United Wisconsin and Grassroots Northshore Call for Reversal of Citizens United

Petition Drive in
Shorewood and Whitefish Bay:

Grassroots campaign kicks off to place referendums on ballot

Building
upon the nationwide Move to Amend movement to get big money out of elections,
United Wisconsin and Grassroots Northshore are kicking off petition drives this
weekend in the villages of Shorewood and Whitefish Bay. The goal is to place
advisory referendums on the ballot calling for the reversal of the 2010 Supreme
Court Citizens United ruling.

The petition drives in
Shorewood and Whitefish Bay would mark the latest municipalities in Wisconsin
to go on record in opposition to the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United. This decision enabled
corporate entities power to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence
elections, overturning nearly a century of settled law regarding campaign
finance in the United States.

“It is time for the
people of Shorewood and Whitefish Bay to make their voices heard about the
corrupting influence of corporate special interest money in our elections,”
said Keith Schmitz of Grassroots Northshore. “With these petition drives, our
community will have the opportunity do just that, and to join with states and
cities across the country who are demanding big money out of politics.”

On April 2, 2013, Chippewa County, along
with the cities of Fort Atkinson and Whitewater passed referendums by wide
margins calling for the reversal of the Citizens
United, joining the cities of West Allis, Monona and Madison, along with
Dane and Eau Claire Counties who have taken similar action since 2010. A
similar petition campaign is underway in the city of Wauwatosa.

The language on the
referendum is as follows:

Shall the Village of Shorewood
adopt the following resolution:

RESOLVED, the Village of Shorewood, Wisconsin,
calls for reclaiming democracy from the corrupting effects of undue corporate
influence by amending the United States Constitution to establish that:

1. Only human beings, not corporations, are
entitled to constitutional rights, and

2. Money is not speech, and therefore regulating
political contributions and spending is not equivalent to limiting political
speech.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we hereby instruct
our state and federal representatives to enact resolutions and legislation to
advance this effort.

Shall the Village of Whitefish
Bay adopt the following resolution:

RESOLVED, Village of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin,
calls for reclaiming democracy from the corrupting effects of undue corporate
influence by amending the United States Constitution to establish that:

1. Only human beings, not corporations, are
entitled to constitutional rights, and

2. Money is not speech, and therefore regulating
political contributions and spending is not equivalent to limiting political
speech.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we hereby instruct
our state and federal representatives to enact resolutions and legislation to
advance this effort.

Individuals will have the opportunity to pick up petitions or sign them from June 30 through August 20 at
the Grassroots Northshore office at 325 W Silver Spring Drive above Irina’s kitchen (call
414-236-4259 for hours), or at a
one-day kickoff at 2510 E. Capitol Drive in Shorewood on Saturday, June 29.

For additional information, contact Grassroots Northshore member Shirley Horowitz at (414) 963-9467.