January, 21 2011, 01:14pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
The Real Context of the GE Appointment
One year ago today, the Supreme Court ruled in the Citizens United
case that corporate entities can spend unlimited money in elections,
arguing that they have the same basic First Amendment rights as human
beings.
President Obama is in Schenectady today, appointing by executive
order GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt as chair of a new "President's Council on
Jobs and Competetiveness." He is in effect replacing economic adviser
Paul Volcker.
WASHINGTON
One year ago today, the Supreme Court ruled in the Citizens United
case that corporate entities can spend unlimited money in elections,
arguing that they have the same basic First Amendment rights as human
beings.
President Obama is in Schenectady today, appointing by executive
order GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt as chair of a new "President's Council on
Jobs and Competetiveness." He is in effect replacing economic adviser
Paul Volcker.
THOMAS FERGUSON
Ferguson's books include Golden Rule: The Investment Theory of Party Competition and the Logic of Money-Driven Political Systems. He is professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts, Boston and a senior fellow of the Roosevelt Institute.
He said today: "Volcker out and Immelt in, because the administration
now wants to emphasize 'recovery' and 'jobs' instead of 'crisis
stabilization'? Since when did any stabilization not include jobs as a
top priority? What we actually have here is the disappearance from the
scene of the best known and most visible critic of the excesses of the
financial sector and his replacement by the sitting CEO of a company
that is heavily dependent on government aid of all sorts, including
diplomatic assistance to invest more in China. This is not about jobs,
but political money -- the White House knows that after Citizens United,
it will need to raise about a billion dollars -- that's right, a billion --
for its reelection campaign. That's the context in which this and its
other recent appointments need to be judged."
JOHN BONIFAZ
Bonifaz is co-founder and director of Free Speech for People,
a national non-partisan campaign working for a constitutional amendment
to overturn the Citizens United ruling. He said today: "Free speech and
other constitutional rights are for people, not corporations. The
Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United will go down in history as
contrary to the constitutional principles set forth by the Framers
establishing a government of, for, and by the people. On this one-year
anniversary of the ruling, we must renew our commitment to fighting for a
28th amendment to the Constitution that ensures that people, not
corporations, govern in America." Bonifaz is also legal director of Voter Action.
Also see: "Money and the Midterms: Are the Parties Over? Interview With Thomas Ferguson"
A nationwide consortium, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) represents an unprecedented effort to bring other voices to the mass-media table often dominated by a few major think tanks. IPA works to broaden public discourse in mainstream media, while building communication with alternative media outlets and grassroots activists.
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