Ralph and our resident constitutional scholar, Bruce Fein, discuss how they compiled letters they sent to various government officials and representatives that have gone unanswered into a book titled “The Incommunicados” and how this unresponsiveness violates our First Amendment right to petition our government for redress of grievances. Then Washington Post opinion columnist, Helaine Olen, highlights the corporate equivalent, how hard it is to reach a human being for customer service and how all of this plays into the free-floating anger and general unrest of an American population that feels unheard.
I was interested to hear of Ralph’s nephew’s (?) idea to send corporations, doctors, etc. bills whenever one’s time was taken up to protect their business model on the phone or packing their schedules with patients. I also had this idea years ago, but further, I thought there should be a reverse credit bureau on the internet where people could report their bills so that a reverse credit score could be developed when the entities didn’t pay bills submitted. There would need to be some kind of criterion developed for documentation of people’s grievances and running an operation like this would need to be able to develop the credibility and clout of the “real” credit bureaus (- who funds those guys anyway?) and at that point I stopped pursuing the idea, having had to recover from my own financial meltdown. This was before Yelp was a thing. Also, what’s with all this filling out satisfaction surveys every time you buy chewing gum - some kind of preemptive psychological safety valve, perhaps, or keeping track of complainers?
How about the filling in of every “portal ( potty) “ sent out by healthcare providers. The patient does ALL the work and get’s no credit. Charge them for making you fill in all the paper work. Or better yet REFUSE! Just say “I’d rather not”!
The last survey I wrote to INOVA said,”I got better service at the gas station, and it was self-serve”!
Bruce Fein said citizens need to tell politicians "We're going to vote you out of office if you don't change this policy". He also said that it will take time for change to happen so citizens need to do things to make change happen even if it won't happen right now.
It was also pointed out that politicians do not respond to citizens and even groups of citizens but do respond to donors.
We know from decades of experience that politicians that take big money respond to those donors.
The politicians are telling us this in writing when they file their donation reports.
Why not organize citizens to tell the politicians that we will vote you out of office if you do not change this policy of taking big money?
It won't happen right away but it can begin in 2024, grow in 2026 and bear significant fruit in 2028 if we start now by demanding small donor candidates and enforcing that demand with our votes.
I also like the idea of sending a bill for time spent trying to resolve an issue.
I have been contacting Ralph at the Radio Hour and CSRL since 2015 trying to get Ralph to discuss One Demand, a way to organize citizens to make the demand for small donor candidates and enforce that demand with our votes.
On Washington Journal (10-24-2018) I got through to Ralph and he said he would have me on the Radio Hour to discuss One Demand. (The Ralph Nader version of a coupon for a free burger at a fast food restaurant.)
I have been trying to redeem that coupon ever since without success.
So consider this comment a bill for time spent trying to redeem the coupon.
But rather than seeking monetary compensation I am demanding payment in the commodity that Ralph dispenses in the form of thirty minutes of air time on the Radio Hour to discuss One Demand with Ralph.
Your little experiment in participatory democracy is, in reality, an INDICTMENT of U.S. corporate media. When I graduated from The Medill School of Journalism (back in the Watergate era) we had been taught what real news gathering is all about. It's nothing like today's mass media hacks, who think it's their job to be the dimwitted mouthpieces for the Billionaire Class (their owners), Corporate CEOs (their bosses and members of the U.S. "ruling class", the sitting administration, and the shadow government, which includes the CIA, FBI, surveillance state apparatus, etc.
Why DID GOVERNMENT AND CORPORATE LEADERS RESPOND IN THE 1960'S? BECAUSE THEY KNEW, IF THEY DIDN'T THEY COULD SOON FIND THEMSELVES THE SUBJECT OF A SEARING FRONT PAGE STORY OR NEWS SEGMENT TELLING THE WORLD ABOUT THEIR INCOMPETENCE AND INDIFFERENCE TO THE PEOPLE ... AND THE FIRST AMMENDMENT.
Movers and shakers today, preside over a completely captured Fourth Estate. With nothing to fear, they can now turn a deaf ear to "we, the people" and, as you've documented, THEY DO.
BUT please put your spotlight where it really needs to be: on the cable news networks, legacy print media and, most importantly, THEIR REPORTERS!!!!!
Ever seen Citizen Kane and read the history behind it? This isn’t the first time all this has happened. I’ve been reacquainting myself with the gilded age. Seems like a way out may be to focus on what policies do and not the ideology behind them. It’s too easy to dismiss a policy that gets labeled socialist or communist or free market without knowing what a policy actually does (of course this means reading all the fine print, which as was mentioned, will take up ALL your free time...)
My sadness comes from just what you point out Ron. “This isn’t the first time this has happened”..... Why is it “we the people” continue blathering on and on as tho’ this isn’t the first time makes our fundamental needs seem pointless because “this isn’t the first time”.
Let’s make it the “ last time” and demand it to be different....change happens ...... every second in Nature.
But in animal life ( humans) change comes with effort.
I’m always impressed when I hear you and Bruce Fein check the words of this constitution.&.observe the actions of the President, Gang of 8 & Rest Of Our
Corrupt Cheerleading Congressional Rats.
I was touched deeply by the actions of Jayapal & called her office to help her.
I explained that Isreal is one of 809+
private military bases where “Settlers” are
Paid Mercinary’s’; test Bayer Montsanto’s old & new poison gassss; where they sell used military war equipment; plus, being located at the Suez Canal they get their % from
Traffic & best of Al have AfricA’s diamonds,
Emeralds, Rubys, gold & Slave trade contained in their back yard … similar to USA & Latin America.
Does Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt $ale of
Land thru the Balfour AGREEMENT make BANKER Rothschild the owner of
A STATE or an ESTATE ? Did this estate
Have a Nuclear plant that was INCLUDED without Written RULES for Rothschild to control ??
Small potatoes, but I brought my Chrysler auto into an upstate NY dealer where I purchased the car seven years ago. The car has gone through five door handles since it was purchased. I called Chryler customer care and was encouraged to file a claim after the repair was completed for about $400. Chrysler and the dealer (I finally received a 10% discount on the repair) were about as interested in helping me as Nixon wanted peace during the Vietnam War. Recall that decades ago in 1979 Chrysler was bailed out by taxpayers like myself. Chrysler and the dealer stuck as close to the auto guarantee as was possible. No humanity for consumers!
Man's inhumanity to man.This is a subtle piece, we are consumers and citizens. We are abused in both roles. I write and write to my MP. I never get an answer. He cannot contradict me, I am a scientist, not accustomed to bandy unsubstantiated notions and 'facts' about. I have no line of contact to my government. I tried to attend a Labour Party monthly meeting. Testing it out. The meeting hall was the wrong address, I showed up there, after writing to one of their representatives saying that I was looking forward to the meeting. I went home unheard. They never apologised, the wrong address remains on their web site. I concluded, after being written to that they wanted not to hear from me again, that they were a nasty little clique bearing no resemblance to the Labour Party of my youth, with Harold Wilson, Barbara Castle, Jack Jones. Where do I go? Myself and others are now discussing not voting at all next General Election. Certainly no democracy here. Dr Jo, East Anglia
Several times it has been mention of the weak power position of the employee whose on the other end of the phone conversation. That the conversations are almost always recorded which limits the ability of the employee to negotiate a satisfactory result. Two possible solutions are; a law requiring a human response, both regarding legislators and commercial interactions (this may be, currently, a pie in the sky solution), and secondly a base income for everyone. Making it much easier for employees to be empowered to negotiate or quit. That they, the employee, could act as an advocate, or liaison, for the customer. A base income, in my opinion, is clearly becoming essential in order to create economic justice in this horribly corporatized economic system. Employees should not, ethically or morally, be placed in a position where they are paid to violate the well being of a fellow Human in order to increase corporate profits.
Some might assert that the accumulation of profits is the entire reason for a corporation to exist. This logic is deeply flawed and has brought life itself to the edge of survival.
It is impossible to now to get Transcripts and I just subscribed to Substack and made an annual membership payment. On the air your cohorts keep saying the transcripts will be available and for the last 4-5 programs, transcripts have never been available. If they are available Substack does a great job hiding them. I have been searching for "Stop ignoring the people!" 3 weeks. Substack also ignores email.
Please consider hosting a speaker from Move to Amend, which supports abolishing corporate constitutional rights and political money defined as free speech via enacting the We the People Amendment, HJR54 (https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-joint-resolution/54/text). Given that so many of your excellent programs address corporate crime, harms, power and rule -- the We the People Amendment is one solution -- and needs to be amplified. Staff listing at https://www.movetoamend.org/staff. Many thanks for considering.
Search the archives. Ralph has had more than one person from Move to Amend on the program.
But the We the People Amendment is not a solution.
It does not just abolish corporate constitutional rights and political money defined as free speech. It also abolishes your rights, my rights and Move to Amend's rights.
Money as free speech is the only establishment of a right to make political contributions. Without it there is no right in the constitution for anyone to make a political contribution. That is an important protection that I am not willing to give up.
The amendment does not state that it abolishes corporate constitutional rights. It states that artificial entities have no rights under the constitution.
Move to Amend and any other political organization are artificial entities.
The amendment is using a shotgun to remove a tick.
If he has, it's been before 2017 before my connection to the national group. The We the People Amendment actually does not abolish rights to make political contributions. Section 2 states "Federal, State, and local government shall regulate, limit, or prohibit contributions and expenditures, including a candidate's own contributions and expenditures." The question of money in elections post Amendment will become a legislative decision, or directly democratic based on citizen-driven ballot initiatives in those states that permit them. By abolishing "money = speech," we could now have limited election seasons or full public financing of elections. If money = speech, then the voices of those those without money are drowned out. Not very democratic. HJR54 also abolishing all corporate constitutional rights -- not statutory rights (right to sue, form a contract, etc.). A corporation is not a person. Corporate constitutional rights have dramatically weakened the rights of people as corpses have hijacked the 1st, 4th, 5th and 14th Amendments to shield them from our right to decide policies protecting people, places and the planet. Post Amendment, corporate entities (corporate, non-profits, etc.) will be shielded by individuals connected to and/or supportive of those entities who are involved in the process process. Ending corporate constitutional rights doesn't silence the political rights of corporate CEOs, employees, investors, suppliers etc. as individuals from expressing their Bill of Rights and 14th Amendment political rights.
You claim the amendment does not abolish the right to make political contributions but then contradict that statement by saying that post amendment the question of money in politics will become a legislative decision which is the definition of there is no constitutional right to make political contributions.
Limited election seasons and full public financing of elections is are red herrings. What they really are are vehicles for those in power to protect that power as evidenced by gerrymandering.
In New Jersey a few years back they ran a public financing experiment in two districts called the Clean Elections Act. Any candidate in the general election that got 800 ten dollar contributions could qualify for public financing and be labeled on the ballot as a clean election candidate but could not receive any other contributions and could only spend the money they got from public financing.
This was supposed to level the playing field. The problem was that only the Democrats and Republican candidates (major parties) got around 500,000 dollars to run their campaigns (it could be doubled if a candidate that was not participating raised more money then the "clean election" candidate). Any third party or independent candidates only got 50,000 dollars if they wanted to participate in the public financing.
Hardly a level playing field and the kind of legislation that would emerge under the amendment and would then be mandatory instead of voluntary.
And I do not want my tax dollars funding the campaigns of politicians that I oppose.
Ending money equals speech will enable Congress to pass legislation that will allow the voices of those without big money to be drowned out. With money equaling speech citizens have the right to work together making small contributions to counter big money and use our votes to enforce a demand that candidates only take small contributions.
Under the amendment Congress could pass legislation limiting the number of donors that can contribute to a candidate severely limiting the ability of citizens to work together with many small contributions.
Explaining how and why the amendment takes away corporate rights does not address how or why it also takes away the rights of Move to Amend or other political organizations.
Under the amendment Congress could pass legislation that controls the contributions and spending of political organizations that benefits some organizations over others and those organizations on the short end of the stick would have no standing to sue for equal protection or anything else as they have no rights under the constitution once this amendment is passed and ratified.
And the citizens that could be prohibited from making contributions to those organizations would have no standing as they would no longer have the right to make political contributions.
It will take decades for this amendment to be legislated, ratified and implemented.
But citizens demanding small donor candidates and enforcing that demand with our votes starting in 2024 can begin to deliver tangible results in 4 to 6 years.
No legislation or endless waiting required.
Just citizens working together using the basic principles of democracy to test Ralph's theory that politicians want our votes more than big money.
The big money legislators will not pass legislation to get the big money out of politics because they will only pass legislation that primarily benefits the big money interests and the big money interests have no interest in any such legislation being passed.
The only way to pass such legislation is to first replace the big money legislators with small donor legislators. The problem has to be solved before legislation to solve the problem can be passed.
You can choose to wait decades for the big money legislators to pass legislation and/or amendments that they will never pass or take action now by demanding small donor candidates and enforcing that demand with your vote.
Just don't hold your breath if you choose waiting for the big money legislators to pass legislation they will never pass.
The We the People Amendment: The Constitutional Amendment to Counter Political Corruption and the Corporate Hijacking of the Constitution (Move to Amend updated 2023 white paper)
Civil Liberties Violations - German American Internee Coalition
During the WWII years, even my dad's childhood friend from a German/American family living in our grandfather's apartment complex on Capitol Ave. in Hartford, Connecticut suddenly discovered one day that the family of German heritage had been missing. And nobody heard the reason why.
"During World War II, the US Government interned at least 11,000 persons of German ancestry. By law, only “enemy aliens” could be interned. However, with governmental approval, their family members frequently joined them in the camps. Many such “voluntarily” interned spouses and children were American citizens."
I enjoyed the program, despite the dire nature of the the Incommunicados report. Despite living overseas, I take my civic duties seriously. Of course, this starts by staying informed and listening to the RNRH every Sunday. As a member of the Congress Club, I've written my Congresswoman and Senators. All three have ignored my emails, though two have taken the time to add me to their mailing lists. Before moving overseas, I found the best way to ask questions of representatives was going directly to their town halls and public events. Put them on the spot, in public and often with media present. Also, if you're not hearing from their staff, you can just stop in at their district office.
You attract more flies with honey. I always make a point of acknowledging and thanking the customer service representative that I'm sorry they have to bear the brunt of my discontent with the powers that be, and you'd be surprised how often they agree with me. On that note, I would totally switch my allegiance to a different company if they demonstrated excellence in customer service.
Small potatoes, but I brought my Chrysler auto into an upstate NY dealer where I purchased the car seven years ago. The car has gone through five door handles since it was purchased. I called Chrysler customer care and was encouraged to file a claim after the repair was completed for about $400. Chrysler and the dealer (I finally received a 10% discount on the repair) were about as interested in helping me as Nixon wanted peace during the Vietnam War. Recall that decades ago in 1979 Chrysler was bailed out by taxpayers like myself. Chrysler and the dealer stuck as close to the auto guarantee as was possible. No humanity for consumers!
Small potatoes, but I brought my Chrysler auto into an upstate NY dealer where I purchased the car seven years ago. The car has gone through five door handles since it was purchased. I called Chryler customer care and was encouraged to file a claim after the repair was completed for about $400. Chrysler and the dealer (I finally received a 10% discount on the repair) were about as interested in helping me as Nixon wanted peace during the Vietnam War. Recall that decades ago in 1979 Chrysler was bailed out by taxpayers like myself. Chrysler and the dealer stuck as close to the auto guarantee as was possible. No humanity for consumers!
Ralph Have RFK Jr on. I know you will be fair snd you speak his language. Be well
I was interested to hear of Ralph’s nephew’s (?) idea to send corporations, doctors, etc. bills whenever one’s time was taken up to protect their business model on the phone or packing their schedules with patients. I also had this idea years ago, but further, I thought there should be a reverse credit bureau on the internet where people could report their bills so that a reverse credit score could be developed when the entities didn’t pay bills submitted. There would need to be some kind of criterion developed for documentation of people’s grievances and running an operation like this would need to be able to develop the credibility and clout of the “real” credit bureaus (- who funds those guys anyway?) and at that point I stopped pursuing the idea, having had to recover from my own financial meltdown. This was before Yelp was a thing. Also, what’s with all this filling out satisfaction surveys every time you buy chewing gum - some kind of preemptive psychological safety valve, perhaps, or keeping track of complainers?
How about the filling in of every “portal ( potty) “ sent out by healthcare providers. The patient does ALL the work and get’s no credit. Charge them for making you fill in all the paper work. Or better yet REFUSE! Just say “I’d rather not”!
The last survey I wrote to INOVA said,”I got better service at the gas station, and it was self-serve”!
Bruce Fein said citizens need to tell politicians "We're going to vote you out of office if you don't change this policy". He also said that it will take time for change to happen so citizens need to do things to make change happen even if it won't happen right now.
It was also pointed out that politicians do not respond to citizens and even groups of citizens but do respond to donors.
We know from decades of experience that politicians that take big money respond to those donors.
The politicians are telling us this in writing when they file their donation reports.
Why not organize citizens to tell the politicians that we will vote you out of office if you do not change this policy of taking big money?
It won't happen right away but it can begin in 2024, grow in 2026 and bear significant fruit in 2028 if we start now by demanding small donor candidates and enforcing that demand with our votes.
I also like the idea of sending a bill for time spent trying to resolve an issue.
I have been contacting Ralph at the Radio Hour and CSRL since 2015 trying to get Ralph to discuss One Demand, a way to organize citizens to make the demand for small donor candidates and enforce that demand with our votes.
On Washington Journal (10-24-2018) I got through to Ralph and he said he would have me on the Radio Hour to discuss One Demand. (The Ralph Nader version of a coupon for a free burger at a fast food restaurant.)
I have been trying to redeem that coupon ever since without success.
So consider this comment a bill for time spent trying to redeem the coupon.
But rather than seeking monetary compensation I am demanding payment in the commodity that Ralph dispenses in the form of thirty minutes of air time on the Radio Hour to discuss One Demand with Ralph.
Your little experiment in participatory democracy is, in reality, an INDICTMENT of U.S. corporate media. When I graduated from The Medill School of Journalism (back in the Watergate era) we had been taught what real news gathering is all about. It's nothing like today's mass media hacks, who think it's their job to be the dimwitted mouthpieces for the Billionaire Class (their owners), Corporate CEOs (their bosses and members of the U.S. "ruling class", the sitting administration, and the shadow government, which includes the CIA, FBI, surveillance state apparatus, etc.
Why DID GOVERNMENT AND CORPORATE LEADERS RESPOND IN THE 1960'S? BECAUSE THEY KNEW, IF THEY DIDN'T THEY COULD SOON FIND THEMSELVES THE SUBJECT OF A SEARING FRONT PAGE STORY OR NEWS SEGMENT TELLING THE WORLD ABOUT THEIR INCOMPETENCE AND INDIFFERENCE TO THE PEOPLE ... AND THE FIRST AMMENDMENT.
Movers and shakers today, preside over a completely captured Fourth Estate. With nothing to fear, they can now turn a deaf ear to "we, the people" and, as you've documented, THEY DO.
BUT please put your spotlight where it really needs to be: on the cable news networks, legacy print media and, most importantly, THEIR REPORTERS!!!!!
Ever seen Citizen Kane and read the history behind it? This isn’t the first time all this has happened. I’ve been reacquainting myself with the gilded age. Seems like a way out may be to focus on what policies do and not the ideology behind them. It’s too easy to dismiss a policy that gets labeled socialist or communist or free market without knowing what a policy actually does (of course this means reading all the fine print, which as was mentioned, will take up ALL your free time...)
My sadness comes from just what you point out Ron. “This isn’t the first time this has happened”..... Why is it “we the people” continue blathering on and on as tho’ this isn’t the first time makes our fundamental needs seem pointless because “this isn’t the first time”.
Let’s make it the “ last time” and demand it to be different....change happens ...... every second in Nature.
But in animal life ( humans) change comes with effort.
I’m always impressed when I hear you and Bruce Fein check the words of this constitution.&.observe the actions of the President, Gang of 8 & Rest Of Our
Corrupt Cheerleading Congressional Rats.
I was touched deeply by the actions of Jayapal & called her office to help her.
I explained that Isreal is one of 809+
private military bases where “Settlers” are
Paid Mercinary’s’; test Bayer Montsanto’s old & new poison gassss; where they sell used military war equipment; plus, being located at the Suez Canal they get their % from
Traffic & best of Al have AfricA’s diamonds,
Emeralds, Rubys, gold & Slave trade contained in their back yard … similar to USA & Latin America.
Does Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt $ale of
Land thru the Balfour AGREEMENT make BANKER Rothschild the owner of
A STATE or an ESTATE ? Did this estate
Have a Nuclear plant that was INCLUDED without Written RULES for Rothschild to control ??
THANK YOU ALL for your Wonderull
Program. I wish I were in DC. I wish I could be
Of Service &’observe the Rats in Congress.
Small potatoes, but I brought my Chrysler auto into an upstate NY dealer where I purchased the car seven years ago. The car has gone through five door handles since it was purchased. I called Chryler customer care and was encouraged to file a claim after the repair was completed for about $400. Chrysler and the dealer (I finally received a 10% discount on the repair) were about as interested in helping me as Nixon wanted peace during the Vietnam War. Recall that decades ago in 1979 Chrysler was bailed out by taxpayers like myself. Chrysler and the dealer stuck as close to the auto guarantee as was possible. No humanity for consumers!
Man's inhumanity to man.This is a subtle piece, we are consumers and citizens. We are abused in both roles. I write and write to my MP. I never get an answer. He cannot contradict me, I am a scientist, not accustomed to bandy unsubstantiated notions and 'facts' about. I have no line of contact to my government. I tried to attend a Labour Party monthly meeting. Testing it out. The meeting hall was the wrong address, I showed up there, after writing to one of their representatives saying that I was looking forward to the meeting. I went home unheard. They never apologised, the wrong address remains on their web site. I concluded, after being written to that they wanted not to hear from me again, that they were a nasty little clique bearing no resemblance to the Labour Party of my youth, with Harold Wilson, Barbara Castle, Jack Jones. Where do I go? Myself and others are now discussing not voting at all next General Election. Certainly no democracy here. Dr Jo, East Anglia
Several times it has been mention of the weak power position of the employee whose on the other end of the phone conversation. That the conversations are almost always recorded which limits the ability of the employee to negotiate a satisfactory result. Two possible solutions are; a law requiring a human response, both regarding legislators and commercial interactions (this may be, currently, a pie in the sky solution), and secondly a base income for everyone. Making it much easier for employees to be empowered to negotiate or quit. That they, the employee, could act as an advocate, or liaison, for the customer. A base income, in my opinion, is clearly becoming essential in order to create economic justice in this horribly corporatized economic system. Employees should not, ethically or morally, be placed in a position where they are paid to violate the well being of a fellow Human in order to increase corporate profits.
Some might assert that the accumulation of profits is the entire reason for a corporation to exist. This logic is deeply flawed and has brought life itself to the edge of survival.
Ralph,
It is impossible to now to get Transcripts and I just subscribed to Substack and made an annual membership payment. On the air your cohorts keep saying the transcripts will be available and for the last 4-5 programs, transcripts have never been available. If they are available Substack does a great job hiding them. I have been searching for "Stop ignoring the people!" 3 weeks. Substack also ignores email.
Murray
Please consider hosting a speaker from Move to Amend, which supports abolishing corporate constitutional rights and political money defined as free speech via enacting the We the People Amendment, HJR54 (https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-joint-resolution/54/text). Given that so many of your excellent programs address corporate crime, harms, power and rule -- the We the People Amendment is one solution -- and needs to be amplified. Staff listing at https://www.movetoamend.org/staff. Many thanks for considering.
Search the archives. Ralph has had more than one person from Move to Amend on the program.
But the We the People Amendment is not a solution.
It does not just abolish corporate constitutional rights and political money defined as free speech. It also abolishes your rights, my rights and Move to Amend's rights.
Money as free speech is the only establishment of a right to make political contributions. Without it there is no right in the constitution for anyone to make a political contribution. That is an important protection that I am not willing to give up.
The amendment does not state that it abolishes corporate constitutional rights. It states that artificial entities have no rights under the constitution.
Move to Amend and any other political organization are artificial entities.
The amendment is using a shotgun to remove a tick.
If he has, it's been before 2017 before my connection to the national group. The We the People Amendment actually does not abolish rights to make political contributions. Section 2 states "Federal, State, and local government shall regulate, limit, or prohibit contributions and expenditures, including a candidate's own contributions and expenditures." The question of money in elections post Amendment will become a legislative decision, or directly democratic based on citizen-driven ballot initiatives in those states that permit them. By abolishing "money = speech," we could now have limited election seasons or full public financing of elections. If money = speech, then the voices of those those without money are drowned out. Not very democratic. HJR54 also abolishing all corporate constitutional rights -- not statutory rights (right to sue, form a contract, etc.). A corporation is not a person. Corporate constitutional rights have dramatically weakened the rights of people as corpses have hijacked the 1st, 4th, 5th and 14th Amendments to shield them from our right to decide policies protecting people, places and the planet. Post Amendment, corporate entities (corporate, non-profits, etc.) will be shielded by individuals connected to and/or supportive of those entities who are involved in the process process. Ending corporate constitutional rights doesn't silence the political rights of corporate CEOs, employees, investors, suppliers etc. as individuals from expressing their Bill of Rights and 14th Amendment political rights.
You claim the amendment does not abolish the right to make political contributions but then contradict that statement by saying that post amendment the question of money in politics will become a legislative decision which is the definition of there is no constitutional right to make political contributions.
Limited election seasons and full public financing of elections is are red herrings. What they really are are vehicles for those in power to protect that power as evidenced by gerrymandering.
In New Jersey a few years back they ran a public financing experiment in two districts called the Clean Elections Act. Any candidate in the general election that got 800 ten dollar contributions could qualify for public financing and be labeled on the ballot as a clean election candidate but could not receive any other contributions and could only spend the money they got from public financing.
This was supposed to level the playing field. The problem was that only the Democrats and Republican candidates (major parties) got around 500,000 dollars to run their campaigns (it could be doubled if a candidate that was not participating raised more money then the "clean election" candidate). Any third party or independent candidates only got 50,000 dollars if they wanted to participate in the public financing.
Hardly a level playing field and the kind of legislation that would emerge under the amendment and would then be mandatory instead of voluntary.
And I do not want my tax dollars funding the campaigns of politicians that I oppose.
Ending money equals speech will enable Congress to pass legislation that will allow the voices of those without big money to be drowned out. With money equaling speech citizens have the right to work together making small contributions to counter big money and use our votes to enforce a demand that candidates only take small contributions.
Under the amendment Congress could pass legislation limiting the number of donors that can contribute to a candidate severely limiting the ability of citizens to work together with many small contributions.
Explaining how and why the amendment takes away corporate rights does not address how or why it also takes away the rights of Move to Amend or other political organizations.
Under the amendment Congress could pass legislation that controls the contributions and spending of political organizations that benefits some organizations over others and those organizations on the short end of the stick would have no standing to sue for equal protection or anything else as they have no rights under the constitution once this amendment is passed and ratified.
And the citizens that could be prohibited from making contributions to those organizations would have no standing as they would no longer have the right to make political contributions.
It will take decades for this amendment to be legislated, ratified and implemented.
But citizens demanding small donor candidates and enforcing that demand with our votes starting in 2024 can begin to deliver tangible results in 4 to 6 years.
No legislation or endless waiting required.
Just citizens working together using the basic principles of democracy to test Ralph's theory that politicians want our votes more than big money.
The big money legislators will not pass legislation to get the big money out of politics because they will only pass legislation that primarily benefits the big money interests and the big money interests have no interest in any such legislation being passed.
The only way to pass such legislation is to first replace the big money legislators with small donor legislators. The problem has to be solved before legislation to solve the problem can be passed.
You can choose to wait decades for the big money legislators to pass legislation and/or amendments that they will never pass or take action now by demanding small donor candidates and enforcing that demand with your vote.
Just don't hold your breath if you choose waiting for the big money legislators to pass legislation they will never pass.
The We the People Amendment: The Constitutional Amendment to Counter Political Corruption and the Corporate Hijacking of the Constitution (Move to Amend updated 2023 white paper)
https://www.google.com/url?q=https://assets.nationbuilder.com/movetoamend/pages/752/attachments/original/1682094905/We-the_People_Amendment_HJ54_white_paper_2023.pdf
Civil Liberties Violations - German American Internee Coalition
During the WWII years, even my dad's childhood friend from a German/American family living in our grandfather's apartment complex on Capitol Ave. in Hartford, Connecticut suddenly discovered one day that the family of German heritage had been missing. And nobody heard the reason why.
"During World War II, the US Government interned at least 11,000 persons of German ancestry. By law, only “enemy aliens” could be interned. However, with governmental approval, their family members frequently joined them in the camps. Many such “voluntarily” interned spouses and children were American citizens."
https://gaic.info/history/world-war-ii-civil-liberties-violations-of-german-americans-and-german-latin-americans-by-the-united-states-government/#:~:text=During%20World%20War%20II%2C%20the%20US%20Government%20interned%20at%20least,and%20children%20were%20American%20citizens.
Please have David Pepper on your podcast sometime soon - he really lays out how to fight for democracy david pepper.com
link to recent podcast - right up Ralph's alley!
Link to July 18 recording of David Pepper: Saving Democracy
I enjoyed the program, despite the dire nature of the the Incommunicados report. Despite living overseas, I take my civic duties seriously. Of course, this starts by staying informed and listening to the RNRH every Sunday. As a member of the Congress Club, I've written my Congresswoman and Senators. All three have ignored my emails, though two have taken the time to add me to their mailing lists. Before moving overseas, I found the best way to ask questions of representatives was going directly to their town halls and public events. Put them on the spot, in public and often with media present. Also, if you're not hearing from their staff, you can just stop in at their district office.
You attract more flies with honey. I always make a point of acknowledging and thanking the customer service representative that I'm sorry they have to bear the brunt of my discontent with the powers that be, and you'd be surprised how often they agree with me. On that note, I would totally switch my allegiance to a different company if they demonstrated excellence in customer service.
Small potatoes, but I brought my Chrysler auto into an upstate NY dealer where I purchased the car seven years ago. The car has gone through five door handles since it was purchased. I called Chrysler customer care and was encouraged to file a claim after the repair was completed for about $400. Chrysler and the dealer (I finally received a 10% discount on the repair) were about as interested in helping me as Nixon wanted peace during the Vietnam War. Recall that decades ago in 1979 Chrysler was bailed out by taxpayers like myself. Chrysler and the dealer stuck as close to the auto guarantee as was possible. No humanity for consumers!
Small potatoes, but I brought my Chrysler auto into an upstate NY dealer where I purchased the car seven years ago. The car has gone through five door handles since it was purchased. I called Chryler customer care and was encouraged to file a claim after the repair was completed for about $400. Chrysler and the dealer (I finally received a 10% discount on the repair) were about as interested in helping me as Nixon wanted peace during the Vietnam War. Recall that decades ago in 1979 Chrysler was bailed out by taxpayers like myself. Chrysler and the dealer stuck as close to the auto guarantee as was possible. No humanity for consumers!