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On Anniversary of Citizens United, Group Says Occupy the Courts
“Corporate personhood and money equals political speech are court-created doctrines"
The coalition Move to Amend has called for a day of action today to occupy federal courthouses across the country, including the U.S. Supreme Court, to mark the second anniversary of the Citizens United vs. FEC ruling.
CNN reports on the timing of the action:
The event is being held around the two-year anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which removed many limits to corporate spending in federal political campaigns, organizers say.
The 2010 ruling made it legal for groups to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money for a candidate, as long as the group does not coordinate with the candidate or contributed directly to his or her campaign.
It allowed for the rise of Super PACs, which can raise unlimited funds from corporations.
Politico reports:
“Why the courts? Because frankly folks, that’s the scene of the crime,” said David Cobb, an organizer of Friday’s protests. “Corporate personhood and money equals political speech are court-created doctrines. We the people never decided it; our elected representatives didn’t decide it; ordinary people like me and you never decided it. The court created these doctrines and it’s going to take a movement to overturn it.”
One tweeter's picture this morning shows barricades going up around the Supreme Court building.
11 Comments so far
Show AllIn Argentina Monsanto was busted for using workers in "Slave like Conditions". Workers were forced to labor twice the hours allowed under law and were then forced to buy Monsanto produced food at inflated prices from the "Company Store".
They also refused to allow the workers to leave their compounds.
http://www.activistpost.com/2012/01/busted-monsanto-abusing-illegal-work...
Now couple it with this. Monsanto recently purchased what was once Blackwater and now owns a mercenary outfit. They will no doubt hire these mercenary thugs to work in their slave compounds to enforce "security" but more then that.
>>The US Department of Defense has transferred its armed efforts in Latin and Central America in the War on Drugs to Academi, the private military contractors formerly known as Blackwater, reports BBC Spanish. Before they altered their branding to be known as Xe, then most recently Academi, Blackwater underwent immense criticism for a series of scandals involving contract employees executing civilians throughout the Middle East.
Watch workers rights in Latin America suddenly become linked to the "war on drugs" with labor leaders and unionists and other such persons labled "Drug lords" when they are gunned down by Monsanto armed thugs with the FULL blessing of and the financial support of the US Government.
The Government of the USA is the most corrupt and venal regime on this Earth and the prescence of the United States of America is to the detriment of people the world over.
The "Corporate State" which is just another word for Fascism extends its tentacles the world over and it is the United States of America and its Government that IS "The Great Satan" promoting this agenda.
A society that truly belived in Justice and Human rights and the Ecology of this world would not allow a Corporation like Monsanto to even exist .Monsanto is just the tip of the iceberg as the conflicts and resource grabs that happen the world over, from the Congo to India and from Afghanistan to Latin America are being driven by these Corporations wherein people are literally ENSLAVED at the point of a gun to provide a labor force and profits.
Yes. PROFITS is a dirty word. The tendency to stand up and salute when a person in the Uniform of the US Military walks passed should be replaced by a person bending over to vomit as that Military serves the beast.
What you describe about Monsanto is exactly what the coal-mining corporations used to do back in the day. It was these abuses that spear-headed the labor movement. There's a great documentary called "Harlan County, US" that depicts the struggle back in the 70s. Goes to show that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Of course, the US is quickly going back to that as well.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/166744/harlan-county-usa
"New York City refused to give a permit to demonstrate at Foley Square."
Gotta love that! The world's biggest and truest democracy where people need to petition the government for a permit to protest against the government and where the government denies the permit to protest against it. Rufus T. Firefly, where art thou?
Want to get money out of politics? Vote Jill Stein!
And today, there's one more reason to occupy the court, in particular, the Corporate Supreme Koch:
"Supreme Court Rejects Judge-Drawn Maps in Texas Redistricting Case"
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/supreme-court-rejects-judge-drawn-maps-in-texas-redistricting-case/#comments
This decision makes it official, both CONservatives and liberals are one and the same now.