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
For Immediate Release
November, 12 2012, 03:52pm EDT
Contact:
Jonah Minkoff-Zern c: (510)225-8491
Public Citizen's 'Democracy in Motion' New York Tour Calls for 'Money Out, Voters In!'
Organizers to Visit Six Cities, Joining Local Leaders to Build Support for Fair Elections Act and Constitutional Amendment to Overturn Citizens United
WASHINGTON
WHAT: In the wake of the most expensive election cycle in history, Public Citizen's "Democracy in Motion" tour will be visiting New York to mobilize support for two measures designed to strengthen democracy: the state Fair Elections Act (A.09885/S.7036) and a constitutional amendment to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court'sCitizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling. The six-city tour includes stops in Albany, Syracuse, Fairport, Buffalo, Ithaca and New York City. Speakers will urge local activists to organize events around the third anniversary of Citizens United in January and support the passage of the Fair Elections Act, which may come to a vote as soon as late November.
Citizens United allowed corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections. As a result, corporations and wealthy individuals funneled huge sums of money to super PACs, trade associations and other groups - many which hide the identities of their donors - to buy ads in this year's elections. In the wake of Citizens United, more than $1.1 billion was spent by outside groups in the 2012 federal elections. More than $100,000,000 was spent by investment banks, insurance companies, financial institutions and other big industries to influence the outcomes of New York's elections, largely through negative attack ads.
In the short term, the Fair Elections Act would mitigate the damage of the Citizens United ruling by allowing candidates to choose a public financing option, similar to one being used in New York City. Such measures provide public matching for small individual contributions, allowing publicly supported candidates to compete with campaigns paid for by corporate contributions. To address the issue of corporate money in elections forthe long term, a nationwide movement is growing for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, take democracy off the auction block and preserve constitutional rights for people - not corporations.
Dates and location of tour stops
Albany
WHEN: 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13
WHERE: 1st Lutheran Church
181 Western Ave.
Albany, N.Y.
WHO: Jonah Minkoff-Zern, senior organizer, Public Citizen's Democracy Is For People campaign
Ashley Somers, activist, Public Citizen's Democracy Is For People Campaign
Charlie Albanetti, communications director, Citizen Action
Syracuse
WHEN: 12-1 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 14
WHERE: Syracuse University
Jabberwocky Cafe, Schine Student Center
Syracuse, N.Y.
WHO: Jonah Minkoff-Zern, senior organizer, Pulic Citizen's Democracy Is For People campaign
Ashley Somers, activist, Public Citizen's Democracy Is For People Campaign Joan Mandle, executive director, Democracy Matters
Rosemary Rivera, organizing director, Citizen Action
Fairport
WHEN: 3:30-4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 14
WHERE: Perinton Community Center
1350 Turk Hill Rd., Fairport
WHO: Jonah Minkoff-Zern, senior organizer, Public Citizen's Democracy Is For People campaign
Ashley Somers, activist, Public Citizen's Democracy Is For People Campaign Paula Hansen, president, Metro Justice.
Buffalo
WHEN: 7-9 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 14
WHERE: Burning Books
420 Connecticut Street
Buffalo, N.Y.
WHO: Betty Jean Grant, County legislator and former state Senate candidate
Jonah Minkoff-Zern, senior organizer, Public Citizen's Democracy Is For People campaign
Ashley Somers, activist, Public Citizen's Democracy Is For People Campaign
Ithaca
WHEN: Thursday, November 15, 1 - 2 p.m.
WHERE: Cornell University
226 Weill Hall
Ithaca, N.Y.
WHO: Steven H. Shiffrin, Law Professor
Professor Kate L Bronfenbrenner, Director of Labor Education Research
Jonah Minkoff-Zern, senior organizer, Public Citizen's Democracy Is For People campaign
Ashley Somers, activist, Public Citizen's Democracy Is For People Campaign
NYC
WHEN: 7-9 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 15
WHERE: NYU School of Law, Vanderbilt Hall 210
New York City, N.Y.
WHO: Mark Green, author, former Public Advocate for NYC and Democratic nominee for mayor 2001
Jonah Minkoff-Zern, senior organizer, Public Citizen's Democracy Is For People campaign
Jesse Laymon, campaign manager, Citizen Action
This event is co-sponsored by NYU School of Law's American Constitution Society
For more information about the constitutional amendment campaign, please visit Democracy is for People www.DemocracyIsForPeople.org.
For information about the tour, please visit https://www.citizen.org/democracy-in-motion-new-york.
Recent Public Citizen reports on government reform and campaign finance:
U.S. Chamber of Commerce is No. 1 spender in many congressional races across the country: https://www.citizen.org/pressroom/pressroomredirect.cfm?ID=3749.
Study finds a majority of super PACs are devoted to just one candidate: https://www.citizen.org/pressroom/pressroomredirect.cfm?ID=3747.
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.
(202) 588-1000LATEST NEWS
Ginni Thomas Thanked Group Fighting Ethics Reforms Spurred by Her Husband's Scandals
Leaked audio reveals that the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas praised a far-right group whose president later attacked Justice Elena Kagan as "treasonous."
Sep 04, 2024
Leaked audio published Wednesday by the investigative outlets ProPublica and Documented reveals that the wife of U.S. Supreme Court Clarence Thomas effusively thanked a far-right group fighting judicial ethics reform effort spurred in large part by revelations about her husband's undisclosed gifts from Republican billionaires.
During a private July 31 call with the organization's top donors, First Liberty Institute president and CEO Kelly Shackelford read aloud an email—some of it in all-caps—from Ginni Thomas hailing the group's opposition to court reforms that are broadly popular with the U.S. public.
"YOU GUYS HAVE FILLED THE SAILS OF MANY JUDGES. CAN I JUST TELL YOU, THANK YOU SO, SO, SO MUCH," Ginni Thomas, who was closely involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 election, wrote to the group, according to Shackelford.
"I cannot adequately express enough appreciation for you guys pulling into reacting to the Biden effort on the Supreme Court," Thomas wrote.
Later in the call, First Liberty's president attacked liberal Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan as "treasonous" and "disloyal" for supporting an enforcement mechanism for the toothless ethics code that the high court unveiled under immense public pressure late last year.
Listen to the audio released by ProPublica and Documented:
The First Liberty Institute's donor call came days after Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) uncovered additional billionaire-funded private travel that Justice Thomas failed to disclose, the latest in a string of scandalous revelations that began with ProPublicareporting last year.
ProPublicaestimates that Thomas—part of a right-wing Supreme Court supermajority that has overturned the constitutional right to abortion care and dramatically curtailed the power of federal regulatory agencies—has over the past three decades taken dozens of luxury vacations bankrolled by billionaire Harlan Crow and other GOP megadonors with interests before the court.
Survey data released shortly after ProPublica's first bombshell report in April 2023 found that a majority of U.S. voters at the time backed Supreme Court ethics reforms and wanted Thomas to resign from the nation's most powerful judicial body.
"Ginni Thomas isn't protecting the court. She's protecting her and her husband's bribes."
ProPublica noted that Shackelford held the First Liberty donor call "shortly after President Joe Biden had announced support for a slate of far-reaching Supreme Court changes," including term limits and a binding ethics code for justices.
"On the donor call, Shackelford voiced strong opposition to various court reform proposals, including the ones floated by Biden, as well as expanding the size of the court," the investigative outlets noted. "All of these proposals, Shackelford said, were part of 'a dangerous attempt to really destroy the court, the Supreme Court.' This effort was led by 'people in the progressive, extreme left' who were 'upset by just a few cases,' he said."
News of Ginni Thomas' support for First Liberty's efforts to combat Supreme Court ethics reforms was seen as further confirmation of the urgent need to overhaul the judicial body, whose favorability ratings are near historic lows.
"Ginni Thomas isn't protecting the court," progressive activist Melanie D'Arrigo wrote on social media. "She's protecting her and her husband's bribes."
Keep ReadingShow Less
'We Need a Cease-Fire Now': Israeli Bombings Kill Dozens During Polio Vaccination Drive
"Israel kills 33 Palestinians in 24 hours but wants Palestinian families to think it's safe to travel to vaccinate their kids against polio," said one clinician.
Sep 04, 2024
United Nations agencies reiterated their calls for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after healthcare workers completed the first phase of a polio vaccination push in the face of relentless, deadly Israeli airstrikes.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, announced early Wednesday that more than 187,000 children under the age of 10 were vaccinated during the first three days of the vaccination drive, an effort launched shortly after health officials detected the first polio case in the enclave in over two decades.
"Four fixed sites will continue to offer polio vaccination for the next three days in central Gaza to ensure no child is missed," said Tedros. "Preparations are underway today to roll out the vaccine campaign in south Gaza, which will start tomorrow. We are grateful for the dedication of all the families, health workers, and vaccinators who made this part of the campaign a success despite the dire conditions in the Gaza Strip."
"We ask for the humanitarian pauses to continue to be respected," he added. "We continue to call for a cease-fire."
The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) echoed that message, writing on social media that "above all, we need a cease-fire now."
U.S.-armed Israeli forces have bombed the Gaza Strip throughout the dayslong vaccination drive, with one human rights monitor noting that some of the attacks "targeted locations near the vaccination centers."
Al Jazeerareported Wednesday that the Israeli military "targeted a home" in Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp, killing at least one person. In Khan Younis, an Israeli airstrike "killed two more people, including a child," the outlet reported.
Gaza health officials said Tuesday that more than 30 people had been killed over the preceding 24-hour period.
" Israel kills 33 Palestinians in 24 hours but wants Palestinian families to think it's safe to travel to vaccinate their kids against polio," clinician and activist Annie Sparrow wrote on social media.
Health officials and aid workers risking their lives to vaccinate Gaza children against polio have said an enclave-wide inoculation campaign could only be successful with a sustained cease-fire deal, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is obstructing an agreement with hardline demands, including a continued Israeli military presence in the Palestinian territory.
The Washington Postnoted Tuesday that Netanyahu's insistence on Israeli control of the Philadelphi Corridor—a strip of land along Gaza's border with Egypt—"has also raised tensions with Egypt, which objects to any Israeli presence there and has warned that it violates the 1979 Israeli-Egypt peace treaty, a landmark agreement that has preserved peace between the two countries for more than four decades."
In the absence of a deal to end Israel's assault, humanitarian conditions on the ground in Gaza continue to deteriorate.
Tor Wennesland, the U.N.'s special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said after returning from Gaza earlier this week that he "witnessed firsthand the catastrophic impact of the hostilities."
"The scale of destruction is immense, the humanitarian needs are colossal and soaring, and civilians continue to bear the brunt of this conflict. I unequivocally condemn the horrifying civilian death toll in Gaza," said Wennesland. "A deal is crucial to saving lives, reducing regional tensions, and enabling the U.N., in cooperation with the Palestinian Authority, to accelerate efforts to address the pressing needs of Gaza's population."
"The ongoing conflict has destroyed the lives of countless families," he added. "It must stop."
Keep ReadingShow Less
While US Arms Israel, DOJ Hits Hamas Leaders With Terrorism Charges
"We could, at any time, simply stop providing weapons to a far-right nationalist state intent on genocide. Instead, we just filed criminal charges against Palestinian militants who fought back," one professor lamented.
Sep 03, 2024
The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday unsealed terrorism and other criminal charges have been filed against half a dozen senior members of Hamas, the Palestinian resistance group that governs the Gaza Strip, and whose militant arm led the October 7 attacks on Israel.
The DOJ said in a
statement that the six individuals "are senior leaders of Hamas responsible for planning, supporting, and perpetrating Hamas' October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel resulting in the brutal murders of more than a thousand innocent civilians, including over 40 American citizens."
In announcing the charges, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said that "the Justice Department has charged Yahya Sinwar and other senior leaders of Hamas for financing, directing, and overseeing a decadeslong campaign to murder American citizens and endanger the national security of the United States."
"On October 7, Hamas terrorists, led by these defendants, murdered nearly 1,200 people, including over 40 Americans, and kidnapped hundreds of civilians," he continued. An unknown number of Israelis were killed by so-called "friendly fire" and under the Hannibal Directive, which allows Israeli forces to kill Israelis rather than let them fall into enemy hands.
"This weekend, we learned that Hamas murdered an additional six people they had kidnapped and held captive for nearly a year, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old Israeli American," Garland said. "We are investigating Hersh's murder, and each and every one of Hamas' brutal murders of Americans, as an act of terrorism."
"The charges unsealed today are just one part of our effort to target every aspect of Hamas' operations," he added. "These actions will not be our last."
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan has applied for warrants to arrest Sinwar plus two other men charged on Tuesday: Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas political leader assassinated in Tehran in July, and Mohammed Deif, who led the group's militant arm. Israel also claims to have killed Deif.
The men are wanted for alleged crimes including extermination and rape. Khan also wants to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, his defense minister, for alleged crimes including extermination and forced starvation.
Israel is already on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice. Israel’s obliteration of Gaza has left more than 145,000 Palestinians dead, wounded, or missing and millions more displaced, sick, and starving.
Despite this, the Biden administration continues to provide Israel with billions of dollars in weapons, diplomatic cover in the form of United Nations Security Council cease-fire resolution vetoes, and repeated genocide denials.
Responding to the new DOJ charges, Liam O'Mara, a history professor at Chapman University in California, said: "Our government doesn't want peace in Palestine. It never has. We could, at any time, simply stop providing weapons to a far-right nationalist state intent on genocide. Instead, we just filed criminal charges against Palestinian militants who fought back."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular