Congress may be gridlocked but at least one huge piece of legislation is on the move in the Senate.
In 2010, the five conservative Supreme Court Justices made one of the biggest blunders in judicial history when they struck down campaign finance laws that prevented wealthy individuals and corporations from buying elections. It was a 5-4 ruling overall.
Ever since, Americans have voiced their overwhelming opposition to the ruling and have repeatedly called for a constitutional amendment to overturn it permanently, thus putting elections firmly in the hands of the voters instead of a few people with deep pockets full of cash.
as great a step as this is let's not lose focus on the political process, there is a republican dominated congress that has opposed everything the last 6 years and vowed to continue their blocking agenda.
Enter, Tom Udall. The Democratic Senator from New Mexico introduced Senate Joint Resolution 19 in July that would amend the Constitution to overturn Citizens United and give Congress the power to create campaign finance laws. The resolution states:
Section I. To advance democratic self-government and political equality, and to protect the integrity of government and the electoral process, Congress and the States may regulate and set reasonable limits on the raising and spending of money by candidates and others to influence elections.
Section II. Congress and the States shall have power to implement and enforce this article by appropriate legislation, and may distinguish between natural persons and corporations or other artificial entities created by law, including by prohibiting such entities from spending money to influence elections.
Section III. Nothing in this article shall be construed to grant Congress or the States the power to abridge the freedom of the press.
On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid brought the resolution up for a vote to start debate. Democrats actually managed to get several Republicans to cooperate and the resolution advanced by a landslide 79-18 margin.
It’s unlikely that the resolution will pass the Senate, even though 78 votes would be more than enough to push it through. But Republicans say they have no problem with debating the resolution. They just don’t want it to actually pass and move on to the House, where it would die anyway. Of course, this is why Democrats moved to advance the resolution in the first place. It draws a clear line on the issue of campaign finance reform just two months before the 2014 midterm election. Americans will see exactly where Republicans stand and that could be crucial in many tight races across the country.In fact, Republicans have already revealed where they stand on the issue. They claim Democrats are assaulting First Amendment rights and say “there is zero support on our side for rewriting the First Amendment to restrict free speech.”
the scotus handed down that asinine idea that spending money from undisclosed sources was freedom of speech, what if that money comes from China or Iran should it still warrant the rights of American donors and be included as free speech looks like the right wing side of the scotus thinks so because with that decision we don't know who is supporting republicans attempt to sell the country to the highest bidder. those who support the republican party you are selling your souls to the company stores like Koch industries et al and God knows who else, Ahmadinejad of Iran?
