[A-List] It's not too late to limit or reverse the impact of the Supreme Court's disastrous decision in Citizens United v. FEC.

[james daly]

 YES! Magazine / By Fran Korten   January 28, 2010

10 Ways to [Help] Stop Corporate Dominance of [US] Politics
It's not too late to limit or reverse the impact of the Supreme Court's 
disastrous decision in Citizens United v. FEC. Here's how.

The recent Supreme Court decision to allow unlimited corporate spending in 
politics just may be the straw that breaks the plutocracy’s back.

Pro-democracy groups, business leaders, and elected representatives are 
proposing mechanisms to prevent or counter the millions of dollars that 
corporations can now draw from their treasuries to push for government 
action favorable to their bottom line. The outrage ignited by the Court’s 
ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission extends to 
President Obama, who has promised that repairing the damage will be a 
priority for his administration.

But what can be done to limit or reverse the effect of the Court’s decision? 
Here are 10 ideas:

1.Amend the U.S. Constitution to declare that corporations are not persons 
and do not have the rights of human beings. Since the First Amendment case 
for corporate spending as a free speech right rests on corporations being 
considered “persons,” the proposed amendment would strike at the core of the 
ruling’s justification. The push for the 28th Amendment is coming from the 
grassroots, where a prairie fire is catching on from groups such as Public 
Citizen, Voter Action, and the Campaign to Legalize Democracy.

2.Require shareholders to approve political spending by their corporations. 
Public Citizen and the Brennan Center for Justice are among the groups 
advocating this measure, and some members of Congress appear interested. 
Britain has required such shareholder approval since 2000.

3.Pass the Fair Elections Now Act, which provides federal financing for 
Congressional elections. This measure has the backing of organizations 
representing millions of Americans, including Moveon.org, the NAACP, the 
Service Employees International Union, and the League of Young Voters. 
Interestingly, the heads of a number of major corporations have also signed 
on, including those of Ben & Jerry’s, Hasbro, Crate & Barrel, and the former 
head of Delta Airlines.

4.Give qualified candidates equal amounts of free broadcast air time for 
political messages. This would limit the advantages of paid advertisements 
in reaching the public through television where most political spending 
goes.

5.Ban political advertising by corporations that receive government money, 
hire lobbyists, or collect most of their revenue abroad. A fear that many 
observers have noted is that the Court’s ruling will allow foreign 
corporations to influence U.S. elections. According to The New York Times, 
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-New York) and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) are 
exploring this option.
6.Impose a 500 percent excise tax on corporate contributions to political 
committees and on corporate expenditures on political advocacy campaigns. 
Representative Alan Grayson (D-Florida) proposes this, calling it "The 
Business Should Mind Its Own Business Act."

7. Prohibit companies from trading their stock on national exchanges if they 
make political contributions and expenditures. Another one from Grayson, 
which he calls "The Public Company Responsibility Act."

8. 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."

9.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

10. 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.

The measures listed above—and others that seek to reverse the dominance of 
money in our political system—will not be easy. But grassroots anger at this 
latest win for corporate power is running high. History shows that when the 
public is sufficiently aroused, actions that once seemed impossible can, in 
hindsight, seem inevitable.

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Fran Korten wrote this article for YES! Magazine, a national, nonprofit 
media organization that fuses powerful ideas with practical actions. Fran is 
publisher of YES! Magazine.