Money Out….Voters In
In January 2010 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Citizens United vs FEC (Federal Election Commission). The U.S. Supreme Court in a 5 to 4 decision ruled that corporations are persons and have the same rights to free speech.
This allowed corporations and foreign countries to give unlimited amounts of money to any candidate without being identified. In the past four years, a wealthy few people and many corporations have been buying our democracy on all levels: local, state and national.
Many groups have been working toward amending the US Constitution to overturn the Citizens United ruling. The past four years show impressive results:
Sixteen states have formally called for an amendment: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and West Virginia.
Thirteen other states are in the process of calling for an amendment: Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington.
There are over 500 cities, towns and communities throughout the nation that have passed amendment resolutions. Over 150 members of Congress are on record supporting an amendment. Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Ted Deutch have introduced an amendment in Congress to overturn Citizens United. It is called Democracy Is For People.
In Wisconsin, 26 communities are ready to amend. At least 12 more Wisconsin communities will vote on April 1 to move to amend. In the Wisconsin State Assembly there is a bill for a statewide vote: AJR50. A State Senate bill is coming soon.
The fight for “one person: one vote” is far from over. The Citizens United ruling is one of the worst Supreme Court decisions of our time and a grave threat to our democracy.
The midterm elections later this year will see record-setting spending by billionaires like Sheldon Adelson and the Koch Brothers, corporate giants like Exxon Mobil and Bank of America, and dark money transfers from Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
What can we do? Talk with your friends and neighbors about this important movement:
Watch this video on this web site: www.storyofcitizensunited.org
Visit “Move to Amend” website: https://movetoamend.org/resolutions