4/30/12
To: Northwest Council Members
From: NW Legislative and Public
Affairs Committee
Subject: PRE-SUBMITTED NEW BUSINESS: Oppose “Corporations are People” Rights
Background
The MLKCLC (Martin
Luther King Jr. County Labor Council) asked delegates to endorse a petition
calling for the Washington State Legislature and the United States Congress to
amend the Constitution to clearly state that:
Corporations are not human beings endowed with Constitutional rights;
Contributions and expenditures for political purposes are not Constitutionally
protected speech; The States shall have the power to regulate contributions and
expenditures for campaigns and ballot measures and require public disclosure of
the sources of same; and ask for enactment of an ordinance by which the Seattle
City Council shall call upon the Washington Legislature and the U.S. Congress
to amend the Constitution through a ballot measure in the November 2012 general
election.
There will be a
motion coming from the SPEEA L&PA committee to the SPEEA council in June to
respond to support similar efforts on a national level. This is one of many
strategies to address the lack of transparency in political campaign spending,
private financial influence and distortion of the political process and shaping
of public policy.
Links:
http://freespeechforpeople.org/ See pdf downloads, articles, etc.
http://celdf.org/section.php?id=41
http://www.ratical.org/corporations/demoBrief.html
NW L&PA
Committee Recommendation
The NW
Legislative and Public Affairs Committee recommends passage of this motion.
MOTION
It is moved that: THE NORTHWEST
COUNCIL supports efforts to limit the power of corporations from having the
same Free Speech rights as people.
Pro’s
·
This will help restore some
campaign spending transparency and address political disparity created by
Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court.
Con’s
·
Corporations and vested interest
groups will not support the loss of concealed buying power, influence over
elected officials, the ballot and other advantages they now have under the 2010
Citizens United ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.
·
It can be viewed as
anti-business