It’s getting obvious that the ruling class is becoming a little annoyed that the lowly plebes are learning about the misdeeds of the government and are finding ways to make their small voices heard. Whether through the time-honored 4th estate, or through lobbying groups that represent the will of a group of people, one senator from Connecticut is sick and tired of listening to the bitching and just wants to shut them up. And to do it, he’s proposing a constitutional amendment that would remove the protections of the first amendment from newspapers and groups such as the NRA and ACLU . . .
Here’s the full text of the proposed Constitutional amendment (link), but the important bit is here:
The words people, person, or citizen as used in this Constitution do not include corporations, limited liability companies or other corporate entities established by the laws of any State, the United States, or any foreign state, and such corporate entities are subject to such regulation as the people, through their elected State and Federal representatives, deem reasonable and are otherwise consistent with the powers of Congress and the States under this Constitution.
While the amendment would overturn the Citizens United ruling which has ruffled many elitist feathers, it would do so in such a way as to clear the path for direct legislation gagging lobbying groups such as the NRA and ACLU, and would remove many of the protections that keep newspapers like the New York Times open.
The appropriate way to reverse the Citizens United ruling is to change the fair election rules, which doesn’t need an amendment. A constitutional amendment like this seems designed to further chip away at our rights under the not-so-thin veil of “doing something good.”