| Dear Katy, Citizens United v. FEC helped create Trump. In the wake of that devastating Supreme Court decision, corporate interests and right-wing mega-donors poured untold amounts of cash into hijacking our elections. Citizens United boosted Republicans' vote share by three to four points in states where bans on corporate spending had previously been in effect.1 In a few short years, wealthy right-wing special interests bought the Senate for Republicans and paved the way for Trump's takeover of the White House. Now, there is new energy in Congress to finally overturn Citizens United with a constitutional amendment.2 It's up to us to show support for the boldest possible proposals to finally end the scourge of dark money eroding our democracy. Tell Congress: Overturn Citizens United. Pass the We the People amendment. Click here to sign the petition. In Citizens United, the Supreme Court opened the floodgates to unlimited spending on elections by corporations. A few years later, in McCutcheon v. FEC, the Court struck down limits on how much money individual mega-donors can give to candidates during a single election cycle. The Court's conservatives aren't likely to stop there. They'll continue tearing down campaign finance protections that prevent corporations from drowning out the voices of ordinary Americans. It is no accident that the years since those decisions brought Republican waves, state legislative takeovers and Donald Trump. Giant corporations – from Big Oil to Big Pharma, from telecoms to defense contractors – can get away with spending nearly unlimited amounts without voters, customers or shareholders ever knowing. These companies use their deep pockets to rig the system and block efforts to fight climate change, lower drug prices, and build a more progressive country. Senate Democrats recently introduced the Democracy for All amendment, which would give states the power to fight against Citizens United. Progressive champion Rep. Pramila Jayapal's We the People amendment goes even farther. It would end the lies that money is speech and corporations are people, instruct state and local governments to strictly regulate campaign donations and insist that wealth not give a person more power over our democracy.3,4 We need to seize on the momentum to show how many people support overturning Citizens United with a constitutional amendment – and demand the strongest possible version. Tell Congress: Overturn Citizens United. Pass the We the People amendment. Click the link below to sign the petition. https://act.credoaction.com/sign/we-the-people-citizens-united?t=9&akid=33759%2E12967895%2ENf897G Thank you for speaking out, Heidi Hess, Co-Director
CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References: - Dylan Matthews, "The tyranny of the majority isn't a problem in America today. Tyranny of the minority is." Vox, Sept. 12, 2018.
- Sen. Tom Udall, "The Super-Wealthy Have Outsize Influence in Politics. Here's How We Can Change That," Time, Aug. 14, 2019.
- Ibid.
- Move to Amend, "Only the 'We the People Amendment' Will End Corporate Rule," July 30, 2019.
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment