"Are Corporations People?": Larry Lessig on Campaign Finance Reform

Share this: http://action.change-congress.org/corppplvid

Lawrence Lessig discusses how the proper response to the recent Supreme Court "Citizens United v. FEC" ruling isn't to reverse the decision or to regulate speech, but to address the fundamental influence of money in congress. The best way to fix congress is to support the Fair Elections Now act, which will put in place a system of citizen funded elections. CC licensed images from Flickr: Wall Street: f-l-e-x, Capitol: cowtools.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• wall
• street
• financial
• reform
• congress
• senate
• corruption
• money
• finance
• fundraising
• elections
• chuck
• schumer
• larry
• lawrence
• lessig
• fix
• constitutional
• amendment
• convention
• supreme
• court
• citizens
• united
• free
• speech
• corporate

[diogeneslaertius666]

Corporations have become too large, and their bottom line is driven not by social concerns as was originally intended, they are not there to provide for the people or even for their own employees.

Today the corporation has become a destructive, cost externalizing machine serving the interests only of its investors ROI.

Gone is the concept of a rising tide lifting all boats, in fact it is a complete 180, today we see a race to the bottom as a criminal elite dominate the majority.

[diogeneslaertius666]

Let us reduce the Federal Government to a framework for the states to cooperate on vital matters such as national defense and return the power to its rightful owners, the sovereign individuals.

Let us create the means and modes of a virtual constitutional republic and then share that technology with the world's people so that they too might one day be free men!

The time is Now, the conflict is Here.

Live free or die - we no longer have a choice.

[makeiteasyable]

Live free or die - we no longer have a choice.<---ur right buddy..or else ur gonna be beggars in ur whole life..

[MrCowicide]

@meadbert Well, we already have "food stamps for corporations" in the form of corporate welfare as a result of our current system. Do you have any problem with that?

[MrCowicide]

I agree with the Act, but what I don't think you comprehend, Lawrence, is how incredibly more powerful the Citizen's United ruling has made corporations NOW. When the Act gets squashed by the powers that be... (being much more powerful from the Citizen's United ruling) --- WHAT THEN?

You're putting the cart before the horse, Lawrence. I desperately hope I'm proven wrong & the Act goes through (without being neutered), but I think it's folly to underestimate the ruling's power to thwart this.

[teddybruscie]

@meadbert That makes no sense at all. A Citizen funded election means we the average everyday people fund politicians not big corporations. This way whatever the politician gets he gets it from the people who will actually vote for him. So if that politician tries to confiscate their property for free ads. Dont you think that person will then take their $100 else where?

Come on sir. Food stamps for Congress? Whats wrong with us funding elections and not corporations?

[darliegoddess]

This was a complete failure.

[PanzerDivisionBOM]

The problem isn't money having an effect on politics, but politics having an effect on money.

[meadbert]

"Citizen's funded elections" = food stamps for congress or worse.

Basically the people would be banned from making their own adds.

Instead, congress would confiscate their property in order to have free ads for themselves.

[JohananRaatz]

Citizen's United vs. FEC was a good thing! Thank you Roberts Court!

Class-baiting Dems are now obsolete: watch?v=wlzmMIIHudw

[Aliothemage]

@pattersclan

Exactly. I would just contribute 100 bucks to all my friends and have them all contribute 100 bucks to me, lol. This is not a well thought out plan.

[Aliothemage]

When govt is limited to only being able to do what is absolutely necessary (protecting citizens from those who would initiate force of fraud against us) then its potential to be used for corrupt causes is minimized and political power becomes much less valuable for those who want to buy it.

You can't beat market forces. So long as the demand for political power remains high, corruption will remain high. You're only fooling yourself into believing you can have your cake and eat it too.