Amendments to the U.S. Constitution must eventually be ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states. So at some point, once a proposed amendment has passed either in Congress or by convention, the Florida legislature will need to weigh in. For that reason, Manasota Move to Amend encourages state representatives and senators from Manatee and Sarasota counties to support a 28th amendment - an amendment to end corporate personhood and to state clearly that money is not speech.
Diane Desenberg, one of the members of the Manasota Move To Amend core group, ran into Wengay Newton last week at a film screening. Rep. Newton represents District 70, which includes a sliver of Sarasota and Manatee counties. Diane pressed Wengay Newton for his views on the matter. Diane reports that
Rep. Newton disagreed with the idea of limits on campaign fundraising. He explained that he needed money to win a campaign and that he should be allowed to raise sums from whomever wanted to donate, including corporations.
Manasota Move To Amend is disappointed with such a view. Our political system is increasingly controlled by the wealthy and various special interests. The situation has become so ridiculous that super PACs, which in theory operate independently from candidates, have more money and more influence over campaigns than the actual candidates do. The United States should be a nation in which all people, regardless of their income, can participate in the political process and a nation in which anyone can run for office without begging for contributions from the wealthy and the powerful, in other words a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Rep. Newton, we welcome further discussion of the issue.
