Critics fear foreign influence in US elections

The Supreme Court's decision on campaign finance has jumbled a seemingly simple rule of American politics _ foreigners should play no role in U.S. elections.

President Barack Obama and other critics say the court's decision to let corporations spend their money to directly influence elections opened the floodgates to foreign involvement. In last week's address to Congress and the nation, Obama asserted that the court had allowed special interests, "including foreign corporations, to spend without limit on our elections."

That was a step too far. At the moment, foreign corporations may not spend any money in U.S. elections under a provision of …