Summary

House Democrats, led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, introduced the We the People Amendment to overturn Citizens United, aiming to curb corporate influence in elections.

The constitutional amendment asserts that constitutional rights apply only to individuals, not corporations, and mandates full disclosure of political contributions.

Jayapal cited Elon Musk’s massive campaign spending and subsequent financial gains as proof of the ruling’s harm.

Advocacy groups praised the move, calling it necessary to combat corporate power and dark money in politics, but Republicans have not backed the proposal.

  • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    Stow that shit. This is exactly what they need to be doing. They need to make the argument to the American people that they have better ideas and a better plan for America, and then create a voting record for Congress so they can beat them in the next election. Of course it won’t pass, but if they give up without even trying, then the Nazis can act like they are the only option.

    • Lucidlethargy
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      7 days ago

      The people that elected Trump won’t care. Trump or someone like him will lie to all of them about anything they attempt to do.

      I’m not saying it’s not worth doing this, I’m just saying it won’t matter by itself.

    • fbn@slrpnk.net
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      7 days ago

      I agree, but i aint gonna stow it. Why didnt they introduce it when they were able to maybe pass it? Im not going to refrain from criticizing them just because worse people are in power.

      • TheTechnician27@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        when they were able to maybe pass it?

        Lmfao when was this? A constitutional amendment of any kind has zero chance of getting passed by anyone and hasn’t in the entire time the Citizens United ruling has existed.

        Democrats around that time could barely muster enough votes from the Republicans to pass the milquetoast, conservative ACA via simple majority. You’re deluded if you think Democrats ever could’ve plausibly reversed Citizens United via amendment.

        • fbn@slrpnk.net
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          7 days ago

          you’re right, i didnt read closely enough, a constitutional amendment is and would have been hot air at any time since the descision.

          A law would be something that they might be able to get passed if they actually wanted to pass it, which they dont, because thats how they all got into power.

          • TheTechnician27@lemmy.world
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            7 days ago

            A law would be something that they might be able to get passed if they actually wanted to pass it

            I can understand someone continually misunderstanding how this works; what I can’t understand at all is why people keep upvoting it so heavily with so little pushback. When the Supreme Court makes a ruling on something, they’re making a ruling on whether something is permitted under the Constitution. In order to reverse Citizens United, you have to either a) amend that Constitution so it no longer says the words that the SCOTUS ruled on or b) wait for a new SCOTUS which will overturn that prior ruling.

          • Serinus@lemmy.world
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            7 days ago

            A law would be something that they might be able to get passed

            This means you don’t understand the Citizens United ruling.

          • Optional@lemmy.world
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            7 days ago

            A law would be something that they might be able to get passed if they actually wanted to pass it

            Again, no. Not how this works. “Actually wanting to pass” a bill is certainly a part of it. Then there’s the 99% of the rest of it that has to be done. It’s not like opening a bag of chips.

      • Optional@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        Why didnt they introduce it when they were able to maybe pass it?

        And when the fuck do you daydream that was?

        How long have you been in national politics? Because it sounds like, y’know, not long.

        • fbn@slrpnk.net
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          7 days ago

          Why didnt they introduce it when they were able to maybe pass it?

          And when the fuck do you daydream that was?

          How long have you been in national politics? Because it sounds like, y’know, not long.

          This behavior sucks, you can do better.

          • Optional@lemmy.world
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            7 days ago

            Democrats are lazy fakes and liberals waahhh they could have fixed everything in two seconds but they didn’t because they like corruption and genociding people waaahhh

            We have enough people parroting this bullshit. Do better indeed.

            Be best!

    • NABDad@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      They should have been submitting this every session since the citizens united decision. Even with no hope of success, they could be forcing every member of Congress to openly declare their loyalty to the oligarchs.

      But, if they did that, then the oligarchs would think they were disloyal.

    • JAWNEHBOY@reddthat.com
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      7 days ago

      Agreed, just frustrating that they wait until their corpo donors are done signing checks for a big election year. Would’ve been a huge game changer years ago when Dems were in control and perhaps would’ve proven everyday Americans support progressive policies

    • Anegro_Montoya
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      7 days ago

      Their argument to the American people doesn’t matter. Millions of Americans are still happy with what’s happening and we have a government that will use violence to get what it wants. We need a coalition of countries to step on America’s dick and grind it into the ground. We deserve it for the shit we’ve done around the world.

      • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        Millions of Americans are wrong. What’s your plan for that? Violence? Reeducation camps for shitbags? Conservatives are everywhere, and they’re all salivating to take advantage of the chaos created by the fall of Rome. If you think getting our collective dick stepped on is going to result in a better tomorrow, you need to pick up a history book.

        • Anegro_Montoya
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          7 days ago

          If you think it hasn’t been collective chaos for black people for 400 years pick up a history book and think about the people exploited so you can live in Rome in comfort.

          • Serinus@lemmy.world
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            7 days ago

            For about 50 years it was consistently getting better until just now. And you act like that counts for nothing.

            • Anegro_Montoya
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              7 days ago

              Yeah, better from the slavery days of my great great grandfather. There aren’t running jokes about the frequent imprisonment and abuse and death of white people by authorities because it’s not something you all had to fear. You treated us worse than dogs, then, slowly, we got more rights than animals only to be released into a modified cage. So fuck better. We said equality.

    • nondescripthandle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      7 days ago

      Bullshit. They should not be focusing on zero chance gestures while real people are struggling. They choose this BECAUSE it wont pass so they don’t have to fight to help people, it’s a distraction that not only wont stop fascism, but give it time to deepen its roots while they waste energy on an impossible task.