TIKKUN on the latest abomination from the Roberts’ Court

Today’s narrow 5-4 decision at the US Supreme Court in the case called  McComish v. Bennett continues the Roberts Court’s retreat on fairness in elections, striking down trigger provisions that allowed publicly financed candidates in Arizona to receive additional funds for their campaigns when their spending was outstripped by their privately financed opponents.

Brenda Wright, Director of Demos’ Democracy Program, commented, “The Court’s ruling distorts the First Amendment into a caricature that would be unrecognizable to its creators.  The very purpose of the First Amendment is to encourage public debate and dialogue in the political sphere.  The Roberts Court has turned this tradition on its head by ruling that the First Amendment should shield privately financed candidates against any response by their opponents.”

This is why state actions are not sufficient–anything re-empowering ordinary citizens by a state legislature will be declared unconstitutional. And the Supreme Court’s decision also shows that merely overturning Citizens’ United will not stop the Supreme Court–only a Constitutional Amendment which explicitly mandates public funding of elections, forbids any other form of money in elections, requires equal and free time for major candidates in major media, and imposes environmental and social responsibility requirements on corporations would actually make a difference. Everything less is futile.

And that is exactly what our Environmental and Social Responsibility Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (ESRA) does. That’s why it is so important for YOU, Tikkun Ally, to bring together a group of people who would visit your city council, your state legislators, and your U.S. Congressional Rep and US Senators in their home district offices and ask them to pass a resolution supporting the ESRA. If you can’t get others to go with you, do it yourself. If you are home-bound, write them a letter (not email–try a real snail mail letter). If you can’t do that, send us a donation so that we can hire organizers to work on this!

You could also contact civic, political, union, and religious organizations in your area to see if they’d join you in supporting the ESRA. And write a letter to your local or national media asking them to publicize the ESRA effort! Please let us know what elected official you meet with and their resposnse!!!

Thanks for anything (non-violent, of course)  you do to stand up to unjust corporate power and the allies of the super-rich and corporatocracy who now dominate the Supreme Court. And please help us with this effort by a.JOINING or DONATING to the Network of Spiritual Progressives (NSP) at www.spiritualprogressives.org, and by urging everyone on all your email, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media to join also and become part of a campaign to restore democrcacy and protect our planet from continuing corporate environmental abuse.