Sen. Mike Barrett meets with constitutents, Move To Amend and WolfPAC supporters about the We The People Act to be introduced at the State House this month. Clockwise from lower left: Elizabeth Cherniack and Jean Palmer of Lincoln, John Kelly and Carol Kelly of Bedford, Greg Laing and Joe Megerman of Waltham, Marie Roberts of Lexington, Dilla Tingley and Peter Pease of Lincoln, Sen. Barrett, Dan Melnechuk of Waltham, Bob Wallhagen of Carlisle and Gary Davis of Lincoln. The meeting took place at the Concord Public Library.
To the editor:
We the undersigned, along with residents from other towns in his district, recently met with our State Senator, Mike Barrett, to ask him to support the We the People Act being submitted to the Massachusetts legislature this month. We are concerned about the corrupting influence of massive amounts of money in elections and how human rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution to human beings are being used by non-human entities like corporations in harmful ways. Sen. Barrett enthusiastically agreed at the meeting to co-sponsor the proposed bill and actively support its passage.
We also met recently with Rep. Tom Stanley in Waltham to ask him to co-sponsor the We The People Act as well. He, too, enthusiastically agreed to support the act and will do everything he can to help it pass. Rep. Stanley said he views this issue as one of the most important at this time.
The We The People Act calls on Congress to propose a constitutional amendment to affirm (1) that rights protected by the U.S. Constitution are the rights of human beings only, not corporations, and (2) that Congress and the states may place limits on political contributions and spending.
This act also proposes that if Congress does not pass the amendment, the Massachusetts legislature will call for an amendment convention as Article V of the U.S. Constitution provides. If a recalcitrant or dysfunctional Congress blocks reform, two-thirds of the state legislatures can petition Congress to call a convention—not for overturning or changing the Constitution, but for proposing an amendment. California, Illinois and Vermont have already passed such legislation. The threat of such a convention can force Congress to act, as it did with the 17th amendment, to elect senators by popular vote instead of by state legislatures. The results of any such convention would still require three-quarters of the states’ approval.
A growing coalition of citizen groups across the country also supports this bill. For more information on this issue, check out Movetoamend.org or VoteYesforDemocracy.org.
Please contact Sen. Mike Barrett (617-722-1572 or Mike.Barrett@masenate.gov) and Rep. Tom Stanley (617-722-2230, Thomas.Stanley@mahouse.gov) to thank them for supporting the people on this issue. Also please call, email or talk to friends and family in Massachusetts as well as across the country to tell them how important this Move to Amend is to accomplishing anything in the future for the people about any issue of import to them, their children or their grandchildren. We need to put the power to legislate back in the hands of the people and out of the power of big money.
Sincerely,
Jean Palmer, Tower Road
Gary Davis, Indian Camp Lane
Dilla Tingley, Laurel Drive
Peter Pease, Huckleberry Hill
Elizabeth Cherniack, South Great Rd
Joanna Hopkins, Linway Road
Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrrel.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.
[…] to the Editor of the Lincoln Town Squirrel by Jean Palmer: “Support We the People Act“ dated January 8th which entions both Tom Stanley and Mike Barrett who both endorsed the […]