Month: November 2012

New York Times: Only a constitutional amendment will do it.

The New York Times’ lead editorial today indicts America’s "Broken Election System". It lays out several necessary fixes, then concludes by saying:

"Ultimately, only a constitutional amendment can counter the misbegotten Supreme Court assertion that money is speech and thus can play an unlimited role in American politics."

For the full editorial, click here.
 

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Voters Overwhelmingly Endorse Initiative 166

Montana voters strongly endorsed I-166, the Prohibition on Corporate Contributions and Expenditures in Montana Elections Act, by a margin of three-to-one giving the citizen initiative a vote of 75 percent. I-166 received bipartisan support from prominent Montana political figures. Governor Brian Schweitzer (D), Lt. Governor John Bohlinger (R), and former Secretary of State Verner Bertelsen
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Religious leader Jim Wallis: “People are made in the image of God and corporations are not.”

Jim Wallis, the theologian, author, and CEO of Sojourners, has a terrific piece in Politico today.

Here are some of the finest parts:

Our deepest values have no price — our common ground, our common good, caring for our neighbor and looking out for the least and the lost — these are the values that work for us. Sadly, those aren’t the values of the current system.

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NBC: Election’s biggest corporate donor an enigma that gave $5.3 million; Companies have spent $75 million this cycle

NBC News has just published a great report focusing on major examples of corporate spending on the 2012 elections. Here are some key excerpts:

The biggest corporate contributor in the 2012 election so far doesn’t appear to make anything — other than very large contributions to a conservative super PAC.

Specialty Group Inc., of Knoxville, Tenn., donated nearly $5.3 million between Oct. 1 and Oct. 11 to
FreedomWorks for America, which is affiliated with former GOP House Majority Leader Dick Armey…

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Money Out / Voters In: Free Speech For People joins with more than 50 organizations in issuing national statement

Free Speech For People today joined with more than fifty prominent, national organizations to express their concern about two critical threats to our democratic system: corporate influence in elections and laws and official actions that suppress the vote. Under the banner “Money Out, Voters In,” the organizations issued the following joint statement pledging to fight special interest money in politics and to support the rights of all voters:

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