Eldridge Supports Constitutional Amendment to Citizens United Ruling

As part of grassroots efforts to pass a Constitutional amendment to Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, last year’s landmark Supreme Court decision that allows unlimited spending by corporations in independent political broadcasts, State Sen. James Eldridge (D-Acton) recently met with some 50 local progressive Democrats to discuss several bills in the state Legislature designed to “mitigate the effects” of the ruling.

Sponsored by the Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) and the Carlisle Democratic Town Committee, and held at Temple Beth Elohim in Acton, the “Restoring the Dream of Democracy” meeting included speakers John Bonifaz, founder and director of Free Speech for People, Eldridge, and State Rep. Cory Atkins (D-Concord), who along with Eldridge, is “on the forefront of this movement among state legislators in terms of fighting back against Citizens United,” said Bonifaz.

The meeting began with remarks by Tim Carpenter, PDA’s national director, who told the audience that the recent approval by Massachusetts Democrats of four PDA-sponsored resolutions at last month’s Massachusetts Democratic Convention indicated “that we hold our party accountable for issues we believe in.” These resolutions included ones calling for single-payer healthcare, the Congressional Progressive Caucus's People’s Budget, green jobs and clean energy.

“When people say, ‘What does it mean when you pass a resolution?’ it gives you license to organize and that’s why we’re here tonight,” said Carpenter. “We’re here to talk about what we can do concretely (here) to keep this issue alive and link up with the citizens’ movement around the country.”

Bonifaz, a public interest lawyer, called the 2010 Citizens United ruling “deeply concerning, deeply disturbing” and “egregious” and said it “represents a serious threat to democracy” by allowing the “unleashing (of) unlimited corporate dollars into our elections.”

“The (ruling) equated corporations with people with free-speech rights, and the framers of the Constitution never intended for corporations to be treated as people with free-speech rights,” Bonifaz said. “Corporations are not people and they should not be treated as people with constitutional rights. We need to make sure that ‘we the people’ rules, not ‘we the corporations.’”

Bonifaz called Free Speech for People a national, non-partisan campaign designed to “build a movement around the country, across the political spectrum” to overturn the Citizens United ruling, adding that “the elephant in the room may be the thought that ‘we can’t (pass amendments) anymore’… (but) it’s a unique opportunity (backed by) overwhelming opposition to the Citizens United ruling from both parties.”

Eldridge agreed with Bonifaz’s stance that the ruling represents “a bipartisan issue, and a bipartisan outrage.”

The ruling “gives corporations too much power,” said Eldridge. “Imagine the impact it could have on a presidential campaign? Looking at (certain) corporations and imagining them spending millions is troubling.”

While acknowledging the “long effort” required to pass a Constitutional amendment, Eldridge said he has sponsored several bills in the state Legislature designed to alleviate the effects of the Supreme Court ruling, including one that would require “new levels of disclosure and transparency for corporate political spending and prohibiting foreign corporations from influencing elections in Massachusetts,” according to a handout at the meeting, and another, co-sponsored with Atkins, that would “require corporations spending their general treasury funds on political advertisements to notify their shareholders of those expenditures in quarterly reports.”

For her part, Atkins told the audience that the potential problems created by the 2010 ruling “aren’t 'out there,' they’re right here,” and said “one of the problems with this issue is that people aren’t outraged” at the “unlimited power” the ruling gives corporations.

“We want you to leave here mad” at the ruling, said Atkins. “We have to up the outrage and show people how it can affect them.”

As part of a question-and-answer period following the forum, Bonifaz echoed Atkins’ statements, urging audience members to “make it real” for their communities by linking the ruling to “concerns that hit home” such as healthcare and the environment.

“We have a fight on our hands to preserve and protect democracy,” he said.