An invitation from Walt Wilde

An invitation from Walt Wilde:

“Thanks to everybody who attended one or more of our I-166 “community conversations” prior to the election, especially those who signed up to be counted by joining Missoula Moves to Amend.

The election results were truly gratifying. Across the country in race after race voters rejected the attempts of wealthy campaign donors to buy the election.

Tuesday was a also very big day for the amendment movement. Clearly the huge support we expected (and received) for our own Initiative 166 is found wherever voters are given a chance to express their feelings about a constitutional remedy for our current slide toward plutocracy. Below is a rundown from national Move to Amend on the election developments in that regard.

Missoula Moves to Amend’s steering committee will be holding its bimonthly meeting this Monday. I encourage any who are interested to attend. It will take place in the Jeanette Rankin Peace Center library, 519 S. Higgins, at 7:00 PM. Enter through the back of the building from the back alley. We will be brainstorming new projects for this winter.”

Walter Wilde

Missoula Moves to Amend

wrwilde44@msn.com

(406) 721-5289

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Summary from movetoamend.org

NATIONWIDE SUMMARY OF CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ACTIVITY ON ELECTION DAY

CALIFORNIA

Mendocino County volunteers collected petitions to place Move to Amend’s model resolution stating that corporations are not people and money is not speech on their ballot – Passed by 73%.

Arcata residents passed a measure called “Corps Ain’t Peeps – Passed by 81.5%.

San Francisco residents passed a measure calling for an amendment to overturn Citizens United. – Passed by 80%. (* Citizens United-only measure, put forward by Common Cause, see below.)

Richmond residents passed a measure calling for an amendment to overturn Citizens United. – Passed by 72%. (* Citizens United only-measure, put forward by Common Cause, see below.)

COLORADO

In Pueblo County Move to Amend volunteers lobbied their County

Commissioners to place a resolution on the ballot asking, “Do you want to

instruct Pueblo’s congressional representatives to propose and support, and

Pueblo’s state legislators to ratify, an Amendment to the United States

Constitution to establish that: 1) The inherent rights of mankind

recognized under the United States Constitution belong to natural human

beings only, and not to legally created entities, such as corporations, and

2) Money is not speech and, therefore, limiting political contributions and

spending is not equivalent to limiting political speech. Passed by 65%.

Colorado state Amendment 65 instructs

Colorado’s congressional delegation to propose and support an amendment to

the U.S. Constitution that allows congress and the states to limit campaign

contributions and spending. Passed by 64% (* Citizens United-only

measure put forward by Common Cause, see below).

ILLINOIS

In DuPage County two townships voted on the following question:

“Should the United States Constitution be amended to clearly state that

only individual persons, and not corporations,

associations, or any other organizational entities, are entitled to the

rights enumerated in the Constitution?” Lisle Township: Passed by 63%. City

of Warrenville: Passed by 65%.

In Kane County, voters passed the following question: “Should the

United States Constitution be amended to limit the use of corporate,

special interest, and private money in any political activity, including

influencing the election of any candidate for public office?” Passed by

68%.

In Avon Township (Lake County) voters passed the following question:

“Should the United States Constitution be amended to limit the use of

corporate, special interests, and private money in any political activity,

including influencing the election of any candidate for public office?” Passed

by 75%.

In Northfield Township (Cook County) voters approved the following

question: “Should the United States Constitution be amended to limit the

use of corporate, special interest, and private money in any political

activity, including influencing the election of any candidate for public

office?” Passed by 75%.

In Chicago voters approved a measure that asked: “Shall the U.S.

Congress pass a bill, to be duly ratified by three-fourths of the states,

adopting an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, empowering the federal

government and the states to regulate and limit political contributions

from corporations?” Passed by 57%.

Oak Park Township (Cook County) voters approved a measure asking:

“Shall the people of Oak Park stand with communities across the country in

requesting that our village, county, state and federal representatives

enact resolutions and legislation, including consideration for amending the

Constitution of the United States to establish that: a) Political money is

not the same as speech, and therefore that money shall be regulated; and b)

The rights guaranteed by the Constitution were and are primarily intended

for human beings, not corporations?” Passed by 85%.

Champaign and Cunningham Townships (Champaign County)

voters approved measures asking: “The U.S. Supreme Court held, in

“Citizens United v. FEC”, that corporations have the rights of real human

citizens and are entitled to spend unlimited amounts of money in support of

political campaigns. To undo that decision, the people of the City of

Champaign Township support an Amendment to the United States Constitution

to establish that: 1) A corporation does not have the same rights as an

actual person, and 2) Money is not speech and, therefore, regulating

political spending is not equivalent to limiting political speech. We

further request that our city, state and federal representatives enact

resolutions and legislation to advance the two positions proposed as part

of the Amendment, with reference to the need for an Amendment. Passed

by 72% in Champaign and 72% in Cunningham.

Carbondale Township *(Jackson County) passed a resolution in support

of the Move to Amend amendment language.

Passed by 68%.

MASSACHUSETTS

Voters in 120 towns (about 1/3 the population of the state) voted on local measures that instruct their state senator or legislator to support a constitutional amendment affirming that 1) corporations are not entitled to the constitutional rights of human beings and 2) both Congress and the states may place limits on political contributions and political spending. Passed by a combined majority of 79%.

(The Democracy Amendment Coalition includes Move to Amend, Common Cause Massachusetts, Occupy chapters, Mass VOTE, Free Speech for People, Public Citizen, the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts and many others.)

MONTANA

Montana’s Initiative 166, sponsored by Stand with

Montanans coalition ,

establishes an official Montana policy that corporations are not people with constitutional rights and charges Montana’s elected officials with supporting a constitutional amendment to create a level playing field in campaign spending. Passed by 74.71%.

(The Stand with Montanans coalition is a partnership between Common Cause and Free Speech for People with support from Governor Brian Schwiezter (D), Lt Governor John Bohlinger (R), former Secretary of State Verner Bertleson (R), CREDO Action, MontPIRG, Avaaz, Montana Conservation Voters, the League of Rural Voters, American Independent Business Alliance, Missoula Moves to Amend, unPAC, Public Citizen, MEA-MFT, AFL-CIO, Montana Votes, and the Montana Organizing Project.

OHIO

Brecksville became the first city in Ohio to pass a Move to Amend

initiative placed

on the ballot via citizen initiative. Despite active opposition by the

power structure in this “conservative” community. Passed with

52% of the vote.

Newburgh Heights became the first city in Ohio to pass a Move to

Amend initiative placed on the ballot by the Mayor and Council. Passed by 74%.

OREGON

Ashland* voters approved a measure asking: “Shall Ashland voters

instruct Congress to amend U.S. Constitution to grant only natural persons

constitutional rights and limit campaign spending?” Passed by 79.5%.

Corvallis* voters approved a measure asking: “Shall the City urge

elected representatives to support Constitutional Amendment denying

artificial entities’ personhood and rejecting money as speech?” Passed

by 75%.

Eugene voters approved a measure asking: “Shall Congress send to the

States constitutional amendment reversing the negative impacts of the

Citizens United case and limit independent campaign spending?” Passed

by 73%.

Lincoln County voters approved a measure asking: “Should citizens

urge Congress/Oregon Legislature to amend Constitution to clarify

corporation/union political speech rights, allowing campaign finance

regulation and limits?” Passed by 77%.

WISCONSIN

Eau Claire residents approved a measure placed on the ballot by

their City Council asking: “Should the US Constitution be amended to

establish that regulating political contributions and spending is not

equivalent to limiting freedom of speech, by asking that only human

beings, not corporations, unions, or PACs, are entitled to constitutional

rights? Passed by 71%.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Move to Amend’s position is that the Constitutional amendment must go beyond simply overturning Citizens United. “There is no reason for us to shy away from a true and lasting solution, rather than just band-aids,” stated Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap, a member of the Move to Amend National Leadership Team. “In every single community where Americans have had the opportunity to call for a Constitutional amendment to outlaw corporate personhood, they have seized it and voted yes overwhelmingly. Tuesday’s results show that the Movement to Amend has nearly universal approval. Americans are fed up with large corporations wielding undue influence over our elections and our legal system. Citizens United is not the cause, it is a symptom and Americans want to see that case overturned not by simply going back to the politics of 2009 before the case, but rather by removing big money and special interests from the process entirely.”

Here’s a link to the full list and map of all resolutions passed to date.

Walt Wilde’s Letter to the Editor on Ellie’s Montana Public Radio piece

To the Editor:
Bravo, Ellie Hill, for your forcefully delivered commentary on Montana Evening Edition last Friday shouting out your support for Citizens’ Initiative I-166, and Bravo, Montana Supreme Court, for denying the attempt by a Republican state senator from Helena and a businessman from Billings, along with the shadowy organization, Montanans Opposed to I-166, to have the measure removed from the November ballot. These events reaffirm that Montana is not about to be steamrolled by the runaway corporatism that has enveloped the country and threatens the most basic principles of American democracy: equal opportunity for all our citizens, not just the very rich, to have their voices heard. Come November, thanks to I-166, all Montanans will have the opportunity to express their feelings about whether to support constitutional amendment to veto two disastrous judicial doctrines that have been painstakingly cultivated over the past hundred and twenty years by the rich and powerful: that corporations are “people,” with all of the same constitutionally guaranteed rights, and that the expenditure of money by anyone in elections is a constitutionally protected form of speech.
Keeping I-166 on the ballot guarantees that these issues will be vigorously debated in Montana over the remaining three months before the election. But citizens of Montana beware! There is a powerful minority with incredible resources, that doesn’t want that debate to take place; that through front organizations with noble-sounding names but with carefully concealed financial backing and a well-known array of dirty tricks at its disposal, will stop at nothing to inhibit, drown out, confuse, and otherwise corrupt an honest debate in order to defeat I-166. We are witnessing now the opening salvos in what can be expected to be a bitter and messy battle for your hearts and minds. As Ellie Hill pointed out, this isn’t about Republicans vs. Democrats; it is about whether our government will remain a one-man-one-vote democracy, with sovereignty vested entirely in The People, or will continue down the road (we have already come so far!) toward unscrupulous plutocracy, where all decisions are made by – and In the sole interest of – the obscenely wealthy.
Walter Wilde, Missoula

Legislator Ellie Hill’s commentary on I-166 — from MTPR blog

Ellie Hill commentary: “Montanans Unite to Fight Against Corporate Takeover”
Posted on August 10, 2012 by mtprnews

William Clark, a copper king from our great state, bought a Senate seat in 1899. He famously said, “I never met a man who wasn’t for sale.”
Thereafter, we, the people of Montana, enacted a law limiting political spending by corporations because we, the people of Montana, didn’t want wealthy corporations buying our democracy. One hundred years later, we haven’t changed our minds.
In late June, the United States Supreme Court summarily reversed the Montana Supreme Court, saying that the century-old, collective will of the citizens of Montana is at odds with their 2010 Citizens United decision wherein the high court declared that corporations have the same rights as people and unlimited campaign spending equates to constitutionally protected free speech. In other words, the U.S. Supreme Court just sold our state to the highest bidder.
Montana legislators, on both sides of the aisle, are what we call citizen legislators. We are not professional politicians. Individual Montanans, like school teachers, farmers, students, sportsmen, and stay-at-home moms and dads can only donate $160 for our elections. This is because Montanans wanted individuals like school teachers, farmers, students, sportsmen, and stay-at-home moms and dads to decide how their own state was run.
Whether in Choteau, Billings or Missoula, most elections for the Montana Legislature cost between $4,000-$6,000. Those days are over. With this decision, the floodgates are wide open for insurance companies, oil companies, tobacco companies, foreign companies and any other super PAC to dump tens of thousands of dollars into our local elections and thereby silence any citizen legislator, who instead of becoming a puppet to the special interests of big, out-of-state corporations, fight for the future generations of all Montanans.
In Montana we’ve always known we are blessed with rich resources, and now five justices in Washington, D.C., just made us one of the cheapest dates in the country. Please pay attention, Montanans, as this is not about Republicans versus Democrats, but about the individual voices of everyday Montanans being drowned by a corporate take-over.
It’s time to fight back. Let’s reclaim our democracy by passing a constitutional amendment overturning Citizens United. Here in Montana, over 30,000 Montana voters signed the petition to place this issue on the ballot in November. Initiative 166, will make it Montana state policy that corporations are not entitled to constitutional rights because they are not human beings—and– that money is property, not constitutionally protected free speech. The measure also charges our elected officials, including our Congressional delegation, to support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to overturn Citizens United.
But before we have the chance to vote FOR I-166 in November, we have one more hurdle to cross. The corporate interests have launched an effort to block Montana voters from even voting on this citizens’ initiative, by filing a lawsuit with the Montana Supreme Court to throw I-166 off of the ballot. Clearly, the big-monied interests think they should be allowed to buy our elections and don’t think the people of Montana should have a voice in this matter. This lawsuit is nothing more than corporate hired guns trying to deny the people of Montana a chance to vote on a citizen initiative, one that clearly states corporations aren’t people and money is not speech.
Stand up, my fellow Montanans, stand up – we are not alone. Twenty two states joined Attorney General Steve Bullock in his valiant defense of Montana democracy before the U.S. Supreme Court. Let’s send the message back to Washington, D.C., that in Montana, it’s we the people, not we the corporations, and in Montana, we ain’t done yet.
You can learn more about the I-166 campaign and get involved at: http://www.StandWithMontanans.org.