We Can Get Dirty Money Out of Elections!
Most Americans regardless of political party are appalled at how much money is spent on election campaigns in the US. Many see special interests investing big bucks behind certain candidates. On Thursday January 28, at 7PM by zoom (link to follow), Oakmont Democrats will host the national staff of the Move to Amend organization which has formed to get corporate money out of our elections. Since 2009, Move to Amend as a non-partisan coalition of hundreds of organizations and hundreds of thousands of individuals has been committed to social and economic justice, and building a vibrant democracy that is genuinely accountable to the people, not corporate interests. Move to Amend is calling for an amendment to the United States Constitution that unequivocally states that inalienable rights belong to human beings only, and that money is not a form of protected free speech under the First Amendment and can be regulated in political campaigns. Presenting will be Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap, National Director of Move to Amend and Jessica Munger who coordinates various Move to Amend programs. All Oakmonters are welcome at this event.
Zoom Meeting Invitation
Topic: Oakmont Democratic Club
Time: Jan 28, 2021 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88369189514?pwd=c3Q4WXBzWmc4SGN4SkxWMHQwaXR6QT09
The amount spent on both the presidential and congressional campaigns hit nearly $14 billion this year, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
On January 21, 2010, with its ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are persons, entitled by the U.S. Constitution to spend an unlimited amount on elections. We believe human beings are people; corporations are legal fictions.
Move to Amend rejects the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United and other related cases and moves to amend our Constitution to firmly establish that money is not speech, and that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights.
We believe the Supreme Court is misguided in principle, and wrong on the law. In a democracy, the people rule.
Co-sponsoring the presentation is the Oakmont Progressive Club.
Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap is National Director of Move to Amend, President of the Board of Directors of Democracy Unlimited, and a Local Democracy Fellow for the Liberty Tree Foundation.
In July 2019 she was arrested for taking part in a civil disobedience action to shut down Congress over climate collapse inaction. She and 16 other activists superglued their hands to the doors leading from Congressional office buildings to the US Capitol.
Jessica Munger has worked with Move to Amend since 2014. She is responsible for a variety of programs and organizational partnerships and supervises the national internship program. She is impassioned by the work of building a strong and empowered Democracy Movement rooted in gender justice and dismantling white supremacy.
We, the People of the United States of America, reject the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United and other related cases, and move to amend our Constitution to firmly establish that money is not speech, and that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights.
The Supreme Court is misguided in principle, and wrong on the law. In a democracy, the people rule.
“. . . corporations have no consciences, no beliefs, no feelings, no thoughts, no desires. Corporations help structure and facilitate the activities of human beings, to be sure, and their ‘personhood’ often serves as a useful legal fiction. But they are not themselves members of “We the People” by whom and for whom our Constitution was established.”
~Supreme Court Justice Stevens, January 2010
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