With all due respect to Rep. McGovern, and Rep. Deutch, and Sen. Udall, the constitutional amendments that they have proposed recently are all fatally flawed.
The McGovern Amendment is good on ending "Corporate Personhood," but fails, in any way, to deal with the equally vexing problem of money being treated as a form of protected political speech.
The Deutch Amendment is good, but it leaves a gaping loophole when it says that rights protected under the Constitution do not extend to FOR PROFIT corporations. As most Daily Kos readers know, Citizens United, the phony corporate front corporation involved in the Citizens United v. FEC case was set up as a NON-profit corporation. (Continued, below)
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And, the Udall Amendment, the weakest of the three, only says that Congress may regulate corporate money in politic. It never even attempts to address the root of the problem - "Corporate Personhood."
For those of you who are tired of congressional and senatorial half-measures, and who have been waiting for an amendment that was serious about ending "Corporate Personhood" once and for all . . . your wait is over.
Move to Amend is a group that has been at the forefront of a truly democratic, grassroots, effort to amend the Constitution so that it clearly, and unquivocally says that "rights recognized under the Constitution belong to human beings, only" and that "Money is not speech. "
Here is Move to Amend's proposed by language:
The "MOVE TO AMEND" Amendment
Section 1 [Corporations are not people and can be regulated]
The rights protected by the Constitution of the United States are the rights of natural persons only.
Artificial entities, such as corporations, limited liability companies, and other entities, established by the laws of any State, the United States, or any foreign state shall have no rights under this Constitution and are subject to regulation by the People, through Federal, State, or local law.
The privileges of artificial entities shall be determined by the People, through Federal, State, or local law, and shall not be construed to be inherent or inalienable.
Section 2 [Money is not speech and can be regulated]
Federal, State and local government shall regulate, limit, or prohibit contributions and expenditures, including a candidate’s own contributions and expenditures, for the purpose of influencing in any way the election of any candidate for public office or any ballot measure.
Federal, State and local government shall require that any permissible contributions and expenditures be publicly disclosed.
The judiciary shall not construe the spending of money to influence elections to be speech under the First Amendment.
Section 3
Nothing contained in this amendment shall be construed to abridge the freedom of the press.
The Move to Amend amendment will clearly establish that, corporations are
not people, and money is
not speech, and it allows for
no loopholes!
THIS is the amendment that will put people back in charge of our government, and corporations back in their proper place - subservient to
We, The People.
If you like what you have read, you can support
the Move to Amend amendment, by doing three things: 1) go to
http://movetoamend.org/...to help us name the amendment; 2) go to
http://movetoamend.org/...to sign our Move to Amend petition; and 3) participate in Move to Amend's national day of action -
OCCUPY THE COURTS - on Friday, January 20, 2012.
OTC will be a one day "occupation" in front of federal court buildings across the country, including the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. There are currently 25 cities participating in OTC with more cities coming on line every day. To find the OTC action nearest to you, go to www.movetoamend.org/occupythecourts.
We look forward to seeing you on January 20, 2012!
Onward!
Steve Justino
Co-Chair, Colorado Move to Amend
Move to Amend, National Action Coordinator, OCCUPY THE COURTS - 1.20.2012!