OCCUPY WALL STREET

[atomiczombie]

The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to support a resolution calling for a constitutional amendment that would assert that corporations are not entitled to constitutional rights, and that money is not the same as free speech.

The resolution was backed by Move to Amend, a national coalition working to abolish corporate personhood and overturn U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial Citizens United ruling. The decision gave corporations and unions the ability to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections, so long as their actions are not coordinated with a candidate’s campaign.

“Move to Amend’s proposed amendment would provide the basis for overturning the recent Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission,” stated Mary Beth Fielder, Co-Coordinator of LA Move to Amend. “The Supreme Court has no legitimate right to grant people’s rights to corporations. We must clearly establish that it is we, The People, who are meant to rule.”

City Council President Eric Garcetti sponsored the resolution, according to the Los Angeles Times. He said the largely-symbolic legislation was necessary because “big special interest money” was causing gridlock in Washington.

Move to Amend hopes that to get similar resolutions approved across the nation through city councils and direct vote by ballot initiative.

“Our plan is build a movement that will drive this issue into Congress from the grassroots,” stated Mary Beth Fielder, Co-Coordinator of LA Move to Amend. “The American people are behind us on this and these campaigns help our federal representatives see that we mean business. Our very democracy is at stake. Our goal is for 50 towns and cities to put Move to Amend’s resolution on the ballot for the Presidential election in November, 2012.”

Democratic Sens. Tom Udall of New Mexico and Michael Bennet of Colorado have introduced a constitutional amendment that would overturn Citizens United by granting Congress and the states the authority to regulate the campaign finance system. The amendment would not dictate any specific policies or regulations, Udall said, so that it could garner some support from Republicans, who have blocked attempts to overturn the ruling in the past.

LINK: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/0...te-personhood/

[Corkey]

From Dylan Rattan show Mass. Attorney General has joined several States Attorney Generals to investigate mortgage corporations. Doing Holters job for him.

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by atomiczombie

LINK: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/0...te-personhood/

Yes! This is exactly what needs to be done! No easy task, but must happen. This would be such a great OWS focus nationwide. The Citizens United decision is so very much at the core of why there has been such wage disparity in the US for so long.

[SoNotHer]

"Los Angeles is the first major city in the United States to call for a constitutional amendment that clearly establishes that human being and only human beings are entitled to constitutional rights and that money is not the same as free speech, thus providing the basis to overturn Citizen's United decision."

[SoNotHer]

Legislators around the nation have been working to strip or severely restrict the right of their fellow Americans to vote. They claim to be preventing voter fraud. They deny that their goal is to suppress the votes of people of color, students, the elderly, and the poor. The truth is their efforts amount to nothing more than a scheme to undo generations of work securing the voting rights for all Americans. The NAACP and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund have released an important new report on the relationship between the historic levels of participation in the 2008 election and the new voter suppression bills proposed and passed by legislatures around the country. The report removes any doubt about our opponents' intent, and we must not ignore this attack.

Take a moment to read the report and find out the truth. Then make sure your friends and family know about it too:

http://action.naacp.org/defending-democracy-report

The report, "Defending Democracy: Confronting Modern Barriers to Voting Rights in America," provides indisputable evidence of a coordinated attack intended to silence the communities who turned out in record-breaking numbers in 2008: young people and communities of color. The report exposes the reasons why new stringent voter ID requirements, bans on the formerly incarcerated -- people who have already paid their debt to society -- and suppressive rules on voter registration and early voting periods are being pursued.

In short, these laws threaten to undermine the record levels of political participation witnessed during the historic 2008 Presidential election by blocking access to millions of people, many of them our most vulnerable citizens. And it's no coincidence that this comprehensive assault was launched just in time to affect the 2012 election.

You can find full details of the voter suppression initiatives in the report. More importantly, the report provides a roadmap for our communities to begin to actively counter these block-the-vote efforts. "Defending Democracy" is eye opening, and serves as the backbone for our Stand For Freedom Rally at the United Nations in New York City on December 10th. Please take a moment to download the report and spread the word to friends and family:

http://action.naacp.org/defending-democracy-report

Today we face one of the biggest threats to civil rights in over a century. If these powerful forces capture our right to vote, the other rights we care so deeply about -- education, health care, equality for all -- could be at risk.

Thank you in advance for learning more about this crucial issue and taking action in your community.

Yours in justice,

Kim

Kim Michele Keenan, Esq.
General Counsel
NAACP

[MsMerrick]

Standing for Freedom
( copied from http://www.stand4freedom.org/ )

This year, two-thirds of state legislatures have introduced laws that undermine the right to vote. Early voting and Sunday voting are under attack, photo ID requirements will introduce the first financial and document barrier to voting since the poll tax, and racially-motivated bans on ex-felons will wipe tens of thousands off the rolls.

This effort is unprecedented, it is coordinated, and it is targeted. African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, students, working women, seniors and immigrants of all colors will be disproportionately affected.

The right to vote is the heart of our democracy. Throughout our history Americans have been murdered for defending this basic human right. We will not let it be taken away from millions today.

Join us on Saturday, December 10th—The United Nations’ Human Rights Day—to proclaim to America and the world:

It’s time to Stand for Freedom. We must protect our right to vote.
Assembly and March Information

10:30 am to 11:30 am: assemble 61st St. and Madison Ave., the Koch brothers' NYC office.

11:30 am: March from 61st St. and Madison Ave. to Dag Hammarskjold Plaza at 47th St. and 2nd Ave.

12:30 pm: Rally at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza across from the United Nations.

End copy and paste

Join me anyone? Give a yell if you want to meet up...

[MsMerrick]

If there is a separate thread for discussion of teh Citizen's United Case, I'll post this there also.
But meanwhile, if you , like me, believe that Corporations are NOT people, granted the same rights of Free Speech, PLEASE, help correct the Citizen's United Decision with this Constitutional Amendment . This is the time, there is awareness growing all over, even in L.A.
Sign Senator Sanders Petition and share widely !!!

[SoNotHer]

Signed. Thank you for posting this.

Originally Posted by MsMerrick

If there is a separate thread for discussion of teh Citizen's United Case, I'll post this there also.
But meanwhile, if you , like me, believe that Corporations are NOT people, granted the same rights of Free Speech, PLEASE, help correct the Citizen's United Decision with this Constitutional Amendment . This is the time, there is awareness growing all over, even in L.A.
Sign Senator Sanders Petition and share widely !!!

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by MsMerrick

If there is a separate thread for discussion of teh Citizen's United Case, I'll post this there also.
But meanwhile, if you , like me, believe that Corporations are NOT people, granted the same rights of Free Speech, PLEASE, help correct the Citizen's United Decision with this Constitutional Amendment . This is the time, there is awareness growing all over, even in L.A.
Sign Senator Sanders Petition and share widely !!!

Please circulate on FB, Twitter.... and bump a lot!! Thanks MsMerrick!

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by MsMerrick

If there is a separate thread for discussion of teh Citizen's United Case, I'll post this there also.
But meanwhile, if you , like me, believe that Corporations are NOT people, granted the same rights of Free Speech, PLEASE, help correct the Citizen's United Decision with this Constitutional Amendment . This is the time, there is awareness growing all over, even in L.A.
Sign Senator Sanders Petition and share widely !!!

Bumped- sign and circulate. A constitutional amendment is the only way to change Citizens United decision- this is a process that can take years (even without the present polarized Congress we now have) and we need to get going!

Two ways to amend the Constitution

The founders offered two mechanisms for changing the Constitution. The first is for the proposed bill to pass both halves of the U.S. Congress (House and Senate) by a two-thirds majority in each. Once the bill has passed both houses, it then goes to the states. While the Constitution does not impose a time limit on states for which to consider the amendment, Congress frequently includes one (typically seven years). In order to become an amendment, the bill must receive the approval of three-fourths of the states (38 states). This approval can be generated through either a state convention or a vote of the state legislature. In either case, a majority vote is necessary for passage. Often, the proposed amendment specifies the route which is necessary.

The second method prescribed is for a Constitutional Convention to be called by two-thirds of the state legislatures (34 states), and for that Convention to propose one or more amendments. These amendments are then sent to the states to be approved by three-fourths of the legislatures or conventions. As of July 2006, this method has never been used.