From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Big money, political influence, and the right to free speech.

Hello again, I'm Armin Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues, Americans care about most.

In 1907, trust-busting President Teddy Roosevelt persuaded Congress to ban corporations from contributing to political campaigns.

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court considered reversing more than 100 years of finance limitations that now cover unions as well as corporations.

The ACLU and the National Rifle Association advocate letting them spend in the interests of

unlimited free speech.

Democrat Russ Feingold and Republican John McCain warn that a flood of money will drown

out the voices of ordinary citizens.

We'll get that story today.

First, here's the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW, Santa Monica, and from the Public Radio

International Program Fund, whose contributors include the Ford Foundation, the John

D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation and its campaign for

American workers. More at rockfound.org.

Hello again, Mormon Alney, back with To the Point. That attack video called Hillary the

movie is at the heart of a case that could change the way political campaigns for federal

offices have been financed for more than 100 years. We'll hear about today's extraordinary

session of the U.S. Supreme Court, the first for the new justice, Sonia Sotomayor. On reporter's extraordinary session of the U.S. Supreme Court, the first for

the new justice, Sonia Sotomayor. On reporter's notebook, can the U.S. afford human exploration in space?

What about private enterprise? First is news update. There is evidence today that Afghanistan is

...