Citizens United is still a thing?
by Tom Sullivan
Secretary Hillary Clinton announced yesterday she would in her first 30 days as president propose a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United Supreme Court decision. The announcement came in a video to the Netroots Nation 16 conference (St. Louis, #NN16):
"I will also appoint Supreme Court justices who understand that this decision was a disaster for our democracy, and I will fight for other progressive reforms, including small-dollar matching and disclosure requirements. I hope some of the brilliant minds in this room will seek out cases to challenge Citizens United in the courts."
The Washington Post's Dave Weigel tweeted:
Applause -- and no boos -- when Clinton appears via video at #NN16
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) July 16, 2016
Here's why #NN16 -- in 11 years of existence, never a hotbed of Hillary support -- applauded her. https://t.co/ULiRHqyDCj
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) July 16, 2016
However, a cluster of seven or eight people towards the back of the hall stood and turned their backs to the screen, a friend reports. One Twitter user asked if Netroots Nation is still a thing. It is. (But I missed the closing session.)
Weigel writes:
In a statement accompanying the announcement, Clinton pledges to promote Securities and Exchange Commission "rulemaking requiring publicly traded companies to disclose all political spending to their shareholders" and to sign an "executive order requiring federal government contractors to fully disclose all political spending." She has discussed versions of those ideas on the campaign trail, but the forum of Netroots Nation — a conference in its 11th year that she visited in person only once — was a striking place to make the statement.NetRoots Nation Executive Director Raven Brooks thinks the announcement is significant, and a further move towards positions rival Sen. Bernie Sanders championed. Brooks tells Politico:
“I don’t think there really was any thought or expectation that she would be carrying this issue forward,” Brooks said.The proposal may be merely symbolic. And no doubt some Sanders supporters will see the move as pandering. But it is doubtful that Sanders would have any greater chance of pushing such an amendment through what is still a Republican Congress. Clinton herself will find that problematic unless November proves a sweep year for Democrats. Regardless of the messenger, the message coming from such a high level is one to welcome. I look forward to when people can ask if Citizens United is still a thing.
“She’s adopted some of his other stuff. Notably some of the college and student debt things, but I thought campaign finance was going to be left behind.”