Oh, it gets better.

Right now there is a constitutional amendment (NOT convention, just an amendment; see footnote below**) in the works right now called “For Our Freedom” that would get unlimited campaign money out of US government and return control of campaign spending to Congress and the states. Heather Cox Richardson had a talk with one of the organizers on her channel last week, and I was surprised to see it’s already well underway, with just under half the states already prepared to ratify (map linked in footnote).

What this proposed amendment seeks to do is 1) constitutionally distinguish between humans and artificial “persons,” which overturns Citizens United and similar rulings, and 2) firmly establish the states and Congress as where election spending laws get decided, removing it entirely from the purview of the corrupt courts, which is how we got here to begin with.

When I first heard about it I didn’t think it had a snowball’s chance, but it turns out that legislators are in favor of it too because they have to compete in fundraising with all the PAC and foreign money now being thrown at their races by special interests, and all this cash is making it much harder for anyone not already purchased to win or keep a seat. This amendment helps them too, which is probably why it’s getting more than token support.

This is the proposed text of the amendment:

Section 1. We the People have compelling sovereign interests in the freedom of speech, representative self-government, federalism, the integrity of the electoral process, and the political equality of natural persons.

Section 2. Nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to forbid Congress or the States, within their respective jurisdictions, from reasonably regulating and limiting contributions and spending in campaigns, elections, or ballot measures.

Section 3. Congress and the States shall have the power to implement and enforce this article by appropriate legislation and may distinguish between natural persons and artificial entities, including by prohibiting artificial entities from raising and spending money in campaigns, elections, or ballot measures.

Beyond that I really only know what I heard in the talk and read in the FAQ so I’m probably not the best one to answer questions, but this is the most promising thing I’ve seen in some time, and apparently it stands a REALLY good chance of passing. I strongly encourage anyone interested to check it out, and especially listen to the guy explain it to Dr. Richardson. Good shit.

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** Note: There are two methods to amend the US Constitution located in Article V. One is a constitutional convention, which no one wants (look it up if you’re interested). The other method, and the means by which we got most of our amendments, is when two-thirds – a supermajority – of both the House and the Senate approve a proposed amendment, AND then that amendment is individually ratified by at least three-quarters of the states. All the states can ratify (or not) but as soon as state ratification hits that magic number, which is 38 at present, it’s a valid constitutional amendment.

According to the map, this proposed amendment is now at 23 states approving, meaning that those states stand ready to both adopt the proposed amendment at the federal level when it appears before their representatives and senators in Congress, and then to approve it again it in their state legislatures when it comes back to the states for ratification. Fourteen more states are actively considering resolution at this time. Taken together, that’s almost three-quarters of the states already involved.