Whereas we are experiencing the greatest threat to our democracy in our lifetime, and

Whereas this threat comes from the massive influx of unregulated money into our political process, and

Whereas this unregulated money is the direct result of the United States Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling and this ruling conferred fundamental human rights upon corporations and declared that unlimited campaign spending is protected free speech, and

Whereas this continued unregulated flow of money is buying our elections, undermining our individual human rights, and destroying the "one person, one vote" principle of our democracy,

Those who desire to protect our democracy propose the following actions and seek your support by signing this petition.

1) This clear and present danger can only be addressed by the collective voice of the American People demanding control over money in politics.  The only means of gaining this control is to amend the US constitution to correct the democracy destroying conclusions of the Citizens United decision.

2) Our constitution allows two pathways to amending . The first is for the United States congress to propose amendments and then forward them to the states for approval by their state legislatures. 3/4 of all states must approve for adoption.  The United States Congress has consistently failed to act upon this option in regards to removing the undue influence of money in our elections.  The second option as defined in the constitution is for the state legislatures to vote to force the congress to call for a national amendment proposing convention to draft a proposal to then be submitted to the various states for legislative approval.

Despite the severity of the crisis of our democracy, the liberal advocacy group, Common Cause, stands in active opposition to this second constitutionally permitted option for amending our constitution. They have used the strength of their membership numbers and historic prestige to lobby state legislatures to oppose efforts of the people to seek redress through this constitutional means.  Furthermore, while standing in direct opposition, Common Cause has failed to put forth solutions to this selling of our democracy.

This petition requests the following actions:

1) Sign the petition asking Common Cause to reconsider their opposition and open their own organization to a discussion among their members re: the call for an amendment proposing convention to correct the democracy destroying consequences of Citizens United.

2) Share this petition with others and encourage others to challenge the opposition of Common Cause.

3) Demand that representatives of Common Cause participate in a series of public forums/debates  with qualified advocates of this call for an amendment proposing convention.

4) And, as a final effort, if Common Cause remains unwilling to engage in an active democratic process of debate regarding this critical issue, cease financial support to them.

 

Our crisis will not be resolved by inaction. Congress has failed to act, so "we the people" must exercise our constitutional rights and demand that our state legislatures pass resolutions calling for an amendment proposing convention to address the destructive influence of money on our democracy.