Corporations Aren't People - Undoing Citizens United Part 1

Published: Jul 28, 2010 by Will Urquhart Filed under: Elections Netroots Nation Netroots Nation 2010 Views: 956 Tags: Netroots Nation, NN10, Daily Kos, Las Vegas, July 22nd-25th, 2010, Rep. Donna F. Edwards, Lisa Graves, Robert Weissman, Representative Alan Grayson, Citizens United, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, campaign finance

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We at Sum of Change are hard at work going through video of nearly 60 panels from this year's Netroots Nation. You can click here to view all our NN10 videos. For this morning, we are releasing part 1 of our video highlights from Saturday's panel: Undoing Citizens United: A Comprehensive Plan to Prevent Corporations from Buying Elections

Today we are going to discuss whether or not corporations are indeed the same as living people and a little about why we need to stand up and fight on this issue. To start us off, Robert Weissman, the President of Public Citizen, gives us a great, quick explanation of some of the more significant differences between corporations and human beings:

Undoing Citizens United: A Comprehensive Plan to Prevent Corporations from Buying ElectionsSAT, 07/24/2010 - 10:15AM, Brasilia 6If you think corporations have too much influence in politics, just wait. In January, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that giant corporations can pour money directly into elections. They can spend billions on attack ads and robocalls to support or oppose candidates, all the while avoiding disclosure. Progressives cannot let this stand. The panel will present the full spectrum of remedies to Citizens United—including federal, state and local legislation to restrict corporate spending in elections, public financing of campaigns and a constitutional amendment—and a plan for implementing them.

PANELISTS: Marge Baker, Rep. Donna F. Edwards, Lisa Graves, Robert Weissman, Representative Alan Grayson

Congresswoman Donna Edwards (MD-4) talks about how old this fight really is:

Lisa Graves, Executive Director of the Center for Media and Democracy: "These truths are self-evident, corporations aren't people."

Congressman Alan Grayson talks about his experience witnessing the court decide Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission:

Last, but certainly not least, Chris Brown of Main Street Insider interviews Rob Weissman for us:

We've got several more videos to post from this panel. You can check Sum of Change tomorrow for the next round

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