Sanders Amendment Challenges Citizen’s United Decision

This is why we love us some Bernie.

In what represents the first constitutional amendment he has ever proposed while in Congress, Senator Sanders is seeking to reverse the sweeping impacts of the Citizens United Decision handed down two years ago by the Supremes.

“There comes a time when an issue is so important that the only way to address it is by a constitutional amendment,” Sanders said of the effort to override the court decision that he labeled “a complete undermining of democracy.”  

Why is a Constitutional Amendment the only answer to the Citizens United decision?  

Even if Congress had the political will to stand up to special interests and pass limitations on corporate spending in elections, such an effort would be unconstitutional as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United. The majority opinion ruled that corporations have the same First Amendment rights as the American people and can spend unlimited amounts of their general treasury funds in elections. It is too late for Congress to place limits on corporate campaigning. The Framers of our Constitution gave us the power to amend the Constitution and it is imperative that we use it now.

The “Saving American Democracy Amendment ” should have popular support amongst the cross-generational tide that has embraced # Occupy Wall Street and carried it to distinct political significance.  This popularity, which should extend broadly beyond Occupy sympathizers, even to include the more cautious denizens of the 99%, is unlikely to go very far in the people’s Congress.

There seems to be little appetite in DC for fighting the “good fights” when it is all most Democrats can do to simply resist the worst impulses of the hostage situation in which they find themselves, vis-a-vis the petty tyranny of the Republican right.

Nevertheless we celebrate Senator Sander’s absolutely necessary proposal, as this and a companion measure proposed in the House by Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) represent the steadily building drumbeat for reform that will eventually become irresistible.  

While many may be tempted to characterize Bernie as a Don Quixote figure, forever tilting at windmills, I like to think that, understanding his unique position as an Independent in the midst of a gridlocked chess-game, he is maximizing the opportunity of his free agency to bring the peoples’ true voice thundering into the Senate chamber.  That is a powerful conduit which cannot indefinitely be ignored.

About Sue Prent

Artist/Writer/Activist living in St. Albans, Vermont with my husband since 1983. I was born in Chicago; moved to Montreal in 1969; lived there and in Berlin, W. Germany until we finally settled in St. Albans.

15 thoughts on “Sanders Amendment Challenges Citizen’s United Decision

  1. Good for you, Bernie!  That’s two in a row!  Voting against NDAA was great!  (Should have been a no-brainer for 93 more of your colleagues.)  But this one is a BIGGIE.  It could turn out to be the Decisive Battle between The People & Democracy and The Corporate State.

    I hope that EVERYONE will jump on this one.  It goes to the spirit of OWS!  (Guess I gotta vote for you again next year)  

  2. This is the most likely avenue to truly reverse the corrupting influence of money on US politics.  

  3.  He shouldn’t continue to make these bold decontextualized movement in this mythical echo chamber of irrelevance, to appease the horizontally indifferent. He should quit and join OWS where he is needed and will be heard.

    It reminds me of Ralph Nader’s book, I think it was, only the rich can save us. It was a fictional story about the rich coming together and pulling us out of our crisis, by buying their way into government. Ralph actually believed this could happen, and claimed that the super wealth he knew were pretty upset with the way things are. Bernie is not in a fantasy world. He’s just a good kid trying to impress some asshole friends. If he thinks he can win by playing by the rules while everyone else cheats, don’t play for me.  

  4. The late great Wangari Maathai’s once made an analogy, or allegorie in reference to changing the way thing are. (I don’t know if I will do it justice, but I hope to make clear I understand where I believe you are coming from. It kind of went like this: There was a great forest fire and all the animals evacuated. They stood dumb founded as to what to do. A humming bird went to a lake and took one drop of water in its beak and flew over the fire, dropping the one drop into the fire. The animals looked at the humming bird going back and forth with one drop of water attempting to extinguish the fire. One of the animals asked the humming bird, “why are you trying to put out the fire, it is too big and you are too small”? The humming bird replied, “It is all I can do.”

    This is not an analogy I would use to describe what Bernie is doing, but I am sure it is the more preferred. Since so many are programed to believe the romantic notion that you can only win if you overcome mind boggling adversity. This is in no way directed at any of you, but I don’t believe it is hyperbole, or my own struggle with dadaism , I just don’t have time to go into it.

    My analogy, is someone using a light switch to open a door, not only is it a waste of energy, the door may be a closet, when that person is looking for a way out. I won’t bore you with Einstein’s

    definition of “insanity.”

    Saying that OWS has any thoughts on Bernie’s Amendment is the equivalent to patting them on the head and sending them on their way. Please do not patronize the revolution. Only once is Federal government mentioned in their demands but is in the context you would expect. It’s referred to as “centralized government” , and they have no use for it. If you left it up to OWS Bernie would not have the option of resigning.

    I really don’t think this has anything to do with Bernie. I think it has to do with comfort level. I’m getting the same vibe I did when everyone was screaming the sky is falling after 9/11, a few spoke up like Robert Jensen at UT Austin (he almost lost his job), and many voiced their opinions before the bailouts.  Can you do anything worst to yourselves than what has already been done to you? You all seem like very well rounded individuals. Do you have plans for a Senate seat? Do you hang out with Bernie? Is it the Drama? I can’t think of one book that I’ve read by a politician. What give’s? Did you grow up in The Dark Side of Camelot? Is it a pride thing? I thought my black friend would be enthusiastic about a black president. She said (2008) almost the exact same thing Arundhati Roy said recently. “I can see where it will give the black people hope.” If you want to have pride have pride in yourselves. YES YOU CAN!!!

    Bernie’s resignation would be a historical event, not like Norm Finkelstein, Chris Hedges, and I’m sure a host of others. OWS would be suspicious of Bernie, (Yeah. I got the whole Stephen Cobert attempt at funding OWS [both episodes], by the way the Tea Party started out as a fiscally responsible movement before it was high jack by what they called the God Guns and Gays crowd. In this case you should shoot the messenger.) but once he was in he would make a hell of a logistics coordinator.  I’m gonna guess at 70 he’s not going to give up his job in the private sector to join the revolution.

    Good luck with the industry standard, I hope that diversity (little dig on odum) between the dem/rep/Bernie works out for you. I’m gonna go with another suggestion (besides throwing the baby out with the bath water), and that is finding a better solution than that. I have nothing to lose.

    “The last liberal president we had was Nixon.”  Ralph Nader

     

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