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ISSUES

Money & Politics

 

Supreme Court Jujitsu

American elections should not be bankrolled by America’s most powerful interests. 

If the Supreme Court is going to call a corporation a “person,” and its money “speech” that can be spent without limit, then we can -- at the very least -- insist that the people who make up those corporations -- the shareholders -- get the final say on how their money is spent on politics.

Urge your representative to stanch the flow of corporate money into politics. Require that corporations get the approval of their shareholders before they can spend money on elections.

 

Comments / Questions? Dear legislator,

The Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United vs. FEC would allow corporations to spend money directly on attack ads supporting or opposing Congressional candidates. This decision was made under the pretext that because a corporation is a “person,” it should be allowed to spend its massive aggregated wealth to influence elections.

But, a corporation is not, nor has it EVER been, a person with voting rights and is made up of individual REAL people: shareholders.

We need you to stanch the flow of corporate money into politics by requiring that corporations get the approval of their shareholders before they can spend money on elections.

Please support House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA), Rep. Chris Van Hollen (MD), and Sen. Chuck Schumer's (NY) legislation that will do just that.
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Tell Congress: No NRA loopholes to DISCLOSE Act

Congress has created a loophole in the new DISCLOSE Act that would exempt the NRA and its corporate backers from disclosure requirements.

This is outrageous.  Real reform means that all organizations abide by the same disclosure rules.

Sign our petition to Congress below, and tell them to shoot down the NRA loophole.

Comments / Questions?

Dear legislator,

The DISCLOSE Act is intended to serve as a good stopgap measure to the recent Supreme Court decision by forcing greater disclosure of corporate contributions to political campaigns.

Allowing a special exemption for just one very powerful interest group that creates a loophole for the very corporate money that is the central concern of this bill is outrageous.

Please close this loophole and strengthen the bill by including the Shareholder Protection Act which will increase corporations' accountability to their shareholders.

Sincerely,

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Tell our Senators: Support the DISCLOSE Act

Will the winners in November elections feel accountable to you or to the companies that backed them?

Without a national disclosure law, we won't know which corporations are behind the ads they buy.

The House has already passed this measure, and the Senate has only a few weeks in September before members head home to campaign.

Please sign this petition to our senators, urging them to support the DISCLOSE Act.

Letter

Dear Senators Merkley and Wyden,

Please support the DISCLOSE Act, and oppose any efforts to filibuster this legislation.

Passage of this critical transparency legislation is essential to provide voters with critical information about which groups are spending money to influence federal elections.

The DISCLOSE Act has been made vital by the Citizens United decision; please support it when it comes to the floor.
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Other Actions

A Critical Moment for Campaign Finance Reform A Critical Moment for Campaign Finance Reform
Thank Speaker Pelosi for her work on ethics Thank Speaker Pelosi for her work on ethics
Corporations Are Not People Corporations Are Not People
 

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Oregon State Public Interest Research Group
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Phone: (503) 231-4181