NJ Tells Congress Overturn Citizens United !

This isn't just good news it's great news  from Susannah Newman of the  NJ Coalition to Overturn Citizens United, in the fight to overturn Citizens United.


Great News,

New Jersey is now officially the 9th state to tell Congress it must vote to overturn Citizens United through a Constitutional Amendment ! Both NJ state resolutions (AR86 and SR47) will go directly to Washington - congratulations and thank you.

AR86 passed yesterday afternoon by a roll call vote: 49 Yeas - 23 Nays - 6 Abstain - 2 Not voting.
There was only one Republican Yes vote and that was from Asm. Ciattarelli of District 16. (If you live in his District, please take a moment to thank him for his vote.) Clearly, we have much "continuing education" to do before an amendment comes back to NJ for ratification. It would be good to contact your state Senator and Assembly members and tell them how pleased you are to know that NJ is now the 9th state and on the right side of history. They need to know their constituents are tracking their actions.

Meanwhile, our next step is to make contact with our Congressional representatives, tell them that NJ has become the 9th state and ask each of them to go on the record in support of the state legislature and an amendment-to-overturn. If any are currently running for (re)election, state that their position on overturning Citizens United is central to your vote. To date, Congressmen Holt, Pallone, and Sen. Menendez have stated they are in favor of an amendment - Sen. Lautenberg has said he needs to hear from NJ citizens, so lets clog his email and voicemail. All others also need our pressure to go on the record NOW.

The NJ Coalition to Overturn Citizens United is also working to grow the number of resolutions-to-overturn passed at the municipal level. So far there are four: the Borough of Highland Park, Lawrence, Princeton, and Franklin-northern Townships. If you think you could help to introduce a resolution in your municipality, email me; tell me which municipality and I will send you a prepared resolution with which to work.

This is what people power looks like. People are rising up all over the country and saying they want a government of, by and for the people; NOT of, by, and for the money !!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your help with this effort.

Onward,
Susannah

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Susannah Newman, Coordinator NJ Coalition for the Overturn of Citizens United
snewman@brockport.edu

Resolution asking for Amendment to Overturn Citizens United passes NJ Senate!

by guest blogger Linda Baum

I am passing along this good news.  Now is the time to contact Speaker Oliver (973-395-1166, aswoliver@njleg.org) to ask her to put AR86 on the Assembly’s agenda for Oct. 18 and to call our Assemblypersons to ask them to support the resolution.  You can find contact information for your Assemblypersons at:  http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/districts/municipalities.asp

As always, thank you for your activism.

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Your persistance did it - SR47 PASSED!  This is the NJ Senate Resolution that calls on Congress to get money out of politics by overturning the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision with a Constitutional Amendment. SR47 will now go to Washington and represent NJ as the 8th state FOR an amendment-to-overturn.

Our NJ Coalition for the Overturn of Citizens United has grown and includes to date: The American Dream Movement of Cape May County, Food and Water Watch, Free Speech For People, International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 877, New Jersey Common Cause, New Jersey American Federation of Teachers, New Jersey Communications Workers of America, New Jersey Citizen Action, MoveOn Councils (Mid-Jersey,Essex, Hudson), New Jersey Main Street Alliance, New Jersey Public Interest Research Group, New Jersey Sierra Club, New Jersey Work Environment Council, New Jersey Working Families Alliance, People for the American Way, Public Citizen, United Steelworkers District 4, Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of New Jersey.

This Coalition has presented 17,000 NJ petitions to our NJ legislators, yours included, and reached out to all their members. THIS IS PEOPLE POWER.

The sister resolution in the NJ Assembly (AR86) comes up for a floor vote soon - probably Thurs. Oct. 18th.

We need to call/email Speaker Sheila Oliver (Dist. 34, (973) 395-1166, aswoliver@njleg.org) to ask her to put AR86 on the agenda for Oct.18th. We need to contact our Assemblypersons (Republican and Democrat) and remind them all that the majority of small businesses, registered Republicans, Democrats, and Independents want money out of politics by Constitutional Amendment. We need to write letters-to-the-editor calling attention to SR47's passage and the pending passage of AR86.

Next, we will be passing all the local resolutions-to-overturn that are in progress around NJ and working to get all of our representatives in Congress on the record for the amendment process. Our snow ball is rolling down hill, gathering momentum and scale as it goes. Ask all the current candidates if they support this movement to give us government of, by and for the people; not of, by and for the money.

Thank you again for your staying power!

Susannah Newman

Coordinator NJ for the Overturn of Citizens United

snewman@brockport.edu

(609) 972-9192

NJ Senate votes this Thursday on Resolution Asking for Overturn of Citizens United

by guest blogger Linda Baum

I received the following important correspondence about SR47 and thought you should know.  You can find your state senator at: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/districts/municipalities.asp 

As always, thank you for your activism.

****

Breaking News:

SR47 (the NJ Senate resolution asking Congress to overturn Citizens United by Constitutional Amendment) is on the Senate agenda this Thursday, Oct. 4th, and will be put to a floor vote of the full Senate!

I will be sending each Senator PDF files of our coalition's 17,000 petitions-to-overturn.

This is what we have all been working towards.  Please contact your Senator TODAY and state that you are his/her constituent and that you want him/her to vote YES on SR47 on Thursday.  We want to flood representatives' voicemail and email.  Remind your Senator that this is a nonpartisan issue, that 80% of voters and 80% of small businesses want big money out of politics. Therefore, Senators of BOTH parties should vote YES and represent “We the People".

It has been your calls and emails that have made the difference - THANK YOU for everything!

Susannah Newman

Coordinator, NJ for the Overturn of Citizens United