[PAA-Discuss] Fwd: A campaign that challenges corporate "personhood"

[Randy Scott]

Doesn't Texas already HAVE a law against corporate campaign contributions? Isn't that one of the
laws that DeLay is charged with flouting?

And we don't have "Initiative & Referendum" either do we?


Randy


--- ChasMauch at aol.com wrote:

> This email from David Cobb, formerly of Houston and Green Party  presidential 
> candidate in 2004, tells about a very interesting movement  to overcome one 
> of the worst problems of democracy - the theory of  corporate "personhood".
> Charlie M
> ______________
> > To: chasmauch at aol.com
> From: David Cobb <cobbweb at greens.org>
> Subject: A campaign that challenges corporate "personhood"
> Date: Thu, 25 May 2006 00:50:38 -0700
> 
> Hello folks,
> 
> I am sending this out to folks who I work with or who I know to be 
> actively engaged in the movement to challenge the legal doctrines that 
> enshrine and protect corporate rule, and who are dedicated to building 
> a real democracy movement in this country.
> 
> I am writing because there is an exciting political development 
> underway in Humboldt County California with truly national 
> significance.  The election is this June 6,  and I am hoping you will 
> consider commenting/reporting/blogging on this story within your own 
> networks.  Please forward it as you see fit.
> 
> Local citizens have used the initiative process to launch a ballot 
> initiative that will prohibit large out-of-county corporations from 
> making political contributions in local elections.  Not only does this 
> effort address a real and concrete problem, but the initiative includes 
> a direct challenge to the legal doctrine that a corporation must be 
> treated as a "person" with vested constitutional rights!  A political 
> reporter from the LA Times is here to cover the election because, in 
> his words, "this is the most exciting local initiative on the ballot in 
> the entire state."
> 
> John Bonifaz, the founder of After Downing Street as well as the 
> National Voting Rights Institute, agrees.  He has called this 
> initiative "one of the most important local democracy efforts happening 
> anywhere in the United States.  If this passes, it will have profound 
> ramifications for campaign finance reform efforts across the country."
> 
> And to make it even sweeter, the core campaign team is being lead by 
> young women!  The two campaign managers, the media spokesperson and the 
> treasurer are all woman in their twenties.  I am the token middle-aged 
> white male lawyer in the crew....<grin>
> 
> Below is the story that will appear in the next issue of The 
> Progressive Populist.
> 
> Please feel free to contact me directly or the campaign itself at 
> 707-444-0407.  The campaign website is at www.votelocalcontrol.org
> 
> In solidarity,
> David Cobb
> Fellow, Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution 
> (www.libertytreefdr.org)
> Collective Member, Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County (www.duhc.org)
> 707-476-8502 (home/office)
> 
> 
> The Progressive Populist
> June 1, 2006
> www.populist.com/06.10.cobb.html
> 
> “A New Populist Uprising”
> 
> 
> Something profoundly important is happening in the shadows of the 
> redwoods of Northern California. On June 6, voters in Humboldt County 
> will have the opportunity to vote on an historic initiative -- the 
> Ordinance to Protect Our Right to Fair Elections and Local Democracy.
> 
>   If passed, this ordinance (known locally as Measure T) will prohibit 
> non-local corporations from making political contributions in Humboldt 
> County elections. This alone would make the ordinance worthy of support 
> amongst progressives. But this ordinance goes so much deeper.
> 
>   The official ballot language includes a direct challenge to the 
> ridiculous notion that a corporation is a "person" with vested 
> constitutional rights. Specifically, the ordinance provides that "only 
> natural human persons possess civil and political rights, and 
> corporations are creations of state law and possess no legitimate civil 
> or political rights."
> 
>   There is the additional assertion that "courts have illegitimately 
> defined corporations as 'persons' and this doctrine illegitimately 
> denies the people of Humboldt County the ability to exercise our 
> fundamental political rights." And to add teeth, the initiative 
> provides that "no corporation shall be entitled to claim corporate 
> constitutional rights or protections in an effort to overturn this 
> law."
> 
>   Talk about a community standing up for itself!
> 
>   Just how did such a direct and unambiguous challenge to the wealthy 
> elite and their control of elections ever make it to the ballot box? By 
> use of one of the great success stories of the first populist uprising 
> -- the citizen's initiative process.
> 
>   Proponents of the effort contend that large corporations are exerting 
> undue influence on their local political campaigns. Like virtually 
> every community in the United States, they have solid evidence for 
> their claim. In 1999, the Wal-Mart Corporation paid for a ballot 
> initiative to overturn portions of the area's zoning laws and then 
> spent $250,000 on the campaign. In 2003, Maxxam Corporation invested 
> $300,000 to fund a campaign to recall newly-elected District Attorney 
> Paul Gallegos after he filed fraud charges against the company. It is 
> worth noting that these two examples of corporate election bullying 
> used paid petitioners to try to hijack the citizen's initiative 
> process.
> 
>   In stark contrast, the Measure T effort has been an all-volunteer 
> effort of ordinary people who are coming together to address a very 
> real problem (outside corporate money trying to buy elections), while 
> simultaneously building a citizen's movement to challenge the ability 
> of corporations to claim constitutional rights.
> 
>   Another exciting aspect of the campaign is just how broad and diverse 
> it is. The local Democratic Party and the local Green Party have both 
> formally endorsed the effort, and leaders of both parties are working 
> arm-in-arm during the campaign. Every major organized labor union in 
> the county has joined with the Sierra Club, the Women's International 
> League for Peace & Freedom and others in supporting the campaign.
> 
>   Stated simply, the entire spectrum of the peace, social justice, 
> environmental movements are working together in Humboldt County. They 
> are modeling the kind of respectful unity that progressives so often 
> talk about, but so rarely manage to accomplish. And they are engaged in 
> a concrete campaign that is strategically designed to change the rules 
> of the game so that future progressive victories will be easier.
> 
>   It is important to understand that this proactive effort did not 
> spring up out of thin air. It is a direct result of years of 
> old-fashioned community organizing and educating by Democracy Unlimited 
> of Humboldt County (DUHC). DUHC educates citizens regarding the role 
> that corporations have played in an illegitimate seizure of our 
> authority to govern ourselves, and they design and implement grassroots 
> strategies that exercise democratic power over corporations and 
> governments. They are seeking to create a truly democratic society by 
> provoking a non-violent popular uprising against corporate rule in 
> Humboldt County that can serve as a model for other communities across 
> the United States.
> 
>   Just like the populists of the agrarian movement of the late 19th 
> century, these folks understand that genuine mass movements cannot be 
> top-down driven. The formation of a mass movement that can achieve 
> political viability must proceed from the ground up. And the battles 
> must be waged in our local communities.
> 
>   If you want to learn more about the effort, or want some help in 
> replicating this in your area, give them a call at 707-444-0407 or 
> check out online at www.votelocalcontrol.org.
> 
> 
>  
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