Reversing Citizens United
Bernie Sanders has told us that it will take a political revolution to enact the change required to save our democracy, and I believe him.
Should we wait for Bernie to get elected to put that revolution in action? No, the revolution is required for getting Bernie elected. We cannot wait for the revolution, we are the revolution.
Inspired by DU's Bernie Sanders Group, and particularly by the work of DUer Omaha Steve, to rally DUers together to donate in support of Bernie's Campaign, the Populist Reform Group asked Omaha Steve to help us come up with a way that we can support Bernie by supporting his revolution.
Our answer was to create an ActBlue page to collect donations to Reverse Citizens United.
To maximize your efforts and effectiveness, we're collecting for Cenk Uygur's Wolf PAC. Omaha Steve was the first contributor, and I was the second.
Here's the Democratic Underground for Wolf PAC donation page:
https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/du4wolfpac
Why the Wolf PAC? I'll let Cenk explain their goal
Our Ultimate Goal:
To restore true, representative democracy in the United States by pressuring our State Legislators to pass a much needed Free and Fair Elections Amendment to our Constitution. There are only 2 ways to amend the Constitution. (1) Go through our Federal Government (2) Go through our State Legislators via an amendments convention of the states.
Wolf PAC believes that we can no longer count on our Federal Government to do what is in the best interest of the American people due to the unfettered amount of money they receive from outside organizations to fund their campaigns. We point to the failure of the Disclose Act as rock solid evidence that this would be a total waste of our time, effort, and money. We also point to the recent decision by the US Supreme Court to not even hear a case filed by Montana claiming it did not have to abide by Citizens United, as proof that state legislation is not a sufficient measure to solve this problem. We believe that we have no choice but to put an amendment in the hands of our State Legislators, who are not, at this moment in time, completely blinded by the influence of money, and might actually do what 96% of the country wants - take away the massive influence that money has over our political process.
<<SNIP>>
Something to keep in mind:
Near the turn of the 20th century the American people wanted to be able to elect their senators directly, but Congress was the last body of government that was going to change the way they got elected (sound familiar?!). So the states took it upon themselves and started calling for a convention one by one for the sole purpose of the direct election of senators. It took 13 years before they got within a couple states of the necessary 2/3 threshold to force a convention. When it became clear to Congress that the 17th Amendment was going to happen with or without them, they decided to preempt a convention by proposing it themselves. Calling for a convention on a specific issue is the strongest message we can send to Congress, and the most effective way to restore our democracy in the United States.
This can and must be done in a far shorter time period then it took for the 17th Amendment. Then again, they didn't have the power of the internet along with over 90% of the American people on their side. We do. Let's go get our democracy back.
So far, Wolf-PAC legislation has been adopted in 4 states:
Vermont
On March 21, 2014, the Vermont Senate passed JRS 27, a Wolf PAC-backed resolution, in a bipartisan 25 to 2 vote.[27] On May 2, 2014, the Vermont House passed the resolution, making Vermont the first state in the nation to call for an Article V convention concerning campaign finance reform.[28]
California
On March 20, 2012, a Wolf PAC-backed resolution was introduced in the California State Assembly, but was voted down in the Judiciary Committee.[29] On January 30, 2014, the California State Assembly became the second state lower chamber to pass Wolf PAC's bill calling for a constitutional convention. On June 23, 2014, California became the second state in the nation to pass Wolf PAC's resolution.[30]
Illinois
On December 3, 2014, the Illinois Senate voted on SJR42, which passed the needed 3/5ths majority by one vote, 72 to 40, becoming the third state to call for the convention.
New Jersey
A resolution to call for a constitutional convention to overturn Citizens United was introduced on 11 August 2014. It passed the Senate on 18 December 2014 and the Assembly on 23 February 2015.
Here's a sample resolution:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/16k_iwdwxJlAAZKeYCOJ_S1Za82U_XevCp6wwPXklcBU/edit
Once again, please donate to the
Democratic Underground for Wolf PAC donation page:
https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/du4wolfpac
Let's put the Koch Brothers on notice: Bernie's revolution has already begun.
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