Campaigns to Amend the Constitution Take Off -- Help Push the Idea to the "Tipping Point"

[marmar]

from ReclaimDemocracy.org:



http://mim.io/c7e52



Campaigns to Amend the Constitution Take Off -- Help Push the Idea to the "Tipping Point"

For the past decade, ReclaimDemocracy.org has focused attention on the need to overturn Supreme Court decisions that subvert the intent of our Constitution and grant corporations illegitimate status as persons with Bill of Rights protections. We were angered (though not surprised) by the Court's ruling in Citizens United v FEC last month, but we now recognize the Justices' overreach has provided the sparked we've needed to move from dissent to a full-fledged Democracy Movement. Perhaps we owe Justice Roberts a thank you note!

In our bulletin immediately following the ruling, we noted the launch of two coalitions aiming to amend the Constitution. MoveToAmend, in which we partner directly, proposes a package of Amendments to revoke "corporate personhood," establish a constitutional right to vote and protect the right to local self-governance. Free Speech for People is advancing a narrower Amendment to reverse Citizens United and enable limits on corporate electioneering. While we have long advocated the more comprehensive approach of revoking corporate constitutional "rights," as Move To Amend promotes, we believe both approaches have value and merit your attention.

The public response has been tremendous. In less than two weeks Move to Amend has attracted more than 50,000 endorsers, and Free Speech for People nearly 10,000. On February 2, U.S. Representatives Donna Edwards and John Conyers introduced a resolution to overrule Citizens United and clarify that political free speech is a human right. Other members of Congress already have endorsed the idea. Even such middle-of-the-road politicians as Senator John Kerry have endorsed these efforts, saying, "The government should stop tinkering around the edges of a system that is broken beyond repair."

In another sign of shifting culture, the ACLU reportedly has internal debate raging in the wake of its support for expanding corporate political power (it filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of Citizens United). In the past week, we've received hundreds of contacts in response to our sign-on letter to the ACLU asking them to support the Amendment to protect free speech rights. Since several dozen signers indicated they were ACLU members, we look forward to the debate intensifying.


What You Can Do

Your engagement is essential to keep the momentum growing, and the return on your investment of time may never be greater! A few ways you can help:

* Write to your newspaper, local and state officials, U.S. Representatives and others to urge support for overruling the Court. We've provided talking points, a guide to effective letters to assist you, and we stand ready to help with editing and submissions.

* Advance a resolution in support of amending the Constitution to revoke corporate "rights" in your local governments, political party, state or other entities (sample resolution language here and here). We are ready to assist you--contact us!

* Call in to talk radio programs to introduce the idea and express your support. Yup, we've written up a helpful guide for that, too. (We combined our primers for letter-writing and talk radio call in on one double-sided flier--a great handout for local events. Please point people to ReclaimDemocracy.org's online resources for educational material or to support the effort financially. See Move To Amend's action page for even more ideas.

* Organize a local rally using creative visuals or ready-made ones. Corporate logo flags (see above) are one great conversation-starter (available here).

* Send this email alert far and wide with a short note about why you believe amending the Constitution is essential and, if you received this from someone else, you can subscribe to our monthly bulletin using the form below.

[Trillo]

1. Kicking this.

Very important.