May 14, 2015

Corporate Media Blacks Out Coverage of Bill to Overturn Corporate Personhood

Here are the highlights of Pam Martens‘ and Russ Martens‘ May 4 article by the same title.

Last Wednesday [April 29], the grassroots organization, Move to Amend, held a press conference at the National Press Club to announce that six members of the U.S. House of Representatives were introducing legislation to overturn Citizens United v FEC to make free speech and all other rights guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution available only to “natural persons,” not corporations or limited liability companies. The legislation would also give Federal, state and local governments the ability to limit political contributions to “ensure all citizens, regardless of their economic status, have access to the political process.”

When corporations overturn the will of the people, it’s widely covered by corporate media. When the people fight back, the news is frequently blacked out. As of this morning, we could find no major corporate media outlet or corporate wire service reporting on last Wednesday’s press conference by Move to Amend. That might be because there was evidence presented at the press conference of a groundswell of public momentum to overturn Citizens United, the decision handed down on January 21, 2010 by the U.S. Supreme Court that opened the floodgates to corporate campaign spending in elections along with super wealthy donors.

The press conference revealed that 16 states have passed resolutions asking Congress to overturn Citizens United while almost 600 municipalities and local governments across the country have done likewise. Almost two dozen other states have resolutions pending or introduced. [….]

According to a 2010/2011 Peter Hart poll, 79 percent of Americans “support a Constitutional amendment that would overturn the Citizens United decision and make clear that corporations do not have the same rights as people.” An Associated Press-National Constitution Center poll released in 2012 found that 83 percent of Americans want campaign limits on corporations, unions and other organizations. The poll also found that 67 percent of Americans also want caps on what individuals can spend in campaigns.

In July of last year, Democracy Corps, the polling organization for Democrats, released a survey that found “a deep hostility to Super PACs” and “strong support” for candidates “who battle to reduce the influence of big money and for changes that empower the ordinary citizen…”

On the issue of a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, the survey found overwhelming support, a “73 to 24 percent margin, including majorities in even the reddest states.”