andros](#): > > Cheesus, my humble apologies for confusing you and **Linus**. I am deeply offended! 😃 I do that all the time, so no big deal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-money-is-speech-and-speech-is-money/745523.md?page=13)