2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumJust a little tweet - not Rush, not GOP....about true Democracy in Vermont! (I added more info)
Last edited Tue Mar 6, 2012, 12:13 AM - Edit history (2)
John Nichols @NicholsUprising
At least 52 #Vermont town meetings will move Tuesday to amend Constitution to overturn #CitizensUnited. This is what democracy looks like.
Retweeted by Katrina vandenHeuvel
I love to read inspiring things before I head for bed....good for Vermont. Setting a great example.
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So I did a little research - here is a more extensive article on what they are doing.
http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/town-by-town-vermont-1373620.html
Town by town, Vermont tackles corporate personhood
"MONTPELIER, Vt. A senator with socialist leanings was among the first. Then there was Jerry of Ben & Jerry's ice cream fame. Stephen Colbert has tweeted in favor. And now people in at least 52 Vermont communities will use the bully pulpit of that New England institution, Town Meeting Day, to push for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution declaring that corporations are not people.
States and communities from Maine to Hawaii and Florida to Alaska have considered similar calls, but tiny Vermont with its penchant for using its annual testament to participatory democracy to offer the world opinions on issues way beyond the town budget is making the most concerted effort.
The goal is to get rid of the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, which allowed corporations, unions and wealthy people to raise and spend unlimited campaign funds via political action committees known as "super PACs" as long as they don't work directly with a candidate.
At the heart of the debate is "corporate personhood," the U.S. legal concept that gives corporations rights like those of an individual. Critics say that it poisons the electoral process and that the only way to trash the practice is by amending the U.S. Constitution."
snip
PDJane
(10,103 posts)Congratulations Vermont.
Phlem
(6,323 posts)and thank you for this.
-p
NRaleighLiberal
(60,018 posts)glinda
(14,807 posts)IndyJones
(1,068 posts)flamingdem
(39,319 posts)Let's hope other states pick up on it.