SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
New York Assembly Committee Approves Resolution Calling for a Constitutional Amendment to Overturn Citizens United
New York Should Stay at Leading Edge of Movement to Take Back Our Democracy
Mar 27, 2012
Albany, NY
Albany, NY
The New York Assembly's Election Law Committee today approved a resolution calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling, which allows corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections. Public Citizen and other activists approached Assemblyman James Brennan (D-Brooklyn) to introduce the resolution. It will now go to a full Assembly vote.
The resolution calls for an amendment clarifying that corporations are not entitled to the entirety of protections or "rights" of people and restoring Congress and the states' ability to enact democratic reforms aimed at stemming corporate influence over our elections. It mirrors one passed overwhelmingly, and in front of a packed audience, in January by the New York City Council. Some of the activists responsible for initiating that measure were the same ones who approached Brennan with their desire to see the state legislature weigh in. Similar measures have been passed throughout New York by the Albany, Danby and Ithaca city councils. Nationwide, elected officials in more than 100 cities and towns have passed resolutions calling for a constitutional amendment.
"More and more Americans are becoming alarmed by the threat to our democracy as super PACs swamp our upcoming national elections," Brennan said. "Overturning Citizens United must become a national movement."
In the wake of Citizens United, more than $90 million in outside spending has been recorded nationally thus far in the 2012 elections. In New York, nearly $21 million in outside spending inundated New York's congressional elections in the 2010 election cycle. And a record amount of money - some say as much as $8 billion - is likely to be spent on this year's federal election cycle, with a large amount of that coming from corporations.
"The more beholden our elected officials are to corporations and the super-wealthy, the worse off our democracy will be," said Jonah Minkoff-Zern, senior organizer with Public Citizen's Democracy Is For People campaign. "New York should seize the moment by calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and return fair elections and constitutional rights to the people. It is because of the work of dedicated activists throughout the nation that we have gotten this far. It will be because of their passion and drive that we will ultimately be successful in amending the constitution."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
The New York Assembly's Election Law Committee today approved a resolution calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling, which allows corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections. Public Citizen and other activists approached Assemblyman James Brennan (D-Brooklyn) to introduce the resolution. It will now go to a full Assembly vote.
The resolution calls for an amendment clarifying that corporations are not entitled to the entirety of protections or "rights" of people and restoring Congress and the states' ability to enact democratic reforms aimed at stemming corporate influence over our elections. It mirrors one passed overwhelmingly, and in front of a packed audience, in January by the New York City Council. Some of the activists responsible for initiating that measure were the same ones who approached Brennan with their desire to see the state legislature weigh in. Similar measures have been passed throughout New York by the Albany, Danby and Ithaca city councils. Nationwide, elected officials in more than 100 cities and towns have passed resolutions calling for a constitutional amendment.
"More and more Americans are becoming alarmed by the threat to our democracy as super PACs swamp our upcoming national elections," Brennan said. "Overturning Citizens United must become a national movement."
In the wake of Citizens United, more than $90 million in outside spending has been recorded nationally thus far in the 2012 elections. In New York, nearly $21 million in outside spending inundated New York's congressional elections in the 2010 election cycle. And a record amount of money - some say as much as $8 billion - is likely to be spent on this year's federal election cycle, with a large amount of that coming from corporations.
"The more beholden our elected officials are to corporations and the super-wealthy, the worse off our democracy will be," said Jonah Minkoff-Zern, senior organizer with Public Citizen's Democracy Is For People campaign. "New York should seize the moment by calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and return fair elections and constitutional rights to the people. It is because of the work of dedicated activists throughout the nation that we have gotten this far. It will be because of their passion and drive that we will ultimately be successful in amending the constitution."
The New York Assembly's Election Law Committee today approved a resolution calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling, which allows corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections. Public Citizen and other activists approached Assemblyman James Brennan (D-Brooklyn) to introduce the resolution. It will now go to a full Assembly vote.
The resolution calls for an amendment clarifying that corporations are not entitled to the entirety of protections or "rights" of people and restoring Congress and the states' ability to enact democratic reforms aimed at stemming corporate influence over our elections. It mirrors one passed overwhelmingly, and in front of a packed audience, in January by the New York City Council. Some of the activists responsible for initiating that measure were the same ones who approached Brennan with their desire to see the state legislature weigh in. Similar measures have been passed throughout New York by the Albany, Danby and Ithaca city councils. Nationwide, elected officials in more than 100 cities and towns have passed resolutions calling for a constitutional amendment.
"More and more Americans are becoming alarmed by the threat to our democracy as super PACs swamp our upcoming national elections," Brennan said. "Overturning Citizens United must become a national movement."
In the wake of Citizens United, more than $90 million in outside spending has been recorded nationally thus far in the 2012 elections. In New York, nearly $21 million in outside spending inundated New York's congressional elections in the 2010 election cycle. And a record amount of money - some say as much as $8 billion - is likely to be spent on this year's federal election cycle, with a large amount of that coming from corporations.
"The more beholden our elected officials are to corporations and the super-wealthy, the worse off our democracy will be," said Jonah Minkoff-Zern, senior organizer with Public Citizen's Democracy Is For People campaign. "New York should seize the moment by calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and return fair elections and constitutional rights to the people. It is because of the work of dedicated activists throughout the nation that we have gotten this far. It will be because of their passion and drive that we will ultimately be successful in amending the constitution."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.