California Assembly Democrats Vote to Overturn Citizens United
The measure passed on party line vote, with nearly every Republican supporting personhood rights for corporationsCalifornia lawmakers waded into the ongoing battle over corporate money in politics Thursday with a resolution that supports overturning the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizens United case, which has led to a flood of money from deep-pocketed donors in this year’s presidential race.
“People are tired of getting beat up by a few corporations that sometimes have a fringe point of view,” said Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, who introduced the resolution with Assemblymen Michael Allen, D- Santa Rosa.
The Assembly passed the resolution on a 48-22 vote. It rejects the notion of corporate personhood and calls on Congress to pursue a constitutional amendment overturning Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the 2010 decision saying corporations can spend unlimited sums to influence elections.
Democrats said the resolution is an important first step toward overturning the ruling that granted “personhood” rights to corporations, which they say has made it harder for ordinary citizens to have a voice in the political process.
The New Mexico and Hawaii legislatures have passed similar resolutions with the support of the groups Public Citizen and Common Cause.
Several Republican lawmakers spoke against the resolution, saying corporations have a right to influence elections because they are subject to government regulations. They echoed the Supreme Court’s ruling that political contributions are a form of speech.
The Assembly has 52 Democratic members, 27 Republicans and one independent. The measure will now go to the Democratic-controlled state Senate.
Meanwhile, a citizens group is attempting to put an initiative on the ballot, titled the “Corporations Are Not People Act,” which would have a similar effect.
Clarence Thomas’ Wife Stalks Anita Hill in Phone Message Asking for Apology
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ obnoxious, over-privileged, tea bagger wife might have stepped in it this time. In a move that can only be explained by years of having the matter eat away at her most personal world view, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas reached out to Anita Hill. That’s “reached out” in the sense of left an out-of-the-blue vaguely malevolent message on her phone.
In a statement to CNN, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas said: “I did place a call to Ms. Hill at her office extending an olive branch to her after all these years, in hopes that we could ultimately get passed [sic] what happened so long ago. That offer still stands, I would be very happy to meet and talk with her if she would be willing to do the same. Certainly no offense was ever intended.”
Gosh, that sounds nice, doesn’t it? Ginni was just sitting around, musing on how she could set things right with anyone with whom she might be at odds, and the name “Anita Hill” came to mind. So Ginni, being the peaceable person that she is, hit the stalker speed dial for Dr. Hill’s office, and showed who was the better woman.
And it isn’t her. Here’s what she really said.
Rove’s Super PAC Sets $52 Million Goal
$52 million
The fundraising goal of American Crossroads, the “Super PAC” led by Karl Rove whose major donors will not be revealed, thanks to disclosure filing deadlines, until after the midterm election. American Crossroads is one of at least a dozen such rightwing groups, which solicit donations from multinational corporations under the terms of the “Citizens United” Supreme Court decision.
Poetic Justice
Trump’s renaming of Lake Ontario has created a litmus test —
Yield, and rename it Lake America, at Donald Trump’s behest,
Like Google and Apple, which already capitulated,
Changing the name just like Dear Leader stipulated,
But there’s one defiant holdout — the original mapping site, Mapquest.
