Eighteen Communities Vote to Amend the U.S. Constitution
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Dear Editor,
On Tuesday, November 8th, residents of eighteen Wisconsin communities voted to amend the U.S. Constitution to clarify that only human beings should have inalienable human rights and money is not the same thing as free speech.
All referenda passed with overwhelming majorities: Rock County (86%), Reedsburg (86%), Manitowoc (81%), Delafield (79%), Neshkoro (88%), New Glarus (88%), Spring Valley (91%), Osceola (86%), Mount Horeb (84%), Monticello (86%), Clayton (86%) and the Towns of New Glarus (83%), Harris (65%), Springdale (86%), Decatur (89%), Mount Pleasant (84%), Cadiz (87%) and Lake Tomahawk (91%).
This brings the total number of Wisconsin communities that have called for an amendment to 96. In total, 2.8 million people (48% of Wisconsinites) live in these jurisdictions. Across the country, 18 state legislatures have voted for an amendment, as have over 700 towns, villages, cities and counties.
Jeanette Kelty, Co-Chair of the organization Green County United to Amend, said, “We are extremely pleased that these referenda passed by such high margins. This clearly demonstrates the will of the people. It is time for our state representatives to put this resolution to a statewide vote, and to move towards sending a resolution from Wisconsin to the U.S. Congress.”
According to a recent Bloomberg poll, four in five Americans oppose the Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. FEC decision. A New York Times/CBS poll found that 85 percent of Americans—including majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents—believe we need to either fundamentally change our campaign finance system or to completely rebuild it.
Delafield resident Gerry Flakas explained the problem this way: “Big money has absolutely corrupted our system of government of, by, and for the people. The only solution is to amend the Constitution to clarify that money is not speech and a corporation is not a person.”
Matt Rothschild, Executive Director of Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, summed it up succinctly: “People across the ideological spectrum get it: All of our voices are being drowned out by those with big money.”
The fall 2016 election was a great example. CBS News reports that 6.8 BILLION DOLLARS was spent on this year’s elections—money that could have been spent on roads, bridges, education and developing new technologies that benefit everyone. Big Money has not given up. We have more work to do.
Harry Pulliam,
New Glarus
