Follwing are 7 proposed Amendments to the Constitution intended to reverse the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling which allowed unlimited amounts of corporate funds to be used to fund campaigns. Five have already been introduced to Congress as resolutions.
Move to Amend's Proposed Amendment
The rights protected by the Constitution of the United States are the rights of natural persons only.
Artificial entities, such as corporations, limited liability companies, and other entities, established by the laws of any State, the United States, or any foreign state shall have no rights under this Constitution and are subject to regulation by the People, through Federal, State, or local law.
The privileges of artificial entities shall be determined by the People, through Federal, State, or local law, and shall not be construed to be inherent or inalienable.
Section 2
Federal, State and local government shall regulate, limit, or prohibit contributions and expenditures, including a candidate’s own contributions and expenditures, for the purpose of influencing in any way the election of any candidate for public office or any ballot measure.
Federal, State and local government shall require that any permissible contributions and expenditures be publicly disclosed.
The judiciary shall not construe the spending of money to influence elections to be speech under the First Amendment.
Section 3
Nothing contained in this amendment shall be construed to abridge the freedom of the press.
http://www.movetoamend.org/frequently-asked-questions#3
I signed the petition by MoveToAmend for the above amendment, however, the more I read the amendment , the greater my concern with the language of PROHIBIT contributions or EXPENDITURES to influence elections. Citizens must have the RIGHT to use their own money to INFLUENCE legislation, the legislature and to propose ballot measures. Some money is required to oppose OPPRESSIVE legislation and to promote needed laws, whether through adds, posters, mailings.... Almost any form of grass-roots influence of our government requires some expenditure. Unlike the average citizen, corporations can easily incorporate a branch as a NewsOutlet.
September 12, 2011
Ms. EDWARDS (for herself and Mr. CONYERS) introduced the following
joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
- Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of
each House concurring therein), That the following article is
proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which
shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution
when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several
States:
`Article--
- `Section 1. Nothing in this Constitution shall prohibit
Congress and the States from imposing content-neutral regulations and
restrictions on the expenditure of funds for political activity by any
corporation, limited liability company, or other corporate entity,
including but not limited to contributions in support of, or in
opposition to, a candidate for public office.
- `Section 2. Nothing contained in this Article shall be construed to abridge the freedom of the press.'.
July 13, 2011
Mr. SCHRADER introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
- Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of
each House concurring therein), That the following article is
proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which
shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution
when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States
within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification:
`Article--
- `Section 1. The Congress shall have power to prohibit,
limit, and otherwise regulate the contribution of funds or donation of
in-kind equivalents to candidates standing for election to a Federal
office in the United States and to prohibit, limit, and otherwise
regulate the expenditure of funds or donation of in-kind equivalents
used to support or purchase media advertisements intended to influence
the outcome of an election for Federal office in the United States.
- `Whenever Congress should exercise such power, it must
apply equally and uniformly to all individual persons recognized as
citizens of the United States.
- `Whenever Congress should exercise such power on
associations of citizens of the United States, it must apply equally and
uniformly to all associations of citizens of the United States.
- `Section 2. Each of the several States shall have power to
prohibit, limit, and otherwise regulate the contribution of funds or
donation of in-kind equivalents to candidates standing for election to
public office in the State and to prohibit, limit, and otherwise
regulate expenditure of funds or donation of in-kind equivalents used to
support or purchase media advertisements intended to influence the
outcome of an election for public office or plebiscite in the State.
- `Whenever a State should exercise such power, it must apply
equally and uniformly to all individual persons recognized as citizens
of the State.
- `Whenever a State should exercise such power on
associations of citizens of the State, it must apply equally and
uniformly to all associations of citizens of the State.
- `Section 3. A person who is not a citizen of the United
States, including an association of persons who are not citizens of the
United States, a foreign government, or any person acting as an agent
thereof, may not contribute funds or donate in-kind equivalents to
candidates standing for election to public office in the United States
or otherwise expend funds or donate in-kind equivalents in a manner
intended to influence the outcome an election for public office or
plebiscite in the United States.
- `Section 4. Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.'.
November 1, 2011
Mr. UDALL of New Mexico (for himself, Mr. BENNET, Mr. HARKIN, Mr.
DURBIN, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. BEGICH, and Mrs.
SHAHEEN) introduced the following joint resolution; which was read twice
and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
- Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of
each House concurring therein), That the following article is
proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which
shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution
when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States
within seven years after the date of its submission by the Congress:
`Article--
- `Section 1. Congress shall have power to regulate the
raising and spending of money and in kind equivalents with respect to
Federal elections, including through setting limits on--
- `(1) the amount of contributions to candidates for nomination for election to, or for election to, Federal office; and
- `(2) the amount of expenditures that may be made by, in support of, or in opposition to such candidates.
- `Section 2. A State shall have power to regulate the
raising and spending of money and in kind equivalents with respect to
State elections, including through setting limits on--
- `(1) the amount of contributions to candidates for nomination for election to, or for election to, State office; and
- `(2) the amount of expenditures that may be made by, in support of, or in opposition to such candidates.
- `Section 3. Congress shall have power to implement and enforce this article by appropriate legislation.'.
December 8, 2011
Mr. SANDERS (for himself and Mr. BEGICH) introduced the following
joint resolution; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
the Judiciary
- Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of
each House concurring therein), That the following article is
proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which
shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution
when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States
within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification:
`Article--
- `Section 1. The rights protected by the Constitution of the
United States are the rights of natural persons and do not extend to
for-profit corporations, limited liability companies, or other private
entities established for business purposes or to promote business
interests under the laws of any state, the United States, or any foreign
state.
- `Section 2. Such corporate and other private entities
established under law are subject to regulation by the people through
the legislative process so long as such regulations are consistent with
the powers of Congress and the States and do not limit the freedom of
the press.
- `Section 3. Such corporate and other private entities shall
be prohibited from making contributions or expenditures in any election
of any candidate for public office or the vote upon any ballot measure
submitted to the people.
- `Section 4. Congress and the States shall have the power to
regulate and set limits on all election contributions and expenditures,
including a candidate's own spending, and to authorize the
establishment of political committees to receive, spend, and publicly
disclose the sources of those contributions and expenditures.'.
November 15, 2011
Mr. MCGOVERN introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
- Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of
each House concurring therein), That the following article is
proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which
shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution
when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several
States:
`Article--
- `Section 1. We the people who ordain and establish this
Constitution intend the rights protected by this Constitution to be the
rights of natural persons.
- `Section 2. The words people, person, or citizen as used in
this Constitution do not include corporations, limited liability
companies or other corporate entities established by the laws of any
State, the United States, or any foreign state, and such corporate
entities are subject to such regulation as the people, through their
elected State and Federal representatives, deem reasonable and are
otherwise consistent with the powers of Congress and the States under
this Constitution.
- `Section 3. Nothing contained herein shall be construed to
limit the people's rights of freedom of speech, freedom of the press,
free exercise of religion, freedom of association and all such other
rights of the people, which rights are inalienable.'.
Deutch Amendment Proposal
- Introduced by Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) on November 18, 2011
WRITE YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
You might consider writing directly to your Representatives asking for the changes to campaign finance that interest you. Following is some of what I wrote to the President and my Representatives in Congress on Aug 2012:
AMEND THE CONSTITUTION
Campaign contributions exclusively from individuals, no corporations, PACs nor Unions
$1200 max individual contribution per person per candidate per year (linked to inflation)
$1.2 million in total contributions allowed for candidates to collect (linked to inflation)
$10 million maximum in total donations for each political party (linked to inflation)
Free
air time on all the network and radio stations for the 3-4 months prior
to an election - the airwaves are a public resource, and 1 free add for
each candidate on newspapers - newspapers use the public roads and
internet.
Warnings on Advertizing: Require
advertising or documentaries that mention a candidate, party, or bill
to have a banner at the bottom of the Screen, large orange letters on a
black background, stating: "May contain FALSE or MISLEADING
information."
Term Limits: 10 years for House Representatives and 12 years for Senators.
Term Limits: 10 years for House Representatives and 12 years for Senators.
I have come to be totally against public funding of elections - politicians can twist subsidies into any monster.
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