Robert Reich and 'Amend 2012' Launch Campaign for Constitutional Amendment to Overturn 'Citizens United'
Robert Reich appears in a new video from a new organization, Amend 2012, calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United. In just over two minutes, Reich clearly and effectively explains how Citizens came about and why it is dangerous to U.S. politics. The campaign focuses on the idea that corporations aren't people, only people are people. Reich then asks everyone to take action in support of Amend 2012's call for a constitutional amendment:
Thanks to the Supreme Court and Citizens United, the same big corporations and billionaires that destroyed our economy and caused millions of us to lose our jobs and homes, are spending obscene amounts to drown out our voices in elections and take over our government.
But together, "We the People" can set things right.
The campaign website has a petition, a way for supporters to donate to the cause, and a way to sign up for the campaign's 'Constitution Crew' with numerous other ways to support the amendment drive. The website also offers state-by-state toolkits for activists, the latest news about related issues and a more thorough explanation of the court ruling and the problems it creates.
The campaign is a project of Common Cause. Public Citizen is also pushing for an amendment to overturn Citizens United.
A recent poll shows that two-thirds of small business owners say that Citizens United hurts them, while only nine percent found it to be a positive thing.
It would nice to get another amendment that says corporations are NOT people and money is not speech. This is a good start for sure. Robert Reich rocks.
This is like the third or fourth different group trying to raise money to do this. It's a great idea, but we need to consolidate effort. Young Turks, Story of Stuff, etc...
Syd Fynch -- throwing fastballs at hypocrisy.
i was trying to find how to contact the reich and young turks organizations to ask if there was any coordination of effort. i would bet there is not.
i was trying to find how to contact the reich and young turks organizations to ask if there was any coordination of effort. i would bet there is not.
Good video.
However, it is over two minutes long, which is beyond the grasp of most American's. Must condense into a 25 second soundbite, with no more than two sentences.
Otherwise, the dim bulbs will never be able to follow along.
It's not like they are watching something riveting like the Real Housewives of Cow Tits county, to see who really back stabbed who?
Rush Limbaugh is what a smart person thinks a stupid bigot sounds like.
jay-hey-sus!!!! can't these hot shot college educated types be more accurate? citizens united was decided correctly. this is the problem
Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Clara_Coun...
this "obiter dictum" established corporate personhood, if corporations are people then they have free speech rights it's just that simple, but corps. are not persons. owners/shareholders have free speech rights as individuals, corporations should not have this right.
now, ask yourself, why can a high school educated dumb redneck see this? and not your harvard educated elite? is it because they just want things their way and can't see the larger issue? do they like corporations being people when it suits their fancy? what's up?
once more, if corps. are people then citizens was decided correctly, the wrong issue is being addressed.
I don't know but maybe it is just easier to start here. IT would be nice to get a movement started to declare corporations are not people (and money is not speech). Maybe Occupy can start the movement because eliminating "corporations as people" will go a long way to make the economy fairer (more fair?).
And thanks to the Dred Scott decision, I guess that means that black corporations are 3/5ths of people too, right?
was basically over-ridden by the 14th amendment, was it not? hey, just because i poke holes in the argument, doesn't mean i am not committed. i find it "insulting to the species" that corps. are given human rights, not to mention it gives the ruling class cover for their exploitation.
I just wonder if regular laws or bills would be sufficient to clarify the accounting technique of incorporation as just that, an accounting technique designed to clarify asset ownership, liability responsibilities and tax assessment. As a businessman myself (one of those small ones hurt by Republican economic policies mentioned above), I consider incorporation to be very useful as an accounting tool but it was never intended to imply that the Bill of Rights applies to these hypothetical "persons".
Aren't the same simple laws that established procedures of incorporation sufficient to clarify what corporate identity means?
yes, we do.
I'm not a lawyer but since the Citizens United decision sets a constitutional precedent I would think that any new laws or revisions to laws that essentially undo it could and would be succesfully challenged on constitutional grounds.
Withdrawal in disgust is not the same as apathy
...
I will believe that corporations are people when Texas executes one for murder.
I will believe corporations are people when I see one sleeping in a cardboard box next to a shopping cart full of junk.
And add it to the toolbar above. Good guys like Robert Reich deserve their own blog, putting him here confuses people. My advice for the day. This issue is of supreme importance to saving our country and only the blogosphere has the wisdom to make this the real news of the day, not the manufactured horse race.
Is if Reich can get support from the right as well as the left. Getting an amendment ratified takes an incredible amount of work. Something as simple and common sense as the women's Equal Rights Amendment couldn't even get ratified. If this is seen as just a left wing thing it won't have a chance.
Withdrawal in disgust is not the same as apathy
I, as a person, do not have enough money for Free Speech. All I have is a VOTE. And somehow my vote doesn't seem to purchase much anymore.
All it takes is cardboard, paint and something to say.
More effectively we'd have a much better idea of what they thought about issues like this. Even corporate money would pale in comparison to the numbers. For the last two weeks I've been posting my opinion that corporations are not people next to freeways from LA to Seattle and back. And while I don't know if it'll change anything, I do know my opinion is being heard.
Here's Sacramento:
http://freewayblogger.blogspot.com/2012/01/sa...
I looked at the site, but I couldn't find the text of the proposed amendment. Can't really give my support.
Louisville Lawyer
A bit off topic but whenever I see Robert Reich on television he always advocates some sort of New Deal type of programs along the lines of the WPA, etc. I have to say he makes a lot of sense.
It's great that Reich is joining this effort. The mainstream media is firing shots at us.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/citize...
"The antidote to bad speech is more speech." ~~J.S. Mill
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