Of, By and For the People

Of, By and For the People / Hynes (0.00 / 0)

Good read.

Give us more of your thoughts, please.

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by: Route66 @ Wed Jan 27, 2010 at 20:34:26 PM CST

Other Actions around Corporate Personhood (0.00 / 0)

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT EFFORTS:

Last fall, in anticipation of a hostile decision in Citizens United, a group of experienced democracy activists met in San Rafael, California to lay the groundwork for amending the U.S. Constitution to end the constant erosion of people's democratic rights by corporate persons. The Campaign to Legalize Democracy, a diverse and rapidly growing coalition of individuals and organizations, was born.

Its mission is to amend the U.S. Constitution to end the illegitimate legal doctrines that prevent the American people from governing themselves. First and foremost, the campaign will move to amend that only human beings are entitled to constitutional rights.

Ultimate Civics, one member of the coalition, is mapping groups that are working directly to abolish corporate personhood-corporations with human rights. Please let us know of such efforts and we will add them to the map.

http://www.yesmagazine.org/peo...

I really kinda like this one -- deliberately  making a law anyhow that challenges corporate personhood:

MEASURE T CHALLENGES CORPORATE PERSONHOOD:
In 2006, Humboldt County, California, became the latest, and largest, jurisdiction to abolish the legal doctrine known as "corporate personhood."

Measure T was successful because our all-volunteer campaign came together to pass a law that bans non-local corporations from participating in Humboldt elections. The referendum, which passed with 55 percent of the vote, also asserts that corporations cannot claim the First Amendment right to free speech.

By enacting Measure T, Humboldt County has committed an act of "municipal civil disobedience," intentionally challenging "settled law." But voters also recognize that Measure T is an act of common sense. We polled our community and found that 78 percent believe corruption is more likely if corporations participate in politics.

http://www.yesmagazine.org/iss...

COMMON DREAMS SUGGESTS TEN ACTIONS:

My favorites are:

Require publicly traded companies to disclose in SEC filings money used for the purpose of influencing public opinion, rather than for promoting their products. Grayson calls this "The Corporate Propaganda Sunshine Act."

Require the corporate CEO to appear as sponsor of commercials that his or her company pays for, another possibility from the Schumer-Van Hollen team, according to The New York Times.

Publicize the reform options, inform the public of who is making contributions to whom, and activate the citizenry. If we are to safeguard our democracy, media must inform and citizens must act.
http://www.commondreams.org/vi...

However, I do think that the above three actions alone would not be nearly enough, as they not aggressively address the systemic problems.  They may help mobilize public awareness, however.

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by: greenpeas @ Thu Jan 28, 2010 at 08:47:31 AM CST

[ Parent ]

More of my thoughts... (0.00 / 0)

For more of my thoughts, stop by my blog, Orient Lodge, or the local news site I've set up for Woodbridge, Woodbridge Citizen.

I try to remember to put cross post things I write that are important to progressives statewide here.

Beyond that, I'm still thinking out different ideas about where we should go with the Citizens Election Program, the Fair Elections Now Act, a new bill that DeLauro has introduced about U.S. corporations that are owned by foreign entities, etc.

There is a lot to work out here, and I'm glad to see some of the other comments people have made here.

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by: Aldon Hynes @ Thu Jan 28, 2010 at 13:55:20 PM CST

[ Parent ]

still thinking on this one (0.00 / 0)

In the face of what appears to be a series of tactics that are governed by a strategy (or by ideology with clearly proposed "remedies" to which sufficient numbers subscribe to give the appearance of a concerted effort) -- how effective will we be if we employ tactics in search of a strategy -- and is this an example of a tactic in search of a strategy? I'm not clear how this shareholder vote idea fits into a bigger picture.  Certainly I wanted to take to the streets when I heard about this decision, so I competely understand a sense of urgency about it.

Are we, in asking a systemically compromised system to come up with remedies, ignoring the level of compromise of the system?  At a certain point, I have to ask whether going to this Congress to seek meaningful remedies is like asking a fox for a new security system  for the henhouse.  I think what is done and how it is done require some pretty careful calibration in order to be effective.

Bills that would prescribe how corporations function internally won't pass in this crowd, and anyhow, do we want to legitimize shareholder elections as meaning anything? As a model for democracy, shareholder elections are probably not a good place to go: small shareholders don't bother to vote, and "one share, one vote" weights the outcome to the majority shareholders, and shareholders can assign their vote to others to vote on their behalf. Plus corporations frequently create subentities for specific purposes - why not just create an entity dedicated to selling million dollar slogan Tshirts?

On the stick-to-your-knitting areas where people are already engaged (electing better people and running for office), I am wondering if seeking out candidates who don't primarily have corporate work experience is a good idea at this time.

It would be interesting to do a survey and figure out how many of current senators and US reps have mostly worked in or for corporations, and at what level they worked.  Do they manage rather than lead in their roles in Congress? Is it second nature to go along to get along and don't rock the boat? Are they accustomed to accepting payment for behaving a certain way, rather than sticking to particular principles?  Do they identify with a powerful and wealthy body as their tribe and are they blind to the suffering of those who are not in it?

Also, I've just started searching law blog responses to this CU decision to see what people are saying about it, looking for any insights into implications of this decision and possible next steps.  

 

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by: greenpeas @ Thu Jan 28, 2010 at 07:52:08 AM CST