In a vote of five to four, the Court decided that big corporations are entitled to the First Amendment rights, hence their political speech should not be limited.

The ruling led to mounting criticism among the US progressive sector, who described the decision as a big mistake that should be immediately annulled.

President Barack Obama said the ruling is an “a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans”, reports Democracy Now!
The US independent media outlet broadcasted part of Obama’s weekly radio address on Saturday. There, the US president assailed the Supreme Court’s decision.

"This ruling opens the floodgates for an unlimited amount of special interest money into our democracy," Obama said.
"It gives the special interest lobbyists new leverage to spend millions on advertising to persuade elected officials to vote their way—or to punish those who don’t. That means that any public servant who has the courage to stand up to the special interests and stand up for the American people can find himself or herself under assault come election time. Even foreign corporations can now get into the act. I can’t think of anything more devastating to the public interest. The last thing we need to do is hand more influence to the lobbyists in Washington or more power to the special interests to tip the outcome of elections”.
The reaction of the Republican Party was different, historical political rival of the ruling Democratic party. From its higher circles they praised the Court’s decision and called it an advance in defense of the freedom of speech of corporations.

However, Obama said his government is planning a response to the ruling, he’s working on it with both Republican and Democratic lawmakers.

*Audio of Obama’s address taken from Democracy Now!