"It's presidential season, so again pundits are indignant that money is spent on politics. Spent by corporations! And rich people! Because the Supreme Court allowed that, '2012 will be a miserable year,' says The Washington Post's E.J. Dionne. 

"2012 may be miserable -- but if it is, it won't be because corporations spend on politics. And anyway, they have a right to spend.  

"In politics, money is speech. ... 

"It is shameful that leftists let their hatred of corporations lead them to throw free speech under the bus. There is a smarter way to get corporate money out of politics: Shrink the state. If government has fewer favors to sell, citizens will spend less money trying to win them."