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Congress needs to hear from you: Citizens United still needs to be overturned [1]
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Date: 2023-01-23
In the 13 years since Citizens United was decided:
Election spending has exploded. An estimated $16.7 billion was spent on the 2022 midterm elections;
The ultra-wealthy hold enormously outsized power, transforming our democracy into more and more of an oligarchy each day;
Super PACs have brazenly ignored campaign finance laws, and corporations are hiding their political spending—and even bribing politicians—in secretive entities;
Foreign powers have exploited the loopholes Citizens United created to influence our elections from abroad.
Secret political spending from billionaire and corporate interests doesn't only make it harder to elect competent leaders and pass popular, much-needed legislation—it also makes it easier for well-funded extremists to threaten our lives, strip our freedoms, and undermine our democracy.
The fossil fuel industry uses their billions to stamp out popular climate legislation and force an increasingly deadly agenda. White evangelicals funded a donor network to pack the courts with right-wing extremists, and now we have a Supreme Court that is stripping us of our reproductive freedom and manufacturing legal doctrines. Dark-money groups not only funded and organized the rally before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, they're still funding a MAGA takeover of government.
Citizens United is a gross distortion of the ideals of democracy: free speech, participatory government, and one voice, one vote. As Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, aptly explains, "In entrenching the ‘right’ of corporations and the super-rich to spend whatever they choose to influence election outcomes, Citizens United transformed our campaign finance system from flawed to frightful."
Congress has the power to pass legislation to fix some of the problems with Citizens United. For example, Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff, Dean Phillips, Pramila Jayapal, and Jim McGovern made a powerful start by reintroducing the Democracy for All Amendment, which would overturn Citizens United and restore the right to impose reasonable limits on campaign spending. Additionally, Congress could pass legislation like the DISCLOSE Act, which requires organizations spending money in elections to disclose large donors, and for groups that spend money on ads supporting or opposing judicial nominees to disclose theirs. Either of these measures, and many others, would help secure our elections and restore trust in our democracy.
Yes, a divided Congress makes passing pro-democracy bills that much harder. However, the American public agrees it’s necessary: An August 2022 CBS News poll found that more than seven in 10 Americans (72%) believe that democracy and the rule of law are somewhat or very threatened.
And what was the number one thing that respondents believed was a major threat? “The influence of money in politics.”
The idea of government of, by and for the people cannot survive if our elections are not open, fair, and free. Sign and send the petition to Congress: Pass legislation to undo Citizens United and build a democracy where all voices can be heard.
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https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/23/2148334/-Congress-needs-to-hear-from-you-Citizens-United-still-needs-to-be-overturned
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