Citizens United & Amending the Constitution

Justice Ginsburg was a stalwart defender of our democracy and the rule of law. Throughout her term on the Court, she was a key voice in protecting all Americans’ rights and liberties. Justice Ginsburg was a champion for gender equality, racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights, voting rights, commonsense campaign finance laws, fair redistricting, and more.

In the past decade, Citizens United has come to symbolize not just the deluge of money in our elections, but also voters’ frustration at not being heard by their elected officials. Polling shows that only 17% of us believe our political parties and politicians “care about people like me.” The rest of us are feeling disenfranchised. Only 20% of us are “satisfied” with our nation’s campaign finance laws; the rest of us want change.New Yorkers are leading the way to a post-Citizens United future. For decades, we’ve supported public funding of campaigns to counterbalance big money corruption.

MSNBC starts a four-part series called American Swamp this Sunday. It will look at President Trump's finances, money in politics, how lobbyists influence legislation, and what we can do about it. The series feature some of our favorite people, including Shelia Krumholz at OpenSecrets.org, and students at North Carolina A&T talking about gerrymandering. Tune in.

First in a series of articles looking at the past, present, and future of campaign finance reform, originally posted at The Well News.

Score one for the people. The House passed the For the People Act in the face of stiff opposition from K Street’s corporate lobbyists and special interests. The legislation truly is for the people, bundling together a comprehensive set of long-overdue democracy reforms at a time when democratic norms are under siege in our nation. Many of the reforms included in H.R. 1 are tested reforms that are working at the state and local level with bipartisan support to restore the rule of law, empower the voices of all Americans, curb abusive partisan gerrymandering, and strengthen the right to vote for every eligible American.