The recent Supreme Court ruling to give corporations the same free speech rights as human beings has put our democracy at risk by allowing big business to make unlimited campaign contributions to politicians who will favor corporations over voters. Fortunately America has a system of “checks and balances” to prevent the government from getting out of hand. We’re using those to fight the corporate takeover by pressuring Congress to pass a constitutional amendment restricting corporate contributions and enacting campaign finance reform. Please help.
Close the Floodgates
In one of the worst decisions in U.S. history, the Supreme Court recently ruled that big corporations have the same First Amendment rights as people. This decision has opened the floodgates to unlimited political spending by big corporations.1
To fully undo the damage, Congress must pass a constitutional amendment overturning this terrible decision.
So, we’re aiming to send thousands of faxes to members of Congress urging them to close the floodgates of unlimited corporate cash. Can you send a free fax to Senator Roland Burris today? Click here to send a fax now.
The fax says: “I urge you to pass a constitutional amendment to stop unlimited corporate political spending and to support legislation for public financing of congressional campaigns.”
It’s not every day that folks call for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. But this Supreme Court decision puts our very democracy up for sale. Even tea party activists are saying that the Court has gone too far.2
That’s why our friends at Public Citizen, People for the American Way, and leaders in Congress like John Kerry, John Conyers, and Donna Edwards are calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United decision.3
However, because it can take a while to pass a constitutional amendment, we’ll keep pushing Congress to immediately pass public financing legislation, so that grassroots candidates can compete while relying on small donors from their district.
It could be now or never. If we let the big corporations unleash their unlimited campaign cash for even one election, it could be impossible to get our democracy back.
Please send a free fax to the office of Sen. Burris to close the floodgates of unlimited corporate cash.
Thanks for all you do.
–Steven, Lenore, Ilyse, Kat, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. “Justices Overturn Key Campaign Limits,” The New York Times, January 21, 2010
2. “‘We Might As Well Be Able To Vote For Disney‘: Tea Partiers Slam Citizens United Ruling,” Talking Points Memo, February 3, 2010
3. “The Solutions: Three Ways to Curb Excessive Corporate Money in Politics,” Public Citizen, accessed January 28, 2010
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