On Thursday Oct. 13's Central Committee meeting, we overwhelmingly voted to endorse the campaign of Move to Amend, a national effort which began after the Citizen's United SCOTUS decision in Jan.2010. Local efforts throughout the nation have increased dramatically as the economic crisis deepens and the GOP continues to block efforts create jobs, regulate Wall St., and effect tax fairness for corporations.

From the Move to Amend website:

"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.

"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.

* Guarantee the right to vote and to participate, and to have our vote and participation count.

* Protect local communities, their economies, and democracies against illegitimate "preemption" actions by global, national, and state governments.

"The Supreme Court is misguided in principle, and wrong on the law. In a democracy, the people rule. We Move to Amend."

Move to Amend Portland is working on efforts to bring this issues before City Leaders. Check out www.movetoamendpdx.org for regular updates and news.

Mult Dems Resolution:

WHEREAS, government of, by, and for the People has long been a cherished American principle, and;

WHEREAS, corporations are not people but merely legal fictions -- created by express permission of the People through our governments -- that exist solely through the legal charters granted by those governments, and;

WHEREAS, corporations are not and have never been human beings, are not mentioned in the Constitution, and have never been granted by the People any power or authority to exceed our own, and;

WHEREAS, Supreme Court justices have interpreted the US Constitution to endow corporations with rights and protections solely vested in the People by the Constitution, and;

WHEREAS, corporations now claim the rights of human beings, obstructing and perverting the essential civic processes of the People and our government through their enormous financial resources and;

WHEREAS, tens of thousands of people and municipalities across the United States are joining the call for an Amendment or Amendments to the US Constitution to Abolish Corporate Personhood;

NOW HEREBY BE IT RESOLVED THAT

THE MULTNOMAH COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY SHALL SUPPORT EFFORTS TO AMEND THE U.S. CONSTITUTION TO FIRMLY ESTABLISH THAT ALL RIGHTS OF CITIZENSHIP, ESPECIALLY THOSE ENUMERATED IN THE BILL OF RIGHTS, ARE ENJOYED ONLY BY HUMAN BEINGS AND ARE NEVER TRANSFERABLE TO CORPORATIONS OR OTHER LEGAL CONSTRUCTS and;.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT THE MULTNOMAH COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY WILL SUPPORT EFFORTS TO PLACE BEFORE THE VOTERS OF MULTNOMAH COUNTY OREGON AND/OR CIVIC ENTITIES WITHIN THAT COUNTY, MEASURES DECLARING THAT CORPORATIONS ARE NOT PEOPLE AND DO NOT ENJOY THE RIGHTS GRANTED SOLELY TO THE PEOPLE BY OUR CONSTITUTION.