Occupy Fort Myers to hold rally today at Sen. Nelson office
Occupy Fort Myers is hitting the streets again, this time to gather at Senator Bill Nelson’s office. The group hopes to persuade Sen. Nelson to vote for the Saving American Democracy Amendment. The amendment would overturn the 2009 Citizens United vs. the Federal Election Commission Supreme Court ruling, which granted corporations the same rights as normal citizens. Specifically, the judge’s allowed corporations to make unlimited and undisclosed contributions to election campaigns in the same manner as private individuals. The proposed Constitutional Amendment would “expressly exclude for-profit corporations from the rights given to natural persons by the Constitution of the United States” as well as “prohibit corporate spending in all elections”. The proposal has also become known as “the Occupied Amendment”, since corporate corruption of the government has been such a central issue for the Occupy movement.
The issue of personhood is at the heart of the debate. The members of Occupy Fort Myers, along with groups like “Move to Amend”, believe that for-profit entities should not be given the same rights as people. One of the Occupiers’ more popular slogans asks “If a corporation is a person, why can’t they get the death penalty?” They feel that the radical Citizen’s United ruling undermines the democratic process by encouraging the “buying” of elections by big businesses. The Saving American Democracy Amendment introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) would re-establish the century-old ban on corporate campaign spending. It would also emphasize Congress’s ability to put limits on the amount spent on election campaigns. This would include personal spending by ultra-wealthy candidates like Rick Scott, who spent $70 million of his own money on his way to the governor’s seat in 2010.
Occupy Fort Myers encourages anyone who supports this Constitutional Amendment to stand with them at the rally. They will meet at 1pm on Friday Dec.16th outside Rep. Bill Nelson’s office at the Justice Center Annex Building, 2000 Main Street, Suite 801 in downtown Fort Myers.