DUer Required Viewing: Elizabeth Warren Exposes Citizens United for What It Is

[Fearless]

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This is the single biggest constitutional issue of our time.

[NYC_SKP]

1. This is why we need to strongly urge the good Senator to run for the presidency.

Yes, we need more like her in the congress, too, but we shouldn't settle for less in a president.

[mother earth]

2. Amen to that!

[onwardsand upwards]

9. Absolutely!

Okay, I'll admit to being a foreigner (UK/Canada/NZ/Ozzie), but the world needs a strong, smart, well-informed, person with (most importantly) integrity as US President.

There are too many screamingly important issues that need to be dealt with, but which are ignored by politicians owned by corporations, to have anything less.

And, yes, unfortunately, President Obama is something less ...

[Fred Sanders]

3. 3.7 million citizens political donations were outspent by 32 Super Citizens in 2012.....a fact that

needs to be debated, but instead is silenced by the corporate media gorging on the fruit of Citizens
United.

[rhett o rick]

4. I agree that corporate ownership of the government is a huge issue. I would also say

that the extremely powerful NSA/CIA Security State is right up there for "biggest constitutional issue." We need serious help to fix these issues. Sen Warren is going to need a lot of help. Not only are we fighting the conservatives of the Right-Wing, we are also fighting the conservatives calling themselves Democrats. The conservatives of both parties serve the American Aristocratic Oligarchy.

[Enthusiast]

7. +1 You nailed it.

[cascadiance]

12. You're right, shutting down corporate personhood and updating the 4th amendment BOTH need attention!

As Ms. Warren notes, fixing the problems of Citizen's United ruling is essential (making sure that there is no corporate personhood, and that unless places in the constitution say "artificial person", a corporation should not get "rights" given to them if "person" isn't fully qualified as "natural person". The term "person" by itself should be defined as "natural person".

We need to clarify that money is NOT "free speech". The term FREE speech implies that money shouldn't be defined as such, otherwise the term "FREE speech" is an oxymoron!

And finally, if we aren't careful how we fix these two issues, and don't fix the problems of protecting our privacy by clarifying how the fourth amendment fits our modern online world, you will have corporations like google, facebook, and others throw up their hands in an effort to divide us (and to get both of these efforts undone), by saying...

"Sorry customers, we aren't persons any more. We no longer have the 'rights' to protect online data you've got on our servers any more! NSA and the government can't be stopped from coming in to look at it now!." They will seek to get those wanting to protect online privacy to look to overturn any constitutional amendment we make for overturning Citizen's United by doing that.

We need to have people carefully look at OUR data that's being housed online and clarify that WE own the privacy of that data, and that no huge legal "consent form" that are designed for people to sign away their rights before getting access to a resource like Facebook, or Google, takes that away from us. They might try to claim that you can't "own" data that is online or on someone else's computer, because the fourth amendment only applies to material possessions that you have in your house or on your personal property. Well, we need to remind them that copyright laws DO give copyright holders legal rights over raw data WHEREVER it is, and the right to prosecute the misuse of that data WHEREVER it is, and just because they have the support of big money entities that want to still collect money off of this virtually owned property doesn't mean they should have any more rights than the average person has over their private data being kept on someone else's servers/property. This needs to be carefully defined in an amendment that defines how the principles of the 4th amendment should be applied to today's world.

Without doing both, or at least carefully writing the amendment for Citizen's United to have clauses in it that clarify that taking away corporate personhood doesn't take away from the need and requirement for "corporations" to continue to protect the privacy of our data that they hold. We can't afford to have corporations who are being used online to house OUR private data to seek to split us as a voting populace on these two very important areas of needed reform.

[rhett o rick]

13. Well put. Sen Warren is going to need some big time help. nm

[tecelote]

5. She's a straight talker.

Facts. No spin.

[rickford66]

6. George Will's column this week criticized paying people to vote.

The irony is he approves of lobbyists paying Congressmen to vote.

[drynberg]

8. Elizabeth is totally correct, this is thee issue of constitutional affairs we must deal with now.

She and Bernie are a Dream Ticket, I hope they make it happen. Maybe if we encourage whenever...

[Iwillnevergiveup]

10. K&R

What it basically comes down to as I see it is Ginsburg outlasting Scalia. I pray he's the next one to go and that a Democratic president gets through a person who is a real justice, and not a politician like Scalia.

[Scuba]

11. Kick

[MrMickeysMom]

14. KICKING….

… for a return of democracy and ridding ourselves of Citizen's United decision.