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So I was skimming the web and I landed on this great article from Esquire about Senator Tom Udall's (D. NM) mission to overturn Citizens United:
http://www.esquire.com/...
There is no remedy to it except to bring it down from the outside.
Which is what Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico is trying to do.
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"There's just no way around it," he says. "There's no way to get to transparency and disclosure as long as the decision stands. I don't see a way around it, anyway."
Instead, Udall is the driving force to repeal Citizens United through a constitutional amendment. The amendment would give Congress the constitutional power to regulate the raising and spending of money in national elections, and it would give the states the same power to regulate spending in their elections. The amendment strikes at the fundamental heresy that lies at the heart of both Citizens United and Buckley v. Valeo, the 40-year-old case that made CU inevitable, given the correct composition of a future Supreme Court: namely, that money is speech. To this, of course, was added the equally preposterous notion that corporations are people and that, therefore, they have the same free speech rights as you, me, and the guy on the next bar stool.
Pass the amendment, and all of the entangled absurdity of Citizens United goes away. One doomsday machine takes out the other. - Esquire, 11/20/12
Emphasis Mine.
Here's the amendment Udall is proposing:
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Udall has been a long supporter of campaign finance reform after witnessing the effects the Buckley v. Valero case:
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As a law student, Udall watched the Buckley case work its way through the system all the way to fruition. He was already a local district attorney in the 1980s when a constitutional amendment was proposed to overturn Buckley.
He saw clearly where the country was headed once that decision was handed down. He heard the floodgates beginning to creak open. - Esquire, 11/20/12
Interesting fact, Udall's uncle, Congressman Mo Udall (D. AZ), made campaign finance reform a national issue when he ran for President in 1976.
Udall perfectly explain what Citizens United does and why a Constitutional amendment is needed:
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"What they've done, essentially, is legalize money-laundering," Udall says. "You can shut down the 501(c) and then sluice the money into the campaign, and the secrecy around the donors is maintained. Secrecy has no place in a democracy and particularly not in the electoral process.
"Once you say that money is speech,then you get what we have now — a Supreme Court that's getting bolder and bolder in defending its decision. That's what you saw when the Montana law was struck down. They passed that law because they saw what unlimited and anonymous corporate money could do to democracy. Right now, there is no possible legal remedy to this decision on a national level. We have to go with a constitutional amendment because we have to take the Supreme Court head-on. - Esquire, 11/20/12
Udall's call for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United gets great support from both conservatives Democrats and progressives in the Senate:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
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Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) called a constitutional amendment "the only way we can solve this."
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"We are seeing our country move toward an oligarchic government," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said. "Citizens United is a part of that trend." - Huffington Post, 7/24/12
Udall's amendment has the support of 26 Senators and the petition posted in July for the petition reached 2 million signatures. There is clearly strong support in this country for this amendment.
Amending the Constitution to overturn the Supreme Court's decision on Citizens United is a big deal and a bold move from a brave Senator.
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"The Supreme Court has been bold so we have to be bold in return," Tom Udall says. "That's the only way around it." - Esquire, 11/20/12
Well said Senator. Here are the Senators who have co-sponsored Udall's Amendment:
Daniel Akaka (D. HI)
Mark Begich (D. AK)
Michael Bennet (D. CO)
Barbara Boxer (D. CA)
Sherrod Brown (D. OH)
Ben Cardin (D. MD)
Kent Conrad (D. ND)
Chris Coons (D. DE)
Dick Durbin (D. IL)
Dianne Feinstein (D. CA)
Al Franken (D. MN)
Kristen Gillibrand (D. NY)
Tom Harkin (D. IA)
Tim Johnson (D. SD)
Amy Klobuchar (D. MN)
Bob Menendez (D. NJ)
Jeff Merkley (D. OR)
Jack Reed (D. RI)
Bernie Sanders (I. VT)
Chuck Schumer (D. NY)
Jeanne Shaheen (D. NH)
Jon Tester (D. MT)
Sheldon Whitehouse (D. RI)
Ron Wyden (D. OR)
Conrad and Akaka are retiring and won't be a part of the 113th congress but we'll have a new group of Senators including Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Baldwin coming in who could (and should) be co-sponsors of this amendment. I say call your Senator and get them to co-sponsor and support this amendment:
http://www.senate.gov/
Senator Udall shouldn't have a tough time getting re-elected in 2014 but I wouldn't be surprised if Karl Rove and Super PAC money returns in an effort to unseat him. Lets help assure his victory and give him the resources he needs to win. Udall deserves it:
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https://secure.actblue.com/...