Is It Too Late To Take Back Our Democracy? A Constitutional Amendment

Grotesque Hobbesian characters Sean Duffy (R-WI) and John Fleming (R-LA) have whined publicly about not being able to get by, respectively, on a paltry $174,000 salary and a mere $400,000 annual income. The median household income in Wisconsin is $49,993, down from $52,094, since the GOP economic policies have kicked in. And the median household income in Louisiana, also down by over $1,000 a year, is $42,492. Americans tend to vote for candidates who are much wealthier than they are and have little in any understanding of, let alone sympathy for, for their day to day needs or interests. The political system seems rigged to come up with results like that-- and the system became considerably more rigged when 5 extreme right, corporate-oriented, democracy-hating Supreme Court judges ruled that the wealthy could virtually spend unlimited amounts of money on swaying elections any way they chose.

Yesterday 8 senators-- Jeff Merkley (OR), Sheldon Whitehouse (RI), Tom Harkin (IA), Tom Udall (NM), Michael Bennet (CO), Dick Durbin (IL), Mark Begich (AK) and Chuck Schumer (NY)-- all Democrats, introduced a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court ruling, Citizens United vs FEC. Here's the full text of their resolution, the concept of which is supported by most Americans, though, obviously, opposed by the 1% and their politicians. The Republican Party is expected to fight this to the death-- hopefully its own. The poster boy against the amendment is Mitt Romney with his weird assertion that "corporations are people." This is how Udall, while acknowledging that amending the U.S. Constitution is an extremely difficult process and an impossible one while the Republicans control the House, explained it to New Mexico voters Tuesday:

"Campaigns should be about the best ideas, not the biggest checkbooks. It's time to put elections back in the hands of American voters, not corporations and special interests... The latest reinterpretation of the Constitution has left our political system vulnerable like never before."

In announcing its full support for the amendment, MoveOn made clear to its members that this is going to "be a strenuous, long-term endeavor but ultimately it is the only way to reverse the damage of the Citizens United decision. We've amended our Constitution before in moments when we needed to make fundamental changes to how our country works. Right now is one of those moments. It isn't ultimately about who's benefiting, Democrats or Republicans, it's about the fact that giving corporations the full First Amendment rights of people is threatening the integrity of our democratic process."

Every single Blue America candidate backs the amendment. No one will be endorsed who doesn't. Yeah... that important.