(We the People indeed – promoted by eli_beckerman)

The Citizens United decision worsened an already terrible situation of big-money influence in democracy.  I support amending the US constitution to remedy the situation.

Such amendments require proactive purposeful resolve by individual state representatives, whose legislative bodies must ultimately ratify what Congress passes.

Please join me in preparing testimony in support of a piece of legislation currently on Beacon Hill for a public hearing later this month.  Read on for details…

When elected to Beacon Hill I will lead in that resolve by example, advocacy, and action.

Massachusetts Senate Bill S772 calls upon Congress to initiate an overturning of Citizens United.  A public hearing on this bill and others before the Joint Committee of the Judiciary is scheduled for February 28 in Boston.

…WHEREAS, the people of the United States have previously used the constitutional amendment process to correct those egregiously wrong decisions of the United States Supreme Court that go to the heart of our democracy and self-government;

Now be it resolved that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts hereby calls upon the United States Congress to pass and send to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment to restore the First Amendment and fair elections to the people.

Although the text of S772 does not address corporate personhood, which is at the root of the Citizens United decision, I pledge to support it and to take the debate deeper into the issue.  The US Constitution must ultimately address the issue of corporate personhood and revoke the concepts that corporations are people and that money is speech.

Politicians who choose to affiliate with a party power structure that refuses corporate money even while the Supreme Court permits it set the most powerful example for other candidates, public officials and voters.  Green parties around the world are leaders in the debate on this issue; this is a key reason that I’m proud of my affiliation and candidacy with the Green-Rainbow Party in Massachusetts.

More information on the advocacy for this bill can be found by contacting Maram Abdelhamid at maram@freespeechforpeople.org