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Corporate Personhood Should Be Banned, Once and For All
Outrageous SCOTUS Decision Should Reignite Most Necessary of Debates
Jan 21, 2010
Today's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Citizens United v.
Federal Election Commission shreds the fabric of our already weakened
democracy by allowing corporations to more completely dominate our
corrupted electoral process. It is outrageous that corporations already
attempt to influence or bribe our political candidates through their
political action committees (PACs), which solicit employees and
shareholders for donations. With this decision, corporations can now
also draw on their corporate treasuries and pour vast amounts of
corporate money, through independent expenditures, into the electoral
swamp already flooded with corporate campaign PAC contribution dollars.
This corporatist, anti-voter decision is so extreme that it should
galvanize a grassroots effort to enact a Constitutional Amendment to
once and for all end corporate personhood and curtail the corrosive
impact of big money on politics. It is indeed time for a Constitutional
amendment to prevent corporate campaign contributions from
commercializing our elections and drowning out the civic and political
voices and values of citizens and voters. It is way overdue to
overthrow "King Corporation" and restore the sovereignty of "We the
People"!
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. 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. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader is a consumer advocate and the author of "The Seventeen Solutions: Bold Ideas for Our American Future" (2012). His new book is, "Wrecking America: How Trump's Lies and Lawbreaking Betray All" (2020, co-authored with Mark Green).
Today's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Citizens United v.
Federal Election Commission shreds the fabric of our already weakened
democracy by allowing corporations to more completely dominate our
corrupted electoral process. It is outrageous that corporations already
attempt to influence or bribe our political candidates through their
political action committees (PACs), which solicit employees and
shareholders for donations. With this decision, corporations can now
also draw on their corporate treasuries and pour vast amounts of
corporate money, through independent expenditures, into the electoral
swamp already flooded with corporate campaign PAC contribution dollars.
This corporatist, anti-voter decision is so extreme that it should
galvanize a grassroots effort to enact a Constitutional Amendment to
once and for all end corporate personhood and curtail the corrosive
impact of big money on politics. It is indeed time for a Constitutional
amendment to prevent corporate campaign contributions from
commercializing our elections and drowning out the civic and political
voices and values of citizens and voters. It is way overdue to
overthrow "King Corporation" and restore the sovereignty of "We the
People"!
Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader is a consumer advocate and the author of "The Seventeen Solutions: Bold Ideas for Our American Future" (2012). His new book is, "Wrecking America: How Trump's Lies and Lawbreaking Betray All" (2020, co-authored with Mark Green).
Today's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Citizens United v.
Federal Election Commission shreds the fabric of our already weakened
democracy by allowing corporations to more completely dominate our
corrupted electoral process. It is outrageous that corporations already
attempt to influence or bribe our political candidates through their
political action committees (PACs), which solicit employees and
shareholders for donations. With this decision, corporations can now
also draw on their corporate treasuries and pour vast amounts of
corporate money, through independent expenditures, into the electoral
swamp already flooded with corporate campaign PAC contribution dollars.
This corporatist, anti-voter decision is so extreme that it should
galvanize a grassroots effort to enact a Constitutional Amendment to
once and for all end corporate personhood and curtail the corrosive
impact of big money on politics. It is indeed time for a Constitutional
amendment to prevent corporate campaign contributions from
commercializing our elections and drowning out the civic and political
voices and values of citizens and voters. It is way overdue to
overthrow "King Corporation" and restore the sovereignty of "We the
People"!
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.