Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

applegrove

(118,694 posts)
Sat Jul 16, 2016, 06:29 PM Jul 2016

Hillary Clinton Pledges Constitutional Amendment To Overturn Citizens United In Her First 30 Days

Hillary Clinton Pledges Constitutional Amendment To Overturn Citizens United In Her First 30 Days

by Sam Levine at the Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-citizens-united_us_578a42cfe4b08608d334c7bd?section=

"SNIP..............


Hillary Clinton announced on Saturday that she would introduce a constitutional amendment within the first 30 days of her presidency to overturn the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, which paved the way for unlimited corporate, union and individual spending on elections.

Clinton unveiled her plan in a video at Netroots, an annual progressive gathering taking place this year in St. Louis.

Clinton has also pledged to issue an executive order to require government contractors to disclose campaign contributions, and has said she would push the Securities and Exchange Commission to require all publicly traded companies to disclose political contributions to their stockholders.

As The Huffington Post’s Paul Blumenthal noted in September, campaign finance reform is notoriously difficult to pass, since politicians are loath to support anything that makes it more difficult for them to win elections. An amendment must be approved by a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate and then ratified by three-quarters of the states.


...............SNIP"
24 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Hillary Clinton Pledges Constitutional Amendment To Overturn Citizens United In Her First 30 Days (Original Post) applegrove Jul 2016 OP
She should say "you can do it. You can vote for the things you really want in a government. You applegrove Jul 2016 #1
I am leery of Constitutional amendments rock Jul 2016 #2
They may be a little difficult to pass but full of riders? TheFarseer Jul 2016 #17
I believe in the past rock Jul 2016 #18
Okay Ms. Yertle Jul 2016 #3
Twenty-five years. That just may be the plan. pangaia Jul 2016 #7
That's supportive. nolawarlock Jul 2016 #21
I would have to see the wording before I would approve of any amendment NobodyHere Jul 2016 #4
Why does this need to be an amendment? XemaSab Jul 2016 #5
Because "Citizens United" was a Supreme Court Decision... PoliticAverse Jul 2016 #10
Thanks! XemaSab Jul 2016 #16
Why not go to the SCOTUS and ask them to review it? Rex Jul 2016 #6
My thought as well. Amimnoch Jul 2016 #24
The SCOTUS can revisit a decision. tonyt53 Jul 2016 #8
I'd rather SCOTUS revisit bigwillq Jul 2016 #9
I think she made this statement to not show her real plans. The lady is smart. tonyt53 Jul 2016 #13
Good for her..... vi5 Jul 2016 #11
They'll never get the 2/3 in each house. cloudbase Jul 2016 #12
She also knows that if she wins and gets to replace 2 conservatives with liberal justices ashtonelijah Jul 2016 #15
A feel-good, but meaningless gesture. enough Jul 2016 #14
A meaningless and empty gesture that will go nowhere and does nothing Nye Bevan Jul 2016 #19
A happy surprise. nt ZombieHorde Jul 2016 #20
She should get behind publicly financed elections. JRLeft Jul 2016 #22
You know DemonGoddess Jul 2016 #23

applegrove

(118,694 posts)
1. She should say "you can do it. You can vote for the things you really want in a government. You
Sat Jul 16, 2016, 06:31 PM
Jul 2016

don't have to vote GOP. If you think there is too much money in politics, you can vote against it.This is your election."

rock

(13,218 posts)
2. I am leery of Constitutional amendments
Sat Jul 16, 2016, 06:38 PM
Jul 2016

They are extremely difficult to orchestrate and I believe they are prone to tons of proposed riders.

TheFarseer

(9,323 posts)
17. They may be a little difficult to pass but full of riders?
Sat Jul 16, 2016, 07:31 PM
Jul 2016

The full text of amendments are short and only deal with that specific subject. There's no way they will be full of pork or have something about gay marriage or anything like that!

rock

(13,218 posts)
18. I believe in the past
Sat Jul 16, 2016, 08:06 PM
Jul 2016

they have been heavily modified (not counting the Bill of Rights). At least that's what I thought I heard (I'm certainly not an expert).

PoliticAverse

(26,366 posts)
10. Because "Citizens United" was a Supreme Court Decision...
Sat Jul 16, 2016, 06:51 PM
Jul 2016

And absent the court issuing a reversing decision it's the only way to make the
previous decision moot.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._FEC

 

Amimnoch

(4,558 posts)
24. My thought as well.
Sun Jul 17, 2016, 08:16 AM
Jul 2016

The numbers are not their for a constitutional amendment. Even looking at Nov 2016 elections in the most optimistic goggles available there numbers are still short.

Get the Scalia seat filled with another Ginsburg/Breyer/Kegan/Sotomayor type, and review, or challenge again and viola.. It's gone.

Much easier route, and much more likely scenario.

 

tonyt53

(5,737 posts)
8. The SCOTUS can revisit a decision.
Sat Jul 16, 2016, 06:49 PM
Jul 2016

The Supreme Court can overrule itself. This happens when a different case involving the same constitutional issues as an earlier case is reviewed by the court and seen in a new light, typically because of changing social and political situations. The longer the amount of time between the cases, the more likely this is to occur. With a Dem appointed majority on the SCOTUS and a well thought out challenge to Citizens United, it could hit the SCOTUS in a couple of years. The challenge could be initiated pretty much anywhere in the country. All that would be needed is a complaint that the person filing the challenge has been harmed by the previous decision. Hell, pretty much anybody could make that claim.

This could happen rather quickly and most certainly a hell of a lot quicker than a Constitutional Amendment.

 

vi5

(13,305 posts)
11. Good for her.....
Sat Jul 16, 2016, 06:53 PM
Jul 2016

I know this is just campaign season red meat, and unlikely to happen but I'm glad she's at least throwing the right stuff out there. It means she's recognizing who she needs to be courting, and it's definitely not the corporate wing of the Democratic party.

More of this, definitely.

cloudbase

(5,520 posts)
12. They'll never get the 2/3 in each house.
Sat Jul 16, 2016, 06:54 PM
Jul 2016

She knows it, so it's an empty promise.

They're too addicted to the money.

ashtonelijah

(340 posts)
15. She also knows that if she wins and gets to replace 2 conservatives with liberal justices
Sat Jul 16, 2016, 07:01 PM
Jul 2016

Then Citizens United is dead anyway. But some so called progressives are too blind to see it.

enough

(13,259 posts)
14. A feel-good, but meaningless gesture.
Sat Jul 16, 2016, 06:56 PM
Jul 2016

The amendment process takes many years, and the President does not control it.

Nye Bevan

(25,406 posts)
19. A meaningless and empty gesture that will go nowhere and does nothing
Sat Jul 16, 2016, 08:17 PM
Jul 2016

except tick the "I oppose Citizens United" box. Of course, since I (along with the ACLU) support the Citizens United decision, I see that as a feature, not a bug.

DemonGoddess

(4,640 posts)
23. You know
Sat Jul 16, 2016, 08:46 PM
Jul 2016

that she wants this decision gone is no surprise to me at all. After all, the decision which made corporations "people" and allowed that kind of money INTO politics was about her to begin with.

Latest Discussions»Retired Forums»2016 Postmortem»Hillary Clinton Pledges C...