David Cobb, a former Green Party candidate for president and current spokesperson for the Move to Amend initiative, will be speaking in Grand Rapids on January 12. I have no affiliation with Mr. Cobb or his group but their effort to revoke the treatment of corporations as persons (“corporate personhood”) with rights like “freedom of speech” and the ability to spend endless sums of cash in politics and elections is a compelling one.
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 firmly establish that money is not speech, and that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights.
The information on his appearance in Grand Rapids follows.
NATIONAL SPEAKER WILL TALK ABOUT MOVEMENT
TO END CORPORATE CONTROL OF GOVERNMENTWHAT: David Cobb will speak on behalf of the “Move to Amend” the U.S. Constitution
WHEN: January 12, 2012 7 p.m.
WHERE: FOUNTAIN STREET CHURCH, 24 Fountain S.E., Grand Rapids
COST: Free
In response to the increasing call by various sectors of society for something to be done about corporate control of government and the growing income disparity between the rich and everyone else, David Cobb and the Move to Amend (MtA) initiative have a proposal.
West Michigan residents can find out all about the group’s movement to amend the U.S. Constitution by attending Cobb’s lecture at Fountain Street Church on Jan. 12, 2012, starting at 7 p.m. The FREE lecture will be part of the Duncan Littlefair Great Speakers Series, a distinguished local tradition. (For more information visit www.greatspeakersgr.org.)
Move to Amend proposes a constitutional amendment that would make it United States law that corporations are not people and do not have the rights of citizens. It would also prohibit equating money with speech, which was at the heart of the controversial U.S. Supreme Court Citizens United decision. That ruling struck down ALL election law provisions that prohibited corporations from broadcasting communications about candidates, opening the door to even more corporate influence over elections. MtA’s proposed constitutional amendment would prevent future courts from using the First Amendment as grounds for similar decisions. The proposed amendment and additional information can be found at movetoamend.org.
David Cobb was the 2004 Green Party candidate for President of the United States, and is the official spokesperson for MtA. He will be speaking at venues throughout the state of Michigan in the month of January.
“There’s been such an outcry in this country against corporate control of government and the unfair access to governmental power that wealthy people have, and this amendment is one very real solution,” said George Bartnick of Occupy Grand Rapids. “We would love to see people pack Fountain Street Church to show just how much people care about this issue.”
Occupy Grand Rapids and Fountain Street Church are the main sponsors of the event, but they are joined by numerous community organizations.
For more information, call Bartnick 616-458-5095 or David Doyle of the Duncan Littlefair Great Speakers Series at 616-336-1090.
David Cobb image courtesy of MovetoAmend.org
