Democracy Spring

Lady Liberty was arrested on Monday afternoon.

That is, a protester dressed up as the New York icon was taken into police custody, along with hundreds of other protesters who refused to leave the US Capitol steps on Monday until Congress agrees to pass campaign finance reform.

The protesters were in Washington, DC on Monday as part of Democracy Spring, a loosely organized protest movement that began as a 10-day walk from Philadelphia to the nation's capital, and which is now attracting hundreds of campaign finance advocates to sit-in at the Capitol building over the next week.

The group is demanding that Congress "take immediate action" to create a viable small-dollar public funding system for federal elections, and is calling for a Constitutional amendment to overturn the US Supreme Court's controversial 5-4 ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commissionin 2009, which lifted restrictions on corporate money in politics.

A US Capitol Police officer estimated that more than 500 people were present at Monday's protest by the afternoon, but said that many more — he specify a number — had already been arrested for refusing to leave the Capitol steps.

Hundreds Arrested at US Capitol During 'Democracy Spring' Campaign Finance Protests | VICE News

 

Nobody in MSM even reported this lulz...

 

"Republic" Spring?

The US is hardly a "democracy"...

 

God that is the worst idea I can think of. Why the fuck should I subsidize politicians' campaign efforts?

Citizens United v. FEC is the subject of tons of disinformation which I am saddened to see VICE contributing to, and as far as I am concerned, it is lying by omission.

Citizens United was about a corporation that wanted to air an ad for a documentary that was critical of Hillary. But it was illegal to do so within 80 days of the election, something that was determined to have violated the first amendment. Why should it be that 81 days before an election people can criticize Hillary but 79 days before it's a crime?

Citizens United did not establish that corporations are people. The concept of legal/juridical personhood for corporations predates the existence of this country. It's what allows corporations to be sued in court. If there were no corporate personhood then you would have to bring legal action against the stockholders. That means any Joe Schmoe with stocks or private pensions could have charges brought against them for the crimes of others. That would be unjust.

It also didn't establish that money is speech. It's still illegal for corporations to give money directly to campaigns or coordinate their efforts with campaigns.

If me and my brother wanted to start Bernie For President, LLC and raise money for an advertisement critical of Donald Trump, then it is my right to do that under the First Amendment. For it to be a crime for my corporation to raise money and air an ad critical of Donald Trump within 80 days of the election, that is anti-free speech. Agree or disagree?

TL;DR, while corporations are not living, breathing human beings, it is organized by living, breathing humans, and they don't suddenly lose their free speech rights once they organize as a corporation.

Just utterly disappointed at the disinfo being spread around....

 

So you agree with Citizen's United and the disgusting amount of money in politics? Maybe two separate issues at its core, but still.

 

I agree with the court's decision which stipulated that it was a clear violation of the first amendment to make it illegal for an organized group of people to criticize Hillary Clinton within 80 days of the election. That has nothing to do with dirty money and politics, and my post clearly explains why. "But still", what? You're comparing apples to pick up trucks. It's been my position for several years that special interests and big money corrupt politics big time, and no I don't "agree" with it.

The amount of disinformation being spread around about the court decision has made people think things that are simply false.

 

That's just wrong, the decision addressed a corporation that wanted to air an ad within 80 days of the election.

The United States was bought and sold decades before Citizens United ever came into the picture. You have no idea what the Citizens United decision was actually about, clearly. The system is so corrupted that it doesn't matter if you tried to get money out of politics, the ruling class owns this joint and always will. Give me a break with this nonsense. No one denies political corruption, let alone myself.

 

Democracy is a horrible system of government a Constitutional Republic is a little less so but has still proven to be a failure. Individual rights is the key collectivism just leads to collective failure.