Citizens United to End Political Bribery (Working Group)

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Overview

Citizens United to End Political Bribery (CUEPB) is a Working Group pursuing the goal of getting corporate money out of politics.  We focus on realistic actions in Massachusetts, but also extend our efforts to nationwide politics.  This wiki page serves to collect information and discuss ideas before bringing proposals to Occupy Boston General Assembly.  Everything here should be considered a draft, unless conspicuously labeled otherwise.  To participate, come to one of our scheduled meetings or comment on the discussion tab for a page.  You can also edit a page, but we'd like to know who's involved, so please introduce yourself.

Main Events on January 20-21

On the January 20–21 anniversary of the Citizens United decision,  a wide coalition of groups will stand together for GETTING MONEY OUT OF POLITICS! Here is a list of events taking place on those dates

Organizational Details for Rally/Summit

Meetings:

Agenda for Jan 23 Discussion Conference Call at 5:30 pm in E5 (218-844-3377, access code 735433#)

  • Do we have email addresses for Ellen Fine, Harmony Wu, and Jess Shuman? 
    • We should send out a thank you email to all speakers and breakout leaders and I'm missing those 3 emails.  Also, I thought we might tell them about next steps including plans for Feb 28 (?) and the CU Boston Resolution Task Force.  Also, some of them have livestreams online.  We should ask for people to respond and tell us if they object to this as they weren't told this could happen ahead of time.  You can see the livestreams following links on the rally-summit page.

Talk about what went well and what to improve for next time

Discuss next actions around Feb. 28 hearing for S772.  In particular, who will take point on this and how to organize with Sunday Occupy Action meeting.

Brainstorm other next activities (if time is available). 

One idea is a 6-part-education-series every two months throughout the year that could have a lecture/debate/panel, breakout groups, and end with outline of what we're planning next.  

On the months when we don't have a series, we could (maybe) try and arrange a coalition exploration meeting, inviting 1-2 members of each group we've engaged.

Whatever we do, we should write a proposal to United Republic for a grant.  

Division of Labor

It would be good for each of us to have assigned tasks for events and for organization in general:

EVENTS

Minutes from Previous Meetings

Background Information:

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Opinion

  • The minority dissenting opinion quoted at this link gives arguments against the Supreme Court's majority opinion. After a summary, the opinion continues (not quoted here,) describing in detail the laws and rulings related to corporate personhood.
  • Under U.S. law, a corporation is a "corporate veil," protecting individuals inside a company from being prosecuted for the actions of the business. In 1886 the U.S. Supreme Court decided that corporations are entitled to many rights accorded to citizens, in its decision of Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Rail Road Co.
  • In 1907 Congress passed the Tillman Act, prohibiting corporations from donating money directly to national political campaigns. This still holds, but in January 2010 the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 (in Citizens United v. FEC) that corporations can spend unlimited amounts on political advertisements as long as they don't directly coordinate that spending with an actual candidate.
  • The Citizens United v. FEC decision invalidated protections that had existed in Massachusetts General Law, according to a March, 2010 ruling of the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance. Many bills are now being introduced in Massachusetts and at the federal level to counteract the wide effects of last year's Supreme Court decision by restricting corporate money from influencing politics.

Campaign Finance Legislation (passed and pending)

  • Click here for a list of legislation

Additional Resources




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