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Dear John,
The Supreme Court has reached its current height of corruption due to Trump’s three extremist picks, but one of the Court’s most consequential and devastating decisions came in 2010, when they eliminated prohibitions on corporate spending on elections in their ruling on the Citizens United case.
In Citizens United, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations have the same rights to make campaign contributions as people and ushered an ongoing avalanche of money into our political system. The Court guaranteed that the rich and powerful would keep their self-interests front and center for American politicians, increasing the influence of corporations over both parties.
In 2012, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama raised approximately $1 billion each. But fast forward ten years, to 2022, and a few billionaires put more than $1 billion into the election, ensuring far-right candidates had overwhelming resources. This was 300 times more than billionaires spent prior to Citizens United.
When huge corporations, including Big Oil, Big Pharma, and Big Finance are able to give unlimited amounts to politicians through PACs, the power of the vote is countermanded and Americans’ confidence in government dissolves.
Other than wresting the Supreme Court away from its current far-right tilt, the surest way to overturn Citizens United is through a Constitutional Amendment. Now, Congressmember Pramila Jayapal has proposed just that.
Tell Congress: Pass the Democracy For All Amendment to halt unrestrained campaign spending and dark money that corrupts American democracy. We can overturn Citizens United by building support to pass this critical amendment now.
The Democracy for All Amendment would establish that corporations are not people and do not have the same rights as living human beings. It would clarify that legislatures have authority to limit corporation spending on elections. And it would allow legislatures to authorize public campaign financing systems to further reduce the influence of corporate or private wealth.
Citizens United warps government action on every major issue in the country, from gun violence to reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, environmental protection, and dealing with climate change. Huge concentrations of wealth in a few individuals and the corporations they run have outsized impact on the legislative process in every sphere.
If we want our democracy to be government of the people, by the people and for the people -- not of, by, and for the corporations -- we must bring an end to Citizens United.
It will take time and effort, but the disastrous Citizens United decision has drowned out the voices of the people for far too long. Americans overwhelmingly want to rein in corporate greed, protect abortion access, prevent gun violence, and lower healthcare costs -- but wealthy special interests block constructive action on all of these issues.
Tell Congress, we need a democracy in which all voices are valued and can be heard. Pass the Democracy For All Amendment to ensure that corporations will not have more of a say in our elections than everyday Americans.
Thank you for taking action to overturn the seemingly bottomless pit of corruption, Citizens United.
Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action
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