Senator Jon Tester of Montana introduces his constitutional amendment to overturn "Citizens United"

[WhoIsNumberNone]

This just in- Get behind this or don't complain when it fails; I predict at least 20 million lobbying dollars spent to kill this.

http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/7003/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=14417

[LuvNewcastle]

1. K&R

Message signed and sent to my Senators.

[ZombieHorde]

2. He's a pretty nice guy.

He sometimes comes to my school and talks about debate and rhetoric.

[Scuba]

3. His intent may be honorable, but the execution is pathetic.

First, if you're going to have a Constitutional Amendment, for crying out loud, don't take baby steps! Make it clear that money has to be limited. The Senator's amendment still allows the Koch brothers to spend billions to influence elections.

Second. relying on Congress to then regulate the corporate money? Holy crap, what is he thinking?

As proposed, it's worse than nothing, because it could be framed to look like a solution.

Consider this proposal from Michael Moore instead....

Here's from Moore...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2364407



..snip..


a) A constitutional amendment that fixes our broken electoral system by 1) completely removing campaign contributions from the political process; 2) requiring all elections to be publicly financed; 3) moving election day to the weekend to increase voter turnout; 4) making all Americans registered voters at the moment of their birth; 5) banning computerized voting and requiring that all elections take place on paper ballots.

b) A constitutional amendment declaring that corporations are not people and do not have the constitutional rights of citizens. This amendment should also state that the interests of the general public and society must always come before the interests of corporations.


..end..

[rhett o rick]

5. I agree. Some in Congress want to make the motions to fix the very thing that

allows them access to graft. Maybe give it a new coat of paint.

On edit, I didnt mean for my comment to reflect on the good Senator.

[japple]

4. Signed up, sent message to the two senators from GA,

recommended on fb. Kicked!

[WillyT]

6. HUGE K & R !!!

[Jim Lane]

7. Terrible idea.

I do volunteer work for the Sierra Club, which is a non-profit corporation incorporated in California.

Suppose, in 2018, President Palin decides she's had it with these environmentalists. She issues an Executive Order confiscating a lot of property owned by the Sierra Club. The Sierra Club sues. What result?

Under current law, the Sierra Club wins easily. The Fifth Amendment states, among other things: "No person shall ... be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law...." The Sierra Club is a person within the meaning of this clause.

If Tester's amendment has been ratified by then, however, the Sierra Club loses. This provision (which is merely an absolutely crucial protection against government abuse) applies only to a person. If the Sierra Club ceases to be legally recognized as a person, then it no longer has rights under the Fifth Amendment.

If your only answer is that Palin will never be President, well, I agree, but some knuckledragger will. And while we wait for the next Reagan to come along, there are plenty of state governments that are currently restrained by the same language in the Fourteenth Amendment -- applicable to states but also limited to providing protection to persons.

By the way, the Tester amendment does nothing about spending by the Kochs. They are, technically, human beings.

Better is the Udall Amendment approach. It addresses specifically campaign money. It doesn't affect the Due Process Clause or any other Constitutional rights. That way, it doesn't expose every corporation in the country to vindictive retaliation by officials who dislike it, but it does get at the problem of spending, whether the spending is by Coke or the Kochs.

[BillyRibs]

8. I'll believe that,

Corporations are people when I see one executed! Until then I say, Overturn Citizens United