We the People, Not We the Corporations

On January 21, 2010, with its ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are persons, entitled by the U.S. Constitution to buy elections and run our government. Human beings are people; corporations are legal fictions.

We, the People of the United States of America, reject the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United and other related cases, and move to amend our Constitution to firmly establish that money is not speech, and that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights.

The Supreme Court is misguided in principle, and wrong on the law. In a democracy, the people rule.

We Move to Amend.

". . . corporations have no consciences, no beliefs, no feelings, no thoughts, no desires. Corporations help structure and facilitate the activities of human beings, to be sure, and their 'personhood' often serves as a useful legal fiction. But they are not themselves members of “We the People” by whom and for whom our Constitution was established."

             ~Supreme Court Justice Stevens, January 2010

Announcements

The United States of America: Liberal Democracy or Liberal Oligarchy?

June 7, 2017

The degree to which such private and totally unaccountable concentration of wealth has the potential to translate into political power is aptly synopsized by a closer look at Fortune 500 companies.

The ideal of political equality that average American citizens, as well as many scholars, hold dear, stands in stark contrast to the immense representational biases demonstrated by Gilens and Page. While acknowledging that a perfect political equality has a particularly idealistic character, the enormous dichotomy in the system’s responsiveness to citizens at different income levels reinforces doubt associated with the presumed liberal democratic character of American society and leads this paper to conclude that the U.S. is, contrary to popular belief, a liberal oligarchy as opposed to liberal democracy.

CEOs Praised For Backing the Paris Accord Also Funded Lobbyists Pushing Trump To Withdraw

June 4, 2017

The chief executives of Dow Chemical and Corning Inc., among other business leaders, were portrayed in the media as environmental champions for opposing President Donald Trump’s move on Thursday to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.

Yet both companies back one of the few business groups to openly lobby the Trump administration in support of withdrawing from the plan, the Industrial Energy Consumers of America.

Taxpayers Charged $7 Billion a Year to Subsidize Fossil Fuels on Public Lands

May 24, 2017

"Rex Tillerson and other members of the Trump administration deny that these subsidies even exist just like they deny climate change. The reason is clear—in both cases, if you admit the truth, the only answer is a managed decline of the fossil fuel industry," said Stephen Kretzmann, executive director of Oil Change International.

Eyes on the Senate

May 22, 2017

Between the in-district work performed by Move to Amend affiliates, the citizen lobbying performed by our grassroots leaders last May, and the ongoing outreach performed by the national team, the We the People Amendment has been gaining steady traction in the House since it was first introduced.

The same effort can be replicated in the Senate this year, with your assistance. It begins with spreading the message and showing your Senators that there are constituents who care about this issue.

Please contact your Senators and ask them to introduce the We the People Amendment in the Senate.

Legalizing Democracy: The Right to Vote vs. Corporate Rights

May 15, 2017

From the Jim Crow style laws of the late 1800's which used literacy tests, poll taxes, and other more sinister methods to bar African Americans from voting, to women's suffrage, which wasn't achieved until 1920--less than 100 years ago--the people's so-called right to vote has only been expanded upon demand by a vibrant social movement.

In an effort to establish the right to vote as an indistinguishable feature of American democracy, FairVote, a non-profit committed to grassroots coalition building to create a more fair and accurate depiction of a real democracy, is behind a right to vote amendment in Congress, House Joint Resolution 74. To stop the continued debate over voting laws by states that each have their own rules and policies, many of which deliberately disenfranchise certain groups, this must-pass amendment declares, once and for all, that every US citizen has the right to vote.
 
Move to Amend supports FairVote and this amendment as part of a larger strategy to legalize democracy.

Do #You Move to Amend?

May 10, 2017

Does corporate personhood piss you off? If it does, you're not alone, I'm right there with you and so are many, many, many others! Today marks the 131st anniversary of Santa Clara County vs. Southern Pacific Railroad and the "birth" of corporate personhood. To highlight this important case, we are launching the #IMoveToAmend campaign.  

Our goal is to gain 50 new monthly sustainers by the end of May. We hope that you can help us reach our goal by becoming a Move To Amend monthly sustainer, today.

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