Common Cause Hails DC Council Action on Citizens United

The Washington D.C. City Council’s unanimous call for a constitutional amendment to control corrosive power of big money in our elections sets an example for the nation, Common Cause said today.

“Washingtonians see every day the influence that millionaires and big corporations have purchased in the workings of government,” said Common Cause President Bob Edgar. “The council’s vote today is a call for members of Congress to rise above their political self-interest in oversized campaign treasuries and act in the public interest by passing a constitutional amendment to reverse the Citizens United decision.”

Edgar praised first-year DC council member David Grosso for spearheading the drive for today’s vote in support of a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United.

The Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission gave corporations the ability to spend unlimited amounts of money on political advocacy. Spurred by that ruling and other decisions, individual and corporate donors put around $1 billion into the 2012 presidential campaign through “independent” SuperPACs and non-profit groups.

In last November’s election, voters in Montana, Colorado, the cities of Chicago and San Francisco, and more than 100 Massachusetts localities adopted resolutions instructing their representatives in Washington to pass an amendment reversing Citizens United. Hundreds of localities nationwide already have passed resolutions similar to the one backed by the DC Council.