Group protests corporate campaign financing: Petition drive under way to support constitutional amendment

Nearly three years to the day after the United States Supreme Court handed down its Citizens United ruling, a small band of protesters lined up outside the Parker Road DART Station to demand less corporate money in government.

The ruling cleared the way for corporations and labor unions to spend large amounts of money during election season. The effects of the Citizens United ruling -- as well as the SpeechNOW ruling, which allowed for the creation of super PACs -- were evident during the November 2012 elections, during which super PACs organized by the likes of Karl Rove and Bill Burton spent hundreds of millions of dollars in the presidential race between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama.

The decisions were, and still are, controversial, with opponents stating that they opened the door for those with the most money to buy influence with politicians.

"I see this as the root of a lot of the other problems that are going on in our society," said Plano resident Michael Messer. "There are a lot of things going on that people don't know about. We now pretty much have a rule-by-money system where whoever has the most money gets to decide the rules."

Kellye Kirkpatrick, an Allen resident who helped organize the protest as part of the organization Texans United to Amend, said while many of the opponents of the Citizens United ruling identify themselves as liberals, she feels the cause should have bipartisan support.

"Several years ago, both Republicans and Democrats were complaining about lobbyists and how money is controlling Washington," she said. "I still think there are Republicans who don't like how money influences things, so I am hoping more of them will come and join us."

Kirkpatrick said the influx of corporate dollars has had a negative impact on America's democracy.

"There is no issue you can find that money doesn't affect," she said. "If we can get money out of politics, then we can make a lot of good changes in our country."

In addition to handing out literature, the protesters collected signatures for a petition in support of two bills currently in front of the Texas Legislature -- SCR 2 and HCR 21. These bills, if passed, would support an amendment to the United States Constitution overturning the Citizens United ruling.

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