April, 10 2012, 03:46pm EDT
Lawmakers, Groups and Activists Launch Campaign to Pass Local Resolutions Ridding Elections of Corporate Cash
Across the Country, Activists Commit to Push Resolutions Calling for Citizens United to Be Overturned
WASHINGTON
As part of a new, nationwide campaign, more than 5,400 people in all 50 states have committed to push local resolutions calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, which allows corporations to spend unlimited sums to sway elections.
Public Citizen has led the charge - along with lawmakers and partner organizations - on planning Resolutions Week, aimed at passing local resolutions that call for a constitutional amendment the week of June 11. Public Citizen and its partners are providing information to activists about how to approach local council members, how to get people involved and how to publicize their efforts. So far, people in more than 1,000 towns and cities have committed to pushing for local resolutions calling for a constitutional amendment.
Participating activists have coordinated 115 organizing parties being held last week and this week to plan for the local resolution push.
"We, the People, have had enough of corporate cash in our elections," Jonah Minkoff-Zern, senior organizer with Public Citizen's Democracy Is For People campaign. "It is deeply inspiring to see the commitment and passion of the people all over the country working to build a nation where democracy is not for sale and our Constitution is for the people, not for the corporations."
Added Public Citizen President Robert Weissman, "Democracy in this country begins in our communities and in our states. To build the groundswell of support necessary to advance constitutional remedies to undo Citizens United and related cases, we have to start there, and through Resolutions Week, that's what thousands will be doing this spring."
Partners in this initiative include People For the American Way, Move to Amend, Corporate Accountability International, Main Street Alliance, Common Cause, Alliance for Democracy, Bullfrog Films, California Church Impact, the Coffee Party, Communication Workers of America, Democracy Unlimited, Get the Dough Out, Story of Stuff and U.S. PIRG, as well as the congressional offices of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Reps. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), Donna Edwards (D-Md.) and Keith Ellison (D-Minn.).
Many partnering organizations have their own ongoing campaigns to advance local measures, but through Resolutions Week, these organizations are coordinating with each other to build stronger local campaigns and deeply advance the push for a constitutional amendment.
"We will be successful in passing a constitutional amendment because it is the will of the people. From Alaska to Nevada, Georgia to Maine, we are taking our country back," Minkoff-Zern said.
In addition to working for resolutions locally, Public Citizen and allied organizations have worked with legislators to advance resolutions and similar measures in California, Maryland, Massachusetts and Vermont. In each of these states, passage of these resolutions is imminent and likely to occur this spring. Seeing the momentum, lawmakers in Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, New York and Rhode Island have introduced their own resolutions, laying the groundwork for further action at the state level.
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest in the halls of power. We defend democracy, resist corporate power and work to ensure that government works for the people - not for big corporations. Founded in 1971, we now have 500,000 members and supporters throughout the country.
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UN Chief Warns of Israel's Syria Invasion and Land Seizures
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres stressed the "urgent need" for Israel to "de-escalate violence on all fronts."
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Guterres "is particularly concerned over the hundreds of Israeli airstrikes on several locations in Syria" and has stressed the "urgent need to de-escalate violence on all fronts throughout the country," said U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
Israel claims its invasion and bombardment of Syria—which come as the United States and Turkey have also violated Syrian sovereignty with air and ground attacks—are meant to create a security buffer along the countries' shared border in the wake of last week's fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and amid the IDF's ongoing assault on Gaza, which has killed or wounded more than 162,000 Palestinians and is the subject of an International Court of Justice genocide case.
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Addressing the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and conversations it has sparked about the country's for-profit system, longtime Medicare for All advocate Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday condemned the murder and stressed that getting to universal coverage will require a movement challenging corporate money in politics.
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In addition to highlighting Sanders' interview on social media, Congressman Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) pointed out to Business Insider on Wednesday that "you've got thousands of people that are sharing their stories of frustration" in the wake of Thompson's death.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)—a co-sponsor of Sanders' Medicare for All Act—similarly toldHuffPost in a Tuesday interview, "The visceral response from people across this country who feel cheated, ripped off, and threatened by the vile practices of their insurance companies should be a warning to everyone in the healthcare system."
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Reporters Without Borders' (RSF) 2024 roundup, which was published Thursday, found that at least 54 journalists were killed on the job or in connection with their work this year, and 18 of them were killed by Israeli armed forces (16 in Palestine, and two in Lebanon).
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