Need Some Good News?
I just received an email that is so perfectly crafted I thought I’d publish it here in its entirety. The subject: Citizens United, the notorious U. S. Supreme Court decision of 2010 that enables corporations to spend as much as they wish influencing our elections. This law has effectively put a spear through all meaningful democracy here in the U.S., but that sad fact is not lost on 80% of Americans, many of whom are working hard in support of a constitutional amendment that would restore the integrity of our electoral processes.
And believe it or not, this is actually happening.
Sure, ridding ourselves of Citizens United is critical to making progress in clean energy and other aspects of environmental protection. But it’s just as fundamental to those working for better education, universal healthcare, or any other social good that is being suppressed by moneyed interests who are so tenacious about maintaining the status quo. (The author of the email makes this point, but I want to emphasize it, as it’s critically important to understanding what’s at stake here.)
Now here’s that message:
Craig, Need some good news?
The nationwide movement to rescue our democracy from the billionaire and Big Business mega-spenders just got a major boost.
Today, New York became the 17th state to formally call for a constitutional amendment that would overturn Citizens United.
Just look at all the states that support overturning Citizens United:
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Hawaii
Illinois
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Montana
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
Oregon
Rhode Island
Vermont
West Virginia
That’s nearly 40% of the U.S. population.
But we can’t stop now.
Fully 80% of Americans believe we must overturn Citizens United.
Progress on so many issues — income inequality, gun violence, clean air and water, infrastructure investment, drug pricing, climate change, civil rights, Wall Street reform, and on and on — is being undermined by secretive forces exploiting Citizens United in an attempt to turn our country into their own plutocratic playground.
Public Citizen has led the way toward an amendment since the day the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its twisted, disastrous ruling.
And we were a key driver of the successful campaign in New York.
Next up are Washington, Arkansas and New Hampshire, among others.
Make sure we have the resources to build on today’s momentum and to keep fighting until Citizens United is history.
Citizens’ United is a serious problem. However, a constitutional amendment to nullify it must be worded very carefully to be sure that it doesn’t have unintended consequences.
In high school American history way back in 1955, we learned that the word “person” in the constitution includes corporations. Apparently that goes back to English common law. Therefore, the Supreme Court had little choice but to rule as it did. I’m not a lawyer and do not know what unintended consequences could result if an amendment simply stated that corporations shall not, under the law, be considered to be persons. Perhaps for some purposes corporations should continue to be considered to be persons.
Before enacting a constitutional amendment to undo the unfortunate effects of the Americans United decision, the matter should be thoroughly studied so that the wording of the amendment will not have negative consequences.
There seems to be multiple organized efforts to promote a constitutional amendment. http://www.wolf-pac.com/the_plan As you said this one is “perfectly crafted.” It would be interesting however to know more about who is behind the various organizations. Perhaps this would suggest the kind of amendment that is likely to be proposed.
Yea, We the People!
There is a risk in calling for a constitutional convention to mend the constitution. The matter came up during discussions about the equal rights amendment. Remember that?
It appears that if a constitutional convention occurs, its agendum cannot be limited to its stated purpose. It least in theory, it could actually repeal the complete existing constitution and enact a totally new constitution.