In a 5-4 split the Supreme Court delivered another very conservative campaign finance decision yesterday, ruling the "Millionaires' Amendment" provision of the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform (BRCA) law unconstitutional. While its impossible to say what the full implications of this decision are, its clear the Court is no friend to laws that seek to limit the influence of private money on our elections.

Over the course of his campaign for president, former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) has often been accused of changing his personal opinions based on what's most politically expedient. His position on campaign finance reform is no different.

For those with HBO, be sure to tune in on Thursday, October 18th for the premiere of "Run Granny Run" (9PM EST, check local listings) the story of Doris "Granny D" Haddock who walked across America for campaign finance reform then, at the age of 94 decided to run for Senate in New Hampshire.  Watch a preview here. If you like the idea of elections focused on voters, not donors, and a Granny who speaks her mind, you won't want to miss this.

According to Dmitri Vassilaros at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, campaign finance reform is a)"chilling"; b)a tool of The Man to keep citizens away from government; and c) waaay too popular among elected officials. First, thanks Dmitri for making the campaign finance crowd sound so fascinatingly evil -- I feel like I should be writing this from a mountaintop hideaway while petting a pit bull and twirling my gold pinkie ring. Second, public financing hardly limits speech, in fact it broadens it.

Calling the history of reforming campaign finance laws "Sisyphean," Jack Beatty writes in The Atlantic Online on the recent Supreme Court ruling weakening certain provisions of BCRA and how the fight to counter the influence of money on U.S. elections is over 100 years old and nowhere near over.

Big news from the Supreme Court yesterday which decided on a 5-4 vote to loosen certain regulations established under the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA, better known as the McCain-Feingold Act) to allow corporations and unions to air ads that mention a candidate's name right up to election day. It  likely means a larger influx of money from groups that traditionally run these ads, perhaps leading to a more expensive elections cycle.