The Problem With Citizens United Is Not Corporate Personhood

(Image: Jared Rodriguez / Truthout)

Tuesday, 17 January 2012 03:25 By James Marc Leas and Rob Hager, Truthout | News Analysis 

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Florida Rep. Ted Deutch introduced a constitutional amendment in December to overturn Citizens United, one of five decisions since 2006 by which a closely divided Supreme Court vastly increased the amount of corrupting corporate money in elections.
In an opinion piece critical of the decision in Citizens United, Senator Sanders wrote:

When the Supreme Court says that for purposes of the First Amendment, corporations are people, that writing checks from the company's bank account is constitutionally-protected speech and that attempts by the federal government and states to impose reasonable restrictions on campaign ads are unconstitutional, when that occurs, our democracy is in grave danger.

The joint Sanders-Deutch Resolution proposes an amendment to the constitution "to expressly exclude for-profit corporations from the rights given to natural persons." The first section of the amendment states:
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Broadcasters, Citizens United and the Perfect Storm (Part I)

Friday, 27 April 2012 15:50 By Yana Kunichoff, Truthout | Report 

As broadcasters take in record amount of political advertising money and give little indication of where it came from while lobbying against rules that would require increased transparency of this intake, transparency advocates like Free Press argue that companies including News Corporation, NBC Universal and the Walt Disney Company have created a perfect storm of political misinformation. The decision to be voted on today, April 27, by the Federal Communications Commission will consider whether broadcasters will be forced to put their political ad information online, a move they have fought tooth and nail since it was initially introduced. The infographic below looks at the key issues in the argument around the double role of broadcasters - as purveyors of the public message, and recipients of private political cash.
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Will Obama Issue an Order Exposing Big Corporate Political Spenders in Citizens United Era?

 

 Like it or not, many of America's biggest corporations may be forced to disclose their political spending.

January 10, 2012

A executive order requiring that federal contractors disclose their electoral spending—by top officers and as corporations—is being reconsidered by the White House despite stiff opposition from the business lobby after it was first proposed last spring, according to civil rights attorneys working on the issue.

“There’s a lot of movement at the White House,” said Craig Holman, government affairs lobbyist for Public Citizen. “I just had a meeting at the White House counsel’s office, trying to encourage them to move forward with the executive order. They have the perfect window of opportunity to get the executive order done.”

“It’s simple—any company that is paid with taxpayer dollars should be required to disclose political contributions,” said Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., who has pushed for the White House to issue the order. “With public dollars come public responsibilities, and I hope President Obama will issue his executive order right away.”  READ MORE

Communications Workers of America Join Battle Against 'Citizens United'

By Kenneth Quinnell

The Communications Workers of America have joined the fight against the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United, which allows unlimited corporate donations in electoral campaigns. CWA joins 60 other organizations in the battle to get corporate money out of U.S. elections. The groups, under the United For the People banner, are calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn the ruling.  READ MORE

'Citizens United' Unleashed a Monster: Why the Real Winner In the Iowa Caucuses Is the Big-Money Super PAC

They can spend unlimited amounts of money. They don't disclose donors until after the votes are counted. They deluged Iowa with millions of dollars of harsh negative ads.

January 4, 2012

The real winner of the 2012 Iowa Caucuses may not be any of the Republican candidates, but a new political animal that is ugly, loud, anti-democratic and coming to your state in the upcoming primaries and caucuses: the super PAC. 

These creatures—unleashed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling allowing direct corporate funding for “electioneering ads”—are satellite political campaigns that supposedly act independently of the candidates.

They can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money. They don't disclose donors until after the votes are counted. And they have been deluging Iowa with millions of dollars of harsh negative TV ads, from groups that are run by political consultants who have previously worked for the candidates.

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