In the streets and on the Web, activists made it clear yesterday that there is strong opposition to allowing increased corporate influence on our elections. As the Supreme Court considered this decision that could seriously undermine our democracy in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (a.k.a. the “Hillary: The Movie” case), we heard from you.
Here are some highlights:
In Boise, Idaho, where activists and concerned citizens gathered at the state capitol:
In Hamilton, New York, where the Democracy Matters chapter at Colgate University and concerned citizens rallied in front of their local post office:
Joan Mandle (second from left in the picture) said: ” To contemplate that the Supreme Court would make it easier for corporations to influence political decisions through huge campaign contributions is horrifying. Money has no place as the determinant of who gets elected. We need elections not auctions! We strongly support a public financing option for members of Congress so they no longer have to depend on special interests to win office.”
In Austin, Texas, the Daily Texan’s Regan Mathias reported on the protest there:
Nine Austin residents gathered at the Capitol on Wednesday morning to rally against the possible outcome of a Supreme Court hearing that would allow more leverage for corporations in political campaigns.
[...]
Public Citizen, a national nonprofit public interest group, organized the rally because officials said they fear a ruling in favor of Citizens United could possibly give corporations more leverage is raising funds for political campaigns.
We’re still waiting to hear how things went in other parts of the country. If you have a picture, video or story to share, please send it to action@citizen.org.
Citizens United v. FEC: A look behind the scenes « Public Citizen
[...] Around the time the case was argued on Sept. 9, it was the subject of front-page newspaper stories and got a lot of radio and television coverage (including “The Word” on the Colbert Report), as well as the attention of folks in the blogosphere. And the public responded. We’ve heard a tremendous amount of concern by ordinary people who are afraid that their voices will be supplanted by that of big business in our political campaigns, and lots of folks have taken actions to express their support for campaign finance reform (see http://citizenvox.org/2009/09/10/the-dont-get-rolled-roundup/). [...]
November 2, 2009 at 9:14 am
Will the Supreme Court unleash corporate spending in elections? «
[...] the day the case was re-heard on Sept. 9, when Public Citizen members and activists held protests across the country, we’ve been waiting to hear if the decision will have limited, but worrisome consequences, or if [...]
December 11, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Are you ready to protest? «
[...] and protest (there were some great protests on Sept. 9, the day of the hearing). You can protest by taking to the streets, video blogging, writing your local paper, or anything else to show you oppose the idea of more [...]
January 8, 2010 at 5:49 pm
Will the Supreme Court unleash corporate spending in elections? « Clean Elections Texas – Supporting Campaign Finance Reform, Public Financing of Elections, and Openess and Accountability in Texas
[...] the day the case was re-heard on Sept. 9, when activists held protests across the country, we’ve been waiting to hear if the decision will have limited, but worrisome consequences, or if [...]
January 19, 2010 at 3:09 pm