To: President Donald Trump, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Equal Political Representation
Every individual's rights are being taken away!
Let's overturn Citizens United and limit campaign contributions to ensure everyone has an equal voice in the political process!
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that money = free speech, and that corporations are people, so corporations therefore can give unlimited money in campaign donations.
By doing so, the ruling actually LIMITS free speech because corporations (who are NOT really people) have the ability to spend millions (even billions) of dollars to shape elections, while only a few of the wealthiest Americans can afford to be on the same playing field. In doing so, the average American's freedom of speech is severely diminished!
For example, compare a $1,000,000,000 donation from a corporation to the national average YEARLY wage of an individual: $40,711.61 (source: http://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/AWI.html). That means a corporation has the same political influence as almost 25,000 average Americans! And that is only if for a whole year they each gave every dollar they earned to a political campaign!
In voting, everyone has an equal vote. Only rarely will someone win who is not on the ballot. By allowing corporations to give unlimited funds in campaign contributions, corporations and the wealthy are able to unfairly influence who can survive the political ringer and be placed on the ballot. Therefore, it is likely only their candidates will win elections, so the average American in not fairly represented!
To have free speech and equal representation in the U.S. political system, everyone's vote (and therefore everyone's contributions) should be on the same playing field.
Therefore, by signing this petition you will express your voice and tell Washington to:
1)Overturn the Citizens United Ruling - greatly reducing the influence of corporations on elections and government
2)Limit campaign contributions to $50 per individual per year - leveling the political playing field between the wealthy and the extremely poor so that everyone, like in voting, will have an equal voice in government.
Thank you for standing up for your rights!
Sincerely,
Kevin Steiner
Master of Science in Applied Economics
Let's overturn Citizens United and limit campaign contributions to ensure everyone has an equal voice in the political process!
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that money = free speech, and that corporations are people, so corporations therefore can give unlimited money in campaign donations.
By doing so, the ruling actually LIMITS free speech because corporations (who are NOT really people) have the ability to spend millions (even billions) of dollars to shape elections, while only a few of the wealthiest Americans can afford to be on the same playing field. In doing so, the average American's freedom of speech is severely diminished!
For example, compare a $1,000,000,000 donation from a corporation to the national average YEARLY wage of an individual: $40,711.61 (source: http://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/AWI.html). That means a corporation has the same political influence as almost 25,000 average Americans! And that is only if for a whole year they each gave every dollar they earned to a political campaign!
In voting, everyone has an equal vote. Only rarely will someone win who is not on the ballot. By allowing corporations to give unlimited funds in campaign contributions, corporations and the wealthy are able to unfairly influence who can survive the political ringer and be placed on the ballot. Therefore, it is likely only their candidates will win elections, so the average American in not fairly represented!
To have free speech and equal representation in the U.S. political system, everyone's vote (and therefore everyone's contributions) should be on the same playing field.
Therefore, by signing this petition you will express your voice and tell Washington to:
1)Overturn the Citizens United Ruling - greatly reducing the influence of corporations on elections and government
2)Limit campaign contributions to $50 per individual per year - leveling the political playing field between the wealthy and the extremely poor so that everyone, like in voting, will have an equal voice in government.
Thank you for standing up for your rights!
Sincerely,
Kevin Steiner
Master of Science in Applied Economics
Why is this important?
Your political rights are being taken away! Want to stop it and reduce government corruption at the same time? Reduce money in politics!