WTP Maine - Public Hearing May 27, 2015

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Talking Points (continued)

Congress has not responded to requests from 16 states for an amendment, so we are trying an alternate route, provided by the US Constitution, to get an amendment proposed – an Article V Constitutional convention calling for an amendment to the US Constitution that would say that “corporations are not people” and “money is not speech”

There will be people speaking to all of these points, and you don’t need to include them all. You could just give your own reasons and any personal example of what you have seen as adverse effects of the Citizens United decision or the extent of popular demand for an amendment agreement on the need for an amendment that would overturn the decision. (Many of our petition circulators commented on how people from all across the political spectrum were eager to sign – these personal observations could be given as testimony.)

More detail and background information

Overturning money as speech and corporate personhood: Supreme Court decisions dating back 100 years give corporations rights as persons, which they have used to claim freedom of speech and other Constitutional rights meant for people. The Citizens United decision extended these rights and made it common knowledge that corporations are considered as people and money is to be considered to be speech and therefore its spending on political campaigns may not be restricted. Polls show that 80% of Americans oppose the Citizens United decision.
A Supreme Court decision can only be overturned by a Constitutional amendment which must be written either by Congress or by a Constitutional convention made up of delegates from each state. Congress has shown a lack of will to write such an amendment, so the alternative is to attempt a Constitutional convention.

Beedy Parker (beedyparker@gwi.net, 236‑8732)

Continued . . . next page

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