Democrats introduce constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United

[Ponietz]

Source: The Hill

“Senate Democrats introduced a constitutional amendment on Tuesday to undo the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court decision.

“A group of Democrats, led by Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), and progressive activists rallied outside of the Supreme Court to unveil the amendment, which faces an unlikely path to being ratified.

“Few decisions in the two hundred and some odd years of this republic have threatened our democracy like Citizens United. People say they want to get rid of the swamp, Citizens United is the embodiment of the swamp," Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said at the rally.

“Schumer added that "overturning Citizens United is probably more important than any other single thing we could do to preserve this great and grand democracy."
.....”



Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/455342-democrats-introduce-constitutional-amendment-to-overturn-citizens-united

[BigmanPigman]

1. Is this a pipe dream?

[Ponietz]

2. I know, had to check whether I was reading The Onion

Last edited Tue Jul 30, 2019, 06:06 PM - Edit history (1)

Senator Udall has long worked on and supported this issue. I’m much encouraged that Senator Schumer and 43 others are all in.

[NewJeffCT]

12. Until Democrats get rid of Trump and take over the Senate

it's a pipe dream. It's the money train for Republicans.

[lunatica]

14. I agree

[Ponietz]

18. Seems to me getting rid of Trump and flipping the Senate is the point of doing this now

This could greatly help to create a Blue Tsunami in 2020

[OnDoutside]

27. +1

[lagomorph777]

34. Constitutional amendment is looooonnng-term strategy - not for 2020.

That said, let's get the discussion started!

[tecelote]

29. Pipe dream or not - it starts the conversation.

Overturn Citizens United to save our democracy. It should be an issue.

[lastlib]

33. Agreed. This should be a litmus-test issue with every candidate....

...for every office from president down to sewer-sweeper.

[DemocracyMouse]

42. It doesn't just start the conversation. It motivates people to vote for Democrats!

1) Motivate people with a great Constitutional amendment.

2) Flood the polls.

3) Pass the amendnent with a supermajority.

[warmfeet]

43. Yep.

Democracy don't come cheap. Much work is in store for those that care.

[Calista241]

49. It's a Constitutional Amendment

So yes, it's a pipe dream. At least for the immediate future. I think we could get 2/3 of the House and Senate, because I think even the Repubs would support the amendment.

But getting 3/4 of the states to support it will be difficult, at least in a timely fashion.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

3. K & R!

[pecosbob]

4. Pipe dream and principle

it had to be done.

[Raven123]

5. FINALLY

[PSPS]

6. Never happen. Moscow Mitch's Duma won't approve.

[Leith]

41. To hell with Moscow Mitch

We are all sick and tired of being controlled by oligarchs. The first thing is to remove the money guys.

Ask any member of the House or the Senate what the worst part of their job is and they will say the hours they spend on the phone raising money from donors every day. Why would they not want to stop begging all the time?

[PSPS]

44. Moscow Mitch doesn't "spend (hours) on the phone raising money from donors every day"

Their money is funneled/laundered through third parties (i.e., the NRA) and super PACs (secret donors) and just "magically" ends up in their pockets and funding their campaigns. It's been working that way for the GOP for a long time. They have no interest in changing anything because they're making a fortune.

[Laurian]

7. Hallelujah

I will never forget Alito shaking his head at President Obama when he talked about Citizens United during a SOTU address.

Citizens United is largely responsible for where we are today. It opened the floodgates for illicit funding of campaigns and took that power away from the people.

[TryLogic]

31. Exactly. Nor will I ever forget Alito's behavior and arrogance.

He is one of the damn fools who does not know the difference between money and free speech.

[FiveGoodMen]

32. Along with the ACLU

We understand that the amount of money now being spent on political campaigns has created a growing skepticism in the integrity of our election system that raises serious concerns. We firmly believe, however, that the response to those concerns must be consistent with our constitutional commitment to freedom of speech and association. For that reason, the ACLU does not support campaign finance regulation premised on the notion that the answer to money in politics is to ban political speech.

https://www.aclu.org/other/aclu-and-citizens-united

Clearly, what they're going for here is one dollar, one vote.

I will never give them another cent.

[lagomorph777]

35. Why doesn't Alito go on a nice long hunting trip with Dick Chain?

[rampartc]

8. of course this is necessary

but it needs 2/3 of the senate, 2/4 of the house, and 3/4 of the states.

if the intention is to get the repubs on record it is a good idea, but don't count on it passing.

[kag]

25. I believe that IS the point.

They know good and well that Moscow Mitch won't allow it. But he'll have to "not allow it" on the record.

[FakeNoose]

9. Wow this is awesome, but sadly it's far too late to make a difference

Pandora's box has been open for almost 40 years. Do they really think they can go back now?

[KPN]

15. Not buying fatalism. This is a start. This helps

make this a public issue and raise awareness of what the real “swamp” is. The House should pass similar legislation. And yes, we all know it won’t happen soon. But the only way it ever will is if s massive majority of voters are fired up about and demand the abolition of Citizens’ United. This is a start to a long, long endeavor. It’s also a sound political strategy ... raise visibility, expose the GOP for what it is (the Koch’s and other billionaires’ water boy), fire up and engage voters.

[ancianita]

16. +1

[bronxiteforever]

22. +1

[llmart]

24. Agreed!

They know full well it's not going to happen any time soon. However, how many of your average Americans even have a clue what Citizens United is or does to our democracy? If nothing else, for now this may educate some people or be an incentive for some who don't know what it's all about, to do some research on their own.

Lot of DU'ers just can't wait to jump on the "this is useless right now", blah, blah. Apparently they don't understand the general public that much. Just because we know what it is and what it has done, doesn't mean the majority of Americans do.

[bucolic_frolic]

10. Yeah but once this passes

Republicans will no longer honor the Constitution, so it's just wasted energy

[ancianita]

17. Ever hear of courts? They might try being scofflaws but they'll be made to follow it, like it or no

[erronis]

20. Uh, I'm slow. Explain to me how repugs currently honor anything?

Well, I know I'm wrong.

They'll honor non-traceable $$$s and blackmail. They'll honor some threats of sexual perversion exposure. They might honor some "family values" but will definitely dishonor anything that Jesus would request.

They'll honor invites from russians and putinesques but not from their own constituents.

But, on a positive note - they'll wear flag lapels and lie about their patriotism.

[bucolic_frolic]

23. DING DING DING

you nailed it. We are in a period of history when the world is turned upside down. That was the accusation thrown at Karl Marx when he wrote his Das Kapital. But there are periods of history when realities "flip", or the ruled become the rulers, or the good guys become the bad guys.

I read parts of Barbara Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror" about the 14th century, the Black Death, the dissolution of towns (because everyone died), and mass movements - roving groups of flagellists demonstrating their penetance for the scourge and hoping for God's mercy. It's an instructive read. What happens when everything goes fluid? Institutions dissolve, people panic, money doesn't flow very well, crops rot, labor is scarce and frightened.

So yes, Republicans are now playing by a different set of rules because there is no opposition party with power, and they are taking advantage of the situation to enact their most cherished hatreds against people they think are sinners.

[erronis]

28. Or "King of Hearts". Tuchman's "Distant Mirror" is one of my go to books.

I was just looking at it last night wondering how she would have written about this period in "western civilization". Another recent great read was "Mortal Republic" which lays out how similar our position is to the (not)Holy (not)Roman (not)Empire.

[Perseus]

11. After this Democrats need to get a bill to eliminate the Electoral College

This is definitely important, but not more than impeaching the creature, and Barr.

[Delmette2.0]

13. I hope Gov Bullock brings this up tonight.

Gov Bullock got shit on by the Supreme Court as he tried to sue because Montana called it unconstitutional over 100 years ago.

[kag]

26. Me too.

And I think he will. It's a pet issue of his.

[Nitram]

19. It's a start, even if it fails this time, and the next 20 times, if it succeeds down the line.

[Fla Dem]

21. Good Luck with that! The Equal Rights Amendment still hasn't been ratified.

"The Equal Rights Amendment was passed by Congress on March 22, 1972 and sent to the states for ratification. In order to be added to the Constitution, it needed approval by legislatures in three-fourths (38) of the 50 states. By 1977, the legislatures of 35 states had approved the amendment."

https://www.equalrightsamendment.org/era-ratification-map

[jberryhill]

30. Anyone have the text of the proposed amendment?

Is this the one that will also overturn New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 (1971) and Hustler Magazine, Inc.v. Falwell, 485 U.S. 46 (1988), as corporations will no longer have First Amendment rights?

Or is anything called 'reversing Citizens United' good, no matter what it actually says?

[Rebl2]

37. I wish it

would happen, but unfortunately I don’t think it will.

[Ponietz]

38. Here's the Text:

Last edited Tue Jul 30, 2019, 06:00 PM - Edit history (1)

[link:https://www.tomudall.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Democracy%20For%20All%20Amendment%20Final%20Bill%20Text.pdf|

45 Senators co-sponsored!

[zentrum]

39. Kinda worried about a

.....constitutional amendment route. Opens the door to Repug horrors. Must be very careful with this route since we share much of the country with absolute morons or vipers who will seize on it to introduce all kinds of retrograde amendments.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

40. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

[MadDAsHell]

45. Can you pass a law that knowingly goes against Supreme Court precedent?

Wouldn't that same Supreme Court immediately outlaw it before it even goes into effect? :Shrug:

[Ponietz]

46. It's a proposed Constitutional Amendment expressly for that purpose

[lordsummerisle]

48. It would be a constitutuional amendment, not a law n/t

[lordsummerisle]

47. k&r n/t

[ck4829]

50. K&R

[Yeehah]

51. Let's get rid of the electoral college too.

I'm tired of presidents who got less votes, like AWOL Bush and Trump.

[TomCADem]

52. Has Bernie Claimed Credit For It Yet?

Nt

[Rene]

53. Hooray THIS is what we've needed.

Hope this all gets approved.