Two longtime local activists are teaming up to start a Rochester chapter of Move to Amend, a national movement that carries an end of goal of changing the U.S. Constitution to keep the government from being tied to corporate interests in the wealthy.
Co-founder Dave Atias, who is working with Sam Fedele, says a Rochester chapter has already received an official affiliation from the national Move to Amend organization. The idea came about after the pair heard David Cobb, former Green Party presidential candidate, speak in Rochester in August.
Atias said the movement is open to the left and the right - essentially anyone who is tired of having corporate interests come before the people's, he says. And while protesters on Wall Street are calling for accountability for the nation's anemic economy and salacious corporate landscape, Atias says Move to Amend seeks legislative solutions.
"It's not just for one political leaning," Atias said. "Even true conservatives see how the government has been hijacked and it's by corporations."
Rather than be aligned by party or religion or background, Atias says Move to Amend will work together as citizens with a common denominator – "to get our government out of the hands of corporations that only have their bottom lines in mind.”
The first meeting, open to anyone interested in joining the organization or learning more about its mission, will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 4 at First Universalist Church at 200 Winton Road South.
“Our representatives in Washington and Albany are players in a money-intensive electoral process and forced to weigh each legislative decision not relative to the common good of their constituents but rather how the decision will be viewed by their major donors,” said Fedele in a statement. “The exponential growth of campaign costs has created a dependency relationship between big money special interests and legislators. The January 21, 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission has reinforced and fueled this dependency. It is time for ordinary citizens to intervene and that’s why we are starting this chapter of Move To Amend.”
The current strategy of MTA is to convince municipal bodies to have a ballot initiative calling for an amendment to the Constitution that would overturn Citizens United v. FEC, strip corporations of constitutional protections meant for humans, assert that money is not the equivalent of constitutionally protected free speech, and provide and protect a solid framework for free and fair, voter controlled elections.
Two longtime local activists are teaming up to start a Rochester chapter of Move to Amend, a national movement that carries an end of goal of changing the U.S. Constitution to keep the government from being tied to corporate interests in the wealthy.
Co-founder Dave Atias, who is working with Sam Fedele, says a Rochester chapter has already received an official affiliation from the national Move to Amend organization. The idea came about after the pair heard David Cobb, former Green Party presidential candidate, speak in Rochester in August.
Atias said the movement is open to the left and the right - essentially anyone who is tired of having corporate interests come before the people's, he says. And while protesters on Wall Street are calling for accountability for the nation's anemic economy and salacious corporate landscape, Atias says Move to Amend seeks legislative solutions.
"It's not just for one political leaning," Atias said. "Even true conservatives see how the government has been hijacked and it's by corporations."
Rather than be aligned by party or religion or background, Atias says Move to Amend will work together as citizens with a common denominator – "to get our government out of the hands of corporations that only have their bottom lines in mind.”
The first meeting, open to anyone interested in joining the organization or learning more about its mission, will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 4 at First Universalist Church at 200 Winton Road South.
“Our representatives in Washington and Albany are players in a money-intensive electoral process and forced to weigh each legislative decision not relative to the common good of their constituents but rather how the decision will be viewed by their major donors,” said Fedele in a statement. “The exponential growth of campaign costs has created a dependency relationship between big money special interests and legislators. The January 21, 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission has reinforced and fueled this dependency. It is time for ordinary citizens to intervene and that’s why we are starting this chapter of Move To Amend.”
The current strategy of MTA is to convince municipal bodies to have a ballot initiative calling for an amendment to the Constitution that would overturn Citizens United v. FEC, strip corporations of constitutional protections meant for humans, assert that money is not the equivalent of constitutionally protected free speech, and provide and protect a solid framework for free and fair, voter controlled elections.
