CWA, Allies Fight Corporate Money in Politics

CWAers across the country held demonstrations to spotlight the destructive influence of corporate money in politics. Above, a message carried by Local 3106 members in Jacksonville, Fla., and below, members of CWA Local 4217 hold an action in East St. Louis, Mo.

CWA, working with several organizations determined to restore our democracy, spotlighted the destructive influence of corporate money in politics in actions and events tied to the Jan. 20 anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling. That decision, two years ago, allows unlimited spending by corporations and other groups through super PACs, with no restrictions as long as there is no coordination with the political candidate.

Eliminating corporate money in politics, taking action on voter suppression and fixing the broken Senate rules are among CWA's top priorities this year.

Actions were held in Washington, D.C.; Phoenix, AZ; Sacramento, CA; Jacksonville, FL; Miami, FL; and Kansas City, MO. CWA members joined members of Common Cause, Democracy For America, MoveOn, Move to Amend, Occupy, and Public Citizen and other partners committed to the fight for democracy.

Activists, members of CWA's Legislative Political Action Teams, also have delivered 10,000 postcards to Members of Congress calling for legislation to stop the harm caused by the flood of corporate money in politics.

An online action enables CWA and other activists to spread the word the "I am a person, a corporation is not."

And CWAers are working with local elected officials in more than a dozen locations to push for city council resolutions that highlight that "corporations should not receive the same constitutional rights as natural persons."

A new public survey shows that the Citizens United decision has very little support. Americans across all parties oppose the ruling; among all voters, 62 percent oppose the decision and nearly half (46 percent) strongly oppose it. More than half of all voters say they would support a constitutional amendment to reverse the opinion." Read more here.