The Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights held a hearing Tuesday on "Taking Back Our Democracy: Responding to Citizens United and the Rise of Super PACs" Here is Sen. Bernie Sanders' testimony:
Mr. Chairman, thank you for convening a hearing on the monumentally important issue of "Taking Back Our Democracy." Unfortunately, that title exactly describes the challenge facing us today.
The history of this country has been the drive toward a more and more inclusive democracy -- a democracy which would fulfill Abraham Lincoln's beautiful phraseology at Gettysburg in which he described America as a nation "of the people by the people for the people."
We all know American democracy has not always lived up to this ideal. When this country was founded, only white male property owners over age 21 could vote. But people fought to change that and we became a more inclusive democracy. After the Civil War, we amended the Constitution to allow non-white men to vote. We became a more inclusive democracy. In 1920, after years of struggle and against enormous opposition, we finally ratified the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote. We became a more inclusive democracy.
In 1965, under the leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr. and others, the great civil rights movement finally succeeded in outlawing racism at the ballot box and LBJ signed the Voting Rights Act. We became a more inclusive democracy.
One year after that, the Supreme Court ruled that the poll tax was unconstitutional, that people could not be denied the right to vote because they were low-income. We became a more inclusive democracy. In 1971, young people throughout the country said; "we are being drafted to go to Vietnam and get killed, but we don't even have the right to vote." The voting age was lowered to 18. We became a more inclusive democracy.
The democratic foundations of our country and this movement toward a more inclusive democracy are now facing the most severe attacks, both economically and politically, that we have seen in the modern history of our country. Tragically, as I say this advisedly, we are well on our way to seeing our great country move toward an oligarchic form of government -- where virtually all economic and political power rest with a handful of very wealthy families. This is a trend we must reverse.
Economically, the United States today has, by far, the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country on earth and that inequality is worse today in America than at any time since the late 1920s.
Today, the wealthiest 400 individuals own more wealth than the bottom half of America -- 150 million people.
Today, one family, the Walton family of Walmart fame, with $89 billion, own more wealth than the bottom 40 percent of America. One family owns more wealth than the bottom 40 percent.
Today, the top one percent own 40 percent of all wealth, while the bottom sixty percent owns less than 2 percent. Incredibly, the bottom 40 percent of all Americans own just 3/10 of one percent of the wealth of the country.That is what is going on economically in this country. A handful of billionaires own a significant part of the wealth of America and have enormous control over our economy. What the Supreme Court did in Citizens United is to say to these same billionaires: "You own and control the economy, you own Wall Street, you own the coal companies, you own the oil companies. Now, for a very small percentage of your wealth, we're going to give you the opportunity to own the United States government." That is the essence of what Citizens United is all about -- and that's why it must be overturned.
Let's be clear. Why should we be surprised that one family, worth $50 billion, is prepared to spend $400 million in this election to protect their interests? That's a small investment for them and a good investment. But it is not only the Koch brothers.
There are at least 23 billionaire families who have contributed a minimum of $250,000 each into the political process up to now during this campaign; my guess is that number is really much greater because many of these contributions are made in secret. In other words, not content to own our economy, the one percent want to own our government as well.The constitutional amendment that Congressman Ted Deutch and I have introduced states the following:
• For-profit corporations are not people, and are not entitled to any rights under the Constitution.
• For-profit corporations are entities of the states, and are subject to regulation by the legislatures of the states, so long as the regulations do not limit the freedom of the press.
• For-profit corporations are prohibited from making contributions or expenditures in political campaigns.
• Congress and the states have the right to regulate and limit all political expenditures and contributions, including those made by a candidate.I'm proud to say the American people are making their voices heard on this issue -- they are telling us loud and clear it is time to reverse the trend. Six states, including my home state of Vermont, have passed resolutions asking us to pass a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. More than 200 local governments have done the same, including many in Vermont. I'm proud to sponsor one such amendment. My colleagues here, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Udall, and Ms. Edwards, all have good amendments, and I thank them for their hard work on this issue.
To read the list of billionaire families donating at least $250,000 to campaigns, click here.
To read more about Sanders' Saving American Democracy Amendment, click here.
Follow Sen. Bernie Sanders on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SenSanders
Ask Senator Harry Reid...
Corp's are not people, you can put people in JAIL!
Corp's do not fear fines, they are just a deductible expense!
THX
Thanks for posting some reality!
Yes they can, for themselves....
...is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with a small number of people....
...Aristotle pioneered the use of the term as a synonym for rule by the rich..."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligarchy
How about this:
Oligarchy is UN-American
Republicans have been selling our democracy for years, passing laws of deregulation giving the wealthy power; Republicans are responsible for bringing us to the edge of the oligarchy abyss.
Any person who believes the lies of or votes for a Republican is complicit in the destruction of our basic rights and freedoms. Every Republican and tea bagger must be voted out of office!
Wealthy, greedy people are only “our” vote away from controlling of every aspect of our lives. Republicans have been literally selling us into slavery.
Wake up conservatives, are you really so bigoted and blind that you can’t see that your biased Supreme Court and Republican congressional reps are selling you down the river. Money, lots of it, buying security for them; for the rest of us...no money, deregulations allowed it to be sucked away by their Wall Street cronies...ah, but we do have something...insecurity.
Republican officials are puppets, “bought and paid for” they have chosen to be political Wh***s.
Every time a Republican politician starts talking lies spew out like vomit. E.g. Romney.
It is amazing how Republican/conservatives prefer to put their heads in the sand; choosing ignorance over reality that the person they voted into office is “scr****g” them over...and over...and over, ad nauseum!
The facts are everywhere!
Bernie is a National Treasure, unless you are RICH...
I know Bernie doesn't want to be president at his age. But...perhaps we could clone dozens of Bernie's that are just as humane, brilliant and feisty. The world would be a much, much better place.
Bernie is like a fine wine that gets better with age.
Threads about entertainers get thousands of posts. This one regarding perhaps the most important issue affecting people's lives in America, gets 110.
Kind of says it all.
.
... Then we are at WAR
... With the Ultra Wealthy
YES, MSM has let the US down in a time of infamy!
We are the Reporters of this "attack" on US...
Fanned and Fav'd!
This word and its meaning needs to be understood by all Americans. Everyone needs to understand the consequences. Because only when it is understood by all Americans can the future be changed.
Seriously, you are absolutely correct in making this point and the US is a democracy, or a republic for those that wish to note a finer point, in name only. Essentially the only voices on Capital Hill that are listened to are the voices of those that can afford the few spare million to fund an election, the rest of us are really serfs to be done with as the rich please. I am now referring to the USA as the United Serfs of America, because basically that is the way the rich of the country view us. This also helps to explain why the country continues to destroy middle class jobs and the middle class while the rich cannot be bothered to even raise a wine glass in toast to their serfs, the rich literally can not give one happy d@mn about the un-wealthy.
I wish we could clone him....
http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/britt_23_2.htm
"...is rule by the wealthy, or power provided by wealth.
... wealthy minorities have always exerted influence over the political arena. In the modern era, democratic republics around the world permit fund raising for politicians, who rely heavily on such income for advertising their candidacy to the voting public.
Whether through individuals, corporations or advocacy groups, such donations are often believed to engender a (crony)... patronage system via which major contributors are rewarded on a more or less quid pro quo basis. In fact, while campaign donations need not directly affect the legislative decisions of elected representatives, the natural expectation of donors is that their needs will be served by the person they donated to...
While quid pro quo agreements are generally illegal in most democracies, they are notoriously difficult to prove short of a well-documented paper trail...
...wealthy individuals either finance their own political campaigns or leverage their affiliations with other wealthy persons and organizations to do so on their behalf. In the United States, currently, 250 members of Congress both Democratic and Republican are millionaires, with 57 belonging to the top 1% of American wealthy.
...corporations and special interest groups pay lobbyists to press elected officials for favorable legislation. Mass media outlets...also alter public perception of issues, political groups and candidates by pandering to what they think a given target audience wants to see and hear..."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutocracy
http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/britt_23_2.htm
YES We CAN...