LongTomH

LongTomH's Journal

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November 18, 2014

Amend the Constitution

Get rid of these dangerous precedents:

That an artificial person, corporation, PAC, 501-3C, etc, can be considered a person under the law, entitled to the constitutional rights and protections intended for natural persons - i.e. citizens.
That money, in the form of campaign contributions, can be considered constitutionally protected Free Speech protected by the First Amendment.

The only proposed Amendment to the Constitution that will accomplish both these ends is the We the People Amendment introduced in Congress as House Joint Resolution 29 on February 14, 2013. The recent Udall Amendment recently rejected by Congress lacked language that would address either the issue of corporate personhood or money as speech.

If you want to learn more go to Move to Amend's website. See if there's an MTA affiliate chapter near you, or start one.

November 6, 2014

Gloom, despair, agony on me, deep dark depression, excessive misery!!!!!!

I think this is what a lot of us have been feeling since Tuesday night.......

I was joking about this last night to my friends in the Kansas City Affiliate Chapter of Move to Amend. Which brings me to the crux of this post: We're all depressed right now; but, a lot of us are still fighting.

There are hopeful signs across the country; whenever a resolution to support a real Progressive issue was on the ballot, it won. Resolutions to amend the Constitution to get rid of big money in politics, were on the ballot in Massachusetts, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Florida. No matter how the Senate or gubernatorial contests ran, voters supported amending the constitution by big margins:

In Massachusetts, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Florida, citizens voted overwhelmingly yesterday for their legislators to pass a constitutional amendment to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling and declare that only human beings – not corporations – are entitled to constitutional rights and that money is not speech and campaign spending can be regulated.

Residents in dozens of cities had the opportunity to vote on measures calling for an end to the doctrines of corporate constitutional rights and money as free speech, and in every single town the vote was supportive. Often by an overwhelming margin.

...............//snip

Money in politics affects our lives everyday,” said Donna Richards, a Move to Amend volunteer of of Fond du Lac, WI. “We pay too much for healthcare. Our taxes go towards corporate welfare and wars, instead of education and protecting our environment. Our energy policy is dictated by Big Oil, and we can’t even pass reasonable gun background checks because the gun manufacturers have bought half of Congress. This isn’t what democracy looks like.”

...............//snip

"Nearly all Americans share the sentiment that corporations should not have the same rights as people, and big money in politics should be removed," stated Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap, National Director of Move to Amend. "It is time for Congress to pass the We the People Amendment and send it to the states for ratification. The leadership of both parties need to realize that their voters are clamoring for this amendment, and we are only going to get louder."

Before someone shows up here to whine: "You'll never do this! The rich and powerful will always rule!" I'm going to say: No one in Move to Amend has any illusions about this being easy. A lot of us are older, many of us already believe this probably won't be accomplished in our lifetimes; but, it needs to be done to restore democracy for our younger family and friends.

Please remember: the Constitution has been amended before.

See if there's a Move to Amend affiliate chapter near you and get involved.

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Member since: Wed Oct 13, 2004, 05:42 PM
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