Miami Valley Today
March 1, 2025

By Deb Hogshead

Guest columnist

January 21 was the 15th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, a ruling that opened the floodgates of big money into political campaigns. At the Troy City Council meeting that night, I made a statement explaining why we need to close those floodgates and end the misguided doctrine that a corporation is a person with the same inherent, inalienable constitutional rights as you and me.

Since then, we’ve seen two very significant things happen.

First, we’ve seen how $288 million can buy a seat in the White House and a platform to speak from the Oval Office.

Second, we’ve seen the We the People Amendment get re-introduced in Congress as House Joint Resolution 54. The proposed amendment requires the regulation of campaign spending and makes clear that constitutional rights belong to natural persons only.

The first thing clearly demonstrates why we need the second. Taken together, they motivated me to go back to Troy City Council on February 18, where I made another public statement.

Since the inauguration of Donald Trump, we’ve all watched Elon Musk—an unaccountable, unelected billionaire—sow chaos as he and his tech team access federal databases, purge federal employees, and otherwise dismantle federal programs, all in the name of “reform.”

I, for one, am concerned about the security of my personal information. As a retiree, I’m concerned about whether I’ll be able to depend on Social Security and Medicare benefits. As a small investor, I’m concerned about being scammed. Who will be in my corner if the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is indeed ‘deleted’? And I know I have neighbors, near and far, who stand to lose a lot more than me on account of Musk and his team. According to the 2020 Census, 11% of Troy residents live in poverty. They may lose critical safety nets like Medicaid. Our region’s small family farmers and ranchers will suffer from firings in the USDA. The USAID shutdown will also hurt farmers, as well as people around the globe who depend on food assistance.

The federal government certainly needs reform, but not through reckless abandon and not by Musk. What he’s been doing is unprecedented. Sure, he’s doing it under the direction of President Trump, but that doesn’t make it right—nor necessarily legal or constitutional. And you can bet your bottom dollar that the loss of inspectors general and regulatory agencies will handsomely benefit Musk, his corporations, and his billionaire and multi-millionaire friends at the expense of the rest of us.

What we’re seeing is the replacement of our democratic republic with an oligarchy run by corporate technocrats. This is not who we are as a nation. This is not what soldiers past and present fought and died for. And this is wrong. All citizens must have a voice in the political process, not just those with the most money and the power to manipulate our lives through algorithms.

If you agree that what is happening is wrong, call Rep. Davidson if you live in District 8, Rep. Carey if you live in District 15, and Sens. Moreno and Husted. Remind them of their oath of office and their duty as members of the legislative branch to be a check on the executive branch—the executive branch which, by the way, has recently suggested it is above the law and even immune to checks by the judicial branch.

While you’re at it, encourage Reps. Davidson and Carey to co-sponsor HJR 54, the We the People Amendment. And urge Sens. Moreno and Husted to co-sponsor the companion resolution when it’s introduced in the Senate.

And if you haven’t already done so, go to movetoamend.org/motion to sign the petition to get big money out of politics and end corporate rule. Take a stand for a government of, by, and for the people—not a government of, by, and for billionaires and their corporations.

The writer is a Troy resident and a volunteer with Move to Amend Miami County.