Grassroots Activism the Only Answer to Money in Politics

USW International President Leo W. Gerard and progressive talk show host Leslie Marshall this week discussed the role of money in politics and the ways ordinary people can help wrest control of the government from billionaire campaign donors.

Last week, Republican senators blocked voting on a constitutional amendment that would have repealed Citizens United, the Supreme Court ruling that stated corporations have the right to make unlimited political donations in the name of “free speech.”

“When the Supreme Court in its lack of wisdom says that money equals free speech,” said Gerard, “what they’re in fact saying is that the billionaire gets a very loud voice and the single mom or dad who’s taking the bus at 6:00 in the morning after doing a midnight shift cleaning rooms in a hotel, or who’s working for minimum wage at McDonalds, or who’s in a low-wage industrial job, they’ve got no voice.

“This is not democracy. This is not the America people grew up with in my generation. This is, in fact, putting democracy up for sale.”

Senate Republicans are among the biggest recipients of campaign cash, so it’s not a coincidence that 42 of them filibustered the amendment on campaign finance.

The antidote to out-of-control money in politics, Gerard said, is more grassroots activism with more ordinary people standing up and demanding change.

“We’re just starting grassroots organizations,” said Gerard, “and we’ve already got 16 states and 600 communities that formally demanded that Congress act. Once you start talking to people at the grassroots level, they know that this isn’t democracy.”

To hear the whole conversation, click the audio below.

 

Background articles:

The Senate Tried to Overturn ‘Citizens United’ Today. Guess What Stopped Them?

Republicans Filibuster Constitutional Fix To Overturn Citizens United Senate

Republicans Vote to Silence Working Americans

Sen. Elizabeth Warren Calls for Amendment to Overturn Citizens United

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