THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

Not exactly the stirring words that Lincoln spoke at Gettysburg, but a fair approximation of the oligarchy that the richers and their running dogs on the Supreme Court want to impose upon the United States.

In the first major case of its new term, the court could give those donors even more clout with lawmakers and their parties. The issue is whether federal limits, not on contributions to individual races but on how much a donor can give to all candidates for Congress or party committees in a particular election cycle, violate the right of free speech.

Three years ago, the current court under Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said in the Citizens United case that "independent" spending on election races was protected free speech and struck down long-standing bans on such spending by corporations and unions.

But until now, the court's conservatives have not joined together to strike down the Watergate-era limits on how much donors can give directly to candidates or party committees.

That has left the law in an odd posture. Wealthy people who want to influence campaign races can give millions of dollars to "super PACs" and other groups that pay for "independent" election ads, but they are barred by law from giving more than $48,600 in total to all members of Congress or more than $74,600 to the various party committees.

That may be about to change. On Oct. 8, the Supreme Court will take up an appeal from the Republican National Committee, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Alabama businessman Shaun McCutcheon, who say contributions should be treated as "core political speech." If they win, a wealthy Republican or Democrat could give as much as $3.6 million in total by giving the maximum amount to all of its party committees and candidates. This money could be funneled by party leaders into a close race or races, tipping the balance of power in Congress.

It is quite appropriate that the old unindicted reprobate, Mitch The Chin McConnell would be pressing this suit. And it is unlikely that the Dread Chief Justice Roberts and His Scurvy Crew will put any limits on their beloved plutocracy.