This week marks the anniversary of First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti (1978) -- the very first case that defined "free speech" rights for corporations, laying some of the groundwork that would lead to the even more infamous Citizens United v. FEC (2010) ruling.

In this landmark case, the Supreme Court of the United States held that corporations have a First Amendment right to make contributions to ballot initiative campaigns.

This case is one of many examples of why overturning Citizens United is NOT enough.

Tomorrow is Earth Day -- and while planting a tree is a great way to spend the day, we can't forget that we are up against a powerful, extractive, and brutal system that our individual choices will never be enough to defeat.

There's no easy way to say it -- this is a dark time for our already-hobbling labor movement.

Last month, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid case -- in which two agricultural corporations are challenging a California regulation that allows labor unions to talk to workers on the property (during very limited, non-work hours). Their goal is total defiance to any state law affirming any union organizing rights on corporate property.

March is almost gone, but the madness doesn’t end with it — nor does COVID 

https://youtu.be/5zEWoXmYKHg 

When Virginia L. Minor tried to register to vote in Missouri in 1872, the registrar (Reese Happersett) refused to allow it. Minor sued, on the grounds that the 14th Amendment made women citizens of the nation -- and therefore she should be able to vote.

This week marks the 149th anniversary of Minor v. Happersett -- wherein the Supreme Court ruled that a right to vote was NOT inherent to citizenship, and that the laws regarding who could and could not vote should be left to the states.

Great news! We now have 42 co-sponsors formally committed for the reintroduction of the #WeThePeopleAmendment as House Joint Resolution 48, with more expected to sign on by the end of this week!

by Greg Coleridge

February 26, 2021

https://truthout.org/articles/big-tech-shouldnt-be-the-arbiter-of-our-free-speech-rights/

Business corporations don’t need free speech rights. Nor should they have the power to deny free speech to others. But leading up to and following the 2020 election, we saw both undemocratic realities on display.

Community Rights: Working Together for Real People
National Community Rights Network's (NCRN) presentation and discussion with Greg Coleridge, Move To Amend's (MTA) Outreach Director, 2/24/21

We're doing it, folks!

We now have 33 co-sponsors committed for the reintroduction of the #WeThePeopleAmendment as House Joint Resolution 48.  

The Move the 117th Congress to Amend campaign goal is to secure 100 co-sponsorships for the #WethePeopleAmendment by March 31, 2021.

If you aren't able to sign up for this campaign, please make a donation to help us start STRONG in the new Congress!

Perhaps the most destructive lasting impact of the previous administration's legacy is just how far the bar has been lowered -- and how any criticism of our current government can now be met with "hey, at least it's not Trump!"

The past four years were not a fluke, nor an aberration. A fascistic faux-populist rising to power is but one of the consequences of a government that has lost the trust of those they represent -- a government that systematically puts profits over people, fueling the deep inequalities that are indefensible anywhere but especially in a nation as wealthy as the United States.

And right now, the deep suffering of the American people is being ignored, in the middle of an economic and public health crisis that has NOT ended with the transfer of power. We are concerned that this cycle will continue if the Biden administration does not step it up, and quickly.

WHAT WE NEED IS AN F.D.R. MOMENT...