We the People have largely fallen asleep at the wheel over the last hundred years or more. Instead of driving the ship of state to serve our interests as citizens, we have allowed government at all levels to supplant the People's interests with their own.
At almost every turn, the government has been allowed torture and twist the Constitution to accrue more and more power to themselves. Though the Constitution and the records left behind by those who ratified it is very clear that the powers of the Federal are very few and narrow, the power mongers in government seem to be able to find almost any power they wish to wield in this foundational document. They have done this in the past by twisting and reinterpreting the word used and ignoring the clear "original intent."
In recent years, however, the statist usurpers have made more and more direct assaults on our power and rights. Where they once at least made an attempt to cover their power grabs with heady, legalistic explanations about how they really do have constitutional authority to do x or y, Now, they simply
laugh and scoff at the mere question of constitutionality.
To help overcome the last vestiges of resistance, the statists have begun to target the Constitution directly through the amendment process. Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) along with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and 26 other democrats and a one RINO have introduced the populist sounding
People's Rights Amendment to the Constitution. In this amendment, McGovern attempts to precisely define the "words people, person, or citizen as used in this Constitution..."It goes on to say that these words do not apply to "corporations, limited liability companies or other corporate entities established by the laws of any State, the United States, or any foreign state."
Okay...so far, nothing earthshaking, right? We all know that corporations are not people. I don't think anyone was believing that they were. It is the next part that is the problem: "such corporate entities are subject to such regulation as the people, through their elected State and Federal representatives, deem reasonable and are otherwise consistent with the powers of Congress and the States under this Constitution." In other words...government can do to corporations whatever they want to do because they are not "people."
In an
article dated May 4, 2012, columnist George Will points out that the "proposed amendment is intended to reverse the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which affirmed the right of persons to associate in corporate entities for the purpose of unrestricted collective speech independent of candidates’ campaigns." The problem they had with Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case is that the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment did not allow government to restrict independent political spending by corporations or unions, as required by the
McCain-Feingold Act of 2002. In writing for the
majority opinion on this case, Justice Kennedy points out that "[t]he First Amendment provides that 'Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech.'"
He continued:
"The law before us is an outright ban, backed by criminal sanctions. Section 441b makes it a felony for all corporations—including nonprofit advocacy corporations—eitherto expressly advocate the election or defeat of candidates or to broadcast electioneering communications within 30days of a primary election and 60 days of a general elec-tion. Thus, the following acts would all be felonies under §441b: The Sierra Club runs an ad, within the crucial phase of 60 days before the general election, that exhorts the public to disapprove of a Congressman who favors logging in national forests; the National Rifle Association publishes a book urging the public to vote for the challenger because the incumbent U. S. Senator supports a handgun ban; and the American Civil Liberties Union creates a Web site telling the public to vote for a Presidential candidate in light of that candidate’s defense of free speech. These prohibitions are classic examples of censorship." [emphasis added]
The so-called
People's Rights Amendment, then, is an attempt to circumvent that nasty First Amendment restriction on Congress's power to control speech...one of our most cherished rights on the Left and the Right. In his article, Will rightly point's out that this amendment would increase "the power of incumbent legislators — to write laws regulating, rationing or even proscribing speech in elections that determine the composition of the legislature and the rest of the government." While they try to portray this amendment as a tool needed for election reform, it is in fact a naked power grab.
Amendment 1 - Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
While corporations and other organizations are not people, they are made up of people...citizens who have implicit freedom of speech rights. They also have a right to freely assemble into groups to address government. This is also known as freedom of association, which the SCOTUS
held in
NAACP v. Alabama (357 U.S. 449) that:
"It is beyond debate that freedom to engage in association for the advancement of beliefs and ideas is an inseparable aspect of the 'liberty' assured by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which embraces freedom of speech...it is immaterial whether the beliefs sought to be advanced by association pertain to political, economic, religious or cultural matters, and state action which may have the effect of curtailing the freedom to associate is subject to the closest scrutiny."
This type of aggression...and that is truly what this is...toward our rights as citizens can not stand, and should not go unanswered. Representative McGovern, Leader Pelosi and all of the other sponsors of this amendment should be censured...they should be soundly defeated in their next elections...and possibly recalled. This is not simply a partisan maneuvering on their part. This amendment would greatly restrict everyone's rights, no matter where they stand on the political spectrum. And, it could easily lead to further aggression. No, this is not a Right or a Left issue. This is truly an American issue...and these usurpers are clearly UNAMERICAN.
Revenue - Spending = Deficit 
