The Oregon Area Progressives believe that the influence of BIG MONEY has corrupted our politics. Well-funded corporations and organizations, such as the American Legislative Exchange Council (About ALEC) and Americans for Prosperity (About AFP), use campaign donations and swanky conferences with prepared legislation to thwart the will of regular people. The effect is to make their dollars equivalent to votes. That's why we worked with SouthCentral Wisconsin Move to Amend to get a referendum on the ballot in the Village of Oregon in 2014. The referendum read:
“We the People” of the Village of Oregon, Wisconsin, seek to reclaim democracy from the expansion of corporate personhood rights and the corrupting influence of unregulated political contributions and spending. We stand with the Move to Amend campaign and communities across the country to support passage of an amendment to the United States Constitution stating:
1. Only human beings -- not corporations, unions, non-profits or similar associations -- are endowed with constitutional rights, and
2. Money is not speech, and therefore regulating political contributions and spending is not equivalent to limiting political speech.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we hereby instruct our state and federal representatives to enact resolutions and legislation to advance this effort.
We had great SUCCESS!! The Village of Oregon Move to Amend ballot referendum passed in November of 2014.
For more information about getting the money out of politics, check out the links below.