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By David Swanson
Free Speech for People

The damage from the Supreme Court's decision in "Citizens United v. FEC" continues to spread as feared. Newly emboldened corporations are suing to overturn state laws that restrict corporate spending on politics:

"A pro-natural resource development group [how's that for spin?] and a Bozeman painting company asked a Helena District Court on Monday to strike down Montana’s 1912 ban on corporate donations and expenditures to political campaigns to comply with a January U.S. Supreme Court ruling."

New Data Reveal Extent of Hunger in Every Corner of the U.S.

FRAC Releases New Data on Food Hardship in 2008 and 2009, with First-Ever Data for MSAs and All Congressional Districts

Download the report: Food Hardship: A Closer Look at Hunger - Data for the Nation, States, 100 MSAs, and Every Congressional District (pdf)

70 percent of emergency food centers face threats to their survival

By Daniel Tencer
RAW Story

If there is any indicator of the toll that the Great Recession has taken on the public, it would be the statistics beginning to emerge about hunger in the US.

According to a study from the nation's largest food bank operator, the number of Americans in need of food aid has jumped 46 percent in three years, including a 50 percent jump in the number of children needing food assistance, and a 64 percent increase in hunger in senior citizens' homes.

Congresswoman Donna Edwards has just introduced a Constitutional amendment, together with Congressman John Conyers.

HTTP://FREESPEECHFORPEOPLE.ORG

Watch this brand new video:
http://freespeechforpeople.org/edwardsvideo

PUBLIC INTEREST GROUPS APPLAUD REP. DONNA EDWARDS FOR FILING CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT BILL TO OVERTURN US SUPREME COURT RULING ON CORPORATE MONEY IN ELECTIONS

HOUSE JUDICIARY CHAIR JOHN CONYERS, JR JOINS FILING

"Free Speech Rights Are For People, Not Corporations"

By Sarah van Gelder
YES! Magazine

With climate disruption, war, and a faltering economy, the '00s were tough. Still, seeds were sewn for a more green and egalitarian 2010s. And peoples movements offer the power to make real change happen.
— tags: copenhagen

In my last column, I listed nine crises of the ‘00s.

Remarks of President Barack Obama
The State of the Union
Wednesday, January 27, 2009
Washington, DC

Madame Speaker, Vice President Biden, Members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans:

The Source of Corporate Power

By Robert C. Koehler

Tribune Media Services

“If the First Amendment has any force, it prohibits Congress from fining or jailing citizens, or associations of citizens, for simply engaging in political speech.”

By ANDREW TAYLOR
Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Last year's $787 billion economic stimulus bill is going to be even more expensive — $75 billion more.

The new Congressional Budget Office estimate, released Tuesday, provides more ammunition for Republicans who say the stimulus has been long on spending and short on creating promised jobs. The additional cost also eats into the savings forecast from the budget freeze President Barack Obama is expected to propose Wednesday night during his State of the Union address.

By Alec MacGillis and Amy Goldstein
Washington Post

Obama's domestic policy agenda, which defined him as a president seeking to restore faith in government, is imperiled by his call for a "freeze" on spending, many advocates said Tuesday, as federal agencies scrambled to determine the proposal's impact.

The freeze would hold steady for the next three years the government's discretionary budget -- the portion of spending that Congress decides every year -- except for spending on the military, homeland security, the State Department and Veterans Affairs.

On January 21, 2010, the Supreme Court struck down longstanding rules on corporate and organized labor spending in elections.

In a 5-4 decision, the court struck down elements of campaign finance law, ruling that independent expenditures by such groups in elections is protected by the First Amendment.

http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-205.pdf

With its ruling today, the Supreme Court has given a green light to a new stampede of special interest money in our politics. It is a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans. This ruling gives the special interests and their lobbyists even more power in Washington--while undermining the influence of average Americans who make small contributions to support their preferred candidates.

Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission shreds the fabric of our already weakened democracy by allowing corporations to more completely dominate our corrupted electoral process. It is outrageous that corporations already attempt to influence or bribe our political candidates through their political action committees (PACs), which solicit employees and shareholders for donations.

"We the corporations"

On January 21, 2010, with its ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are persons, entitled by the U.S. Constitution to buy elections and run our government. Human beings are people; corporations are legal fictions. The Supreme Court is misguided in principle, and wrong on the law. In a democracy, the people rule.

We Move to Amend.

We, the People of the United States of America, reject the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United, and move to amend our Constitution to:

By Michael Beckel
Open Secrets.og

Corporations, trade associations, unions and nonprofit groups still aren't allowed to make direct contributions to federal politicians, but today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that such groups may now spend unlimited amounts of money advocating for or against politicians.

In doing do, the Supreme Court, led by Justice Anthony Kennedy, tossed out the distinction between individuals and corporations and their ilk when it comes to independent expenditures.

Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Some 390 tons of ground beef produced by a California meat packer, some of it nearly two years ago, is being recalled for fear of potentially deadly E. coli bacterium tainting, U.S. officials said on Monday.

The beef was produced by Huntington Meat Packing Inc of Montebello, California, and shipped mainly to California outlets, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's food safety arm said.