Now more than ever, the American people are showing just how fed up they are with the explosion of big corporate influence over our politics.
And
now more than ever, the Supreme Court is ignoring its own precedents to
unleash a torrent of corporate and special interest money in our
elections.
We must put the American people back in charge of our democracy. If the Supreme Court refuses to allow Congress and individual states to regulate the role of money in our elections, we must amend the Constitution to change that -- and together, we are beginning the amendment process this month.
Passing
a constitutional amendment is no easy feat -- we’ve only passed 27 in
our entire history, and powerful corporate interests are lining up
against us as we speak -- but we can do this by hitting the ground
running with a 21st century campaign to restore our democracy. And it
all starts with you.
Historically,
Congress and state legislatures have established contribution limits,
disclosure requirements, and other rules to limit the influence of
special interests in elections and ensure that government works for the
American people, not powerful corporations.
Then, in last year’s controversial Citizens United vs. FEC
decision, Republican appointees on the Supreme Court overturned prior
precedent and struck down Congress’ sensible regulations on corporate
spending in political campaigns.
A
key solution to address the root cause of this problem is to amend the
Constitution to make it absolutely clear to the Supreme Court and the
special interests that Congress and state governments have the power to
limit the flow of corporate money into campaigns.
These
historic times call for historic measures to ensure our government
remains “of the people, by the people and for the people,” not just
powerful interests with the deepest pockets.
But
we know these big corporate interests aren’t going to give up without
our fight, so we need you -- and tens of thousands of other Americans --
to join us.
Sincerely,
Jeff Merkley
U.S. Senator
|
Dick Durbin
U.S. Senator
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Chuck Schumer
U.S. Senator
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Tom Udall
U.S. Senator
|
Sheldon Whitehouse
U.S. Senator
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