United to Amend

The Constitution gives us certain rights as American Citizens. In the 2010 ‘Citizens United’ Supreme Court Case corporations were given the same right of Free Speech as human beings. It also said that money is speech and can’t be limited. Limiting the amount of money would be limiting Free Speech, which is protected by the First Amendment. The amount of money going into campaigns greatly increased since the ‘Citizens United’ decision. I believe that needs to be changed.

The Supreme court has given rights meant only for people, human beings, to corporations and Super PACs. It also ruled that ‘money’ spent to influence the political process is ‘speech’ and cannot be limited. Today our government serves powerful special interests both foreign and domestic, instead of the citizens of the United States.  

The money pouring into political campaigns is damaging our democracy and corrupting our political system. Billionaires and multinational corporations are spending billions of dollars to influence elections and elected officials. In return they get tax loopholes and laws that favor their businesses. This is crony capitalism and legalized bribery at its worst. The voices of regular citizens are not being heard. It’s Fee Speech not Free Speech, and clearly not what was intended by the authors of the Constitution. This is about political justice. According to polls, 90% of Americans are very concerned about corruption in Washington and want something done about it. ‘How can our government represent us, when someone else

is spending $millions to have it represent them?’

In order to return to self government it is necessary to amend the Constitution. The amendment needs to make clear that:  

1. The rights protected in the Constitution are those of individual human beings only.

2. The spending of money is not speech, and political spending can be limited to allow all Americans to participate in

the political process.  

I am working with ‘United to Amend’. I am willing to meet with your local unit of government to assist them in passing a resolution to amend the Constitution. The mission of ‘United to Amend’ is to amend the Constitution so that the United States can return to a government of the people, by the people. In order to do this we need to get the big money out of politics.  

Reclaiming our republic is going to take a lot of work. It will take a lot of time. It will take a lot of people. It will take a reform movement similar in size to the women’s suffrage movement and the civil rights movement. Our movement has grown since the Citizens United decision in 2010. I believe it is worth the effort. As of April 4, 2023, 170 local communities in Wisconsin have called for a constitutional amendment. This represents more than 60% of the people in Wisconsin. As of January 28, 2021, 22 state legislatures have called for a Constitutional amendment. Once enough local governments pass the resolution, the state legislature will need to take notice. Once enough state legislatures call for the amendments, the federal government will need to take notice, and will be forced to act.

This is the core issue of our time. There are lots of issues that need to be addressed, but until corporate money loses its influence, the will of the people will not be addressed. Here are some things you can do. You can learn more by going to wiuta.org. You can talk to your friends and family. But, most of all, you can allow me to meet with your local unit of government and have them pass a resolution to amend the Constitution.  

We need to start with the local governments. The state and national governments are too dependent on corporate contributions. Passing the resolutions is something your local unit of government can do. Think of it as being similar to voting. Your vote counts. If you don’t vote, your vote won’t count. If your local unit of government passes the resolution, it will count. If it doesn’t pass the resolution, it will not count.