HOW TO GET BIG MONEY OUT OF ELECTIONS & RECLAIM THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF ‘WE THE PEOPLE’

Please join David Cobb, nationally known spokesperson for Move to Amend, as he pulls back the curtain on the decades-old story of how corporations have gotten the Supreme Court to give them constitutional rights reserved for the people by the framers of the Constitution. Using these rights, corporations and the super-rich are now allowed to spend unlimited sums to influence our elections!

David’s talk couldn’t be better timed.  On November 6, nearly a third of Massachusetts voters will have the chance to vote on the “Democracy Amendment” question, a nonbinding ballot question calling for a constitutional amendment to end corporate constitutional rights and allow us to establish spending limits in political campaigns.

Meet other concerned citizens who want to reclaim our democracy! Get involved in the growing national movement for an amendment to the US Constitution!

Date:    Thursday, September 20th, from 7p.m. to 9 p.m.

Location:   Natick Senior Center,  90 Oak Street, Natick MA

David Cobb is National Projects Director of Democracy Unlimited. He is a lawyer and political activist. David has sued corporate polluters, lobbied elected officials, run for political office himself, and has been arrested for non-violent civil disobedience.  He truly believes we must use ALL the tools in the toolbox to effect the systemic social change we so desperately need. 

Co-Sponsored by Common Cause, Democracy Amendment Coalition of MA, Occupy Natick
Progressive Democrats of America – Greater Boston (PDA)

Major Updates: Need Help!

Not only did Needham pass our town meeting resolution and the state pass its anti-CitizensUnited resolution– democracy-fans got a “Citizens United” question (nicknamed “The Democracy Amendment”, read more here) onto the Needham ballot for November 6, 2012! (yeah, we have to update parts of this website that are still talking about the town meeting vote as “coming up”!)

That means, in addition to voting on President and US Senate, voters will have a chance to say whether they want corporate interests to be able to spend unlimited resources on our campaigns.

It’s not a binding question. But it is yet another means by which WE THE PEOPLE can voice our demand that lawmakers take action! They hadn’t been listening very carefully…. But the broad grassroots movement–which we in Needham are a part of– have stirred politicians at the highest levels to take notice.

With the question on the ballot– we need to get the word out to voters!

We need some help on THURSDAY, ELECTION DAY, September 6, in Needham:

Can you help for even just an hour (or even less if that’s all you got) at the polls on Thursday? We will be handing out INFORMATION/LITERATURE about the ballot question–to get the word out about the anti-Citizens United vote on November 6!

This is not so hard stuff–please email wethepeopleneedham@gmail.com with your availability on Thursday, Sept. 6.  In particular, we would like to have commute times covered, when there’s the highest foot traffic.

Town Meeting starts Tonight!

Tonight we begin Town Meeting at our beautiful newly renovated Town Hall. You can watch the proceedings on Needham Cable Access starting at 7:30 (Channels: Comcast 99, RCN 13, Verizon 30).

EVENT: Board of Selectmen Hears Citizens Petition

At tonight’s Board of Selectmen meeting, the Board will hear from Needham residents who submitted our petition to Town Meeting to vote on overturning “Citizens United vs. FEC.”

The meeting is open to all; please join us at the Town Hall to show your support. The citizen presentations begin at 7:15, and are scheduled for 15 minutes on the Selectmen’s agenda.

April 11: Boston College Law – Forum on Citizens United (in Jamaica Plain)

Citizens United Forum Presented by Students of Boston College Law School

A collaborative of Boston College graduate students will be hosting a panel on the subject of Citizens United and campaign finance reform in Jamaica Plain on April 11 at 7pm.

Panelists will include State Senator Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton), President of the New England Legal Foundation Martin Newhouse, constitutional law scholar Professor Lawrence Friedman and WGBH journalist and former Washington Post reporter Ibby Caputo.

Admission to the forum is free and residents of Boston and the surrounding communities are encouraged to attend and learn the reasoning behind this important Supreme Court decision and the rationale of the opposition.

“People should care about the Citizens United decision because it is having an effect on the way democracy is practiced in this country, about the way elections work and who gets elected and why,”

said Professor Lawrence Friedman, a professor of Constitutional Law at New England Law | Boston and a panelist for the forum.

Event: LWV: Is money putting our democracy at risk? (May 17)

Pushing Back on Money in Politics

May 17, 2012, 7:30pm, Concord, MA

The League of Women Voters of Concord-Carlisle will co-sponsor a public forum moderated by Tom Ashbrook, Host of WBUR’s On Point, with panelists Lawrence Lessig, Jeff Clements and Mimi Marziani on Thursday, May 17 at Concord-Carlisle High School.

Lawrence Lessig (Professor, Harvard Law School)

Doors open at 7:00pm; no reserved seating; program starts at 7:30pm. Free and open to all.

For more information: PushingBack@lwvcc.org; 978-254-1598. Download event flyer and press release.