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Citizens United Undermines Our Democracy

January 21, 2016

To undo the damage that Citizens United caused, we need a constitutional amendment establishing that Congress and the states have the power to regulate and limit election spending. Doing so will overturn Citizens United, and end the backwards notion that "money equals speech" in our society. We also need to enact strong campaign finance reform to empower all voices to have a say in our society. For the last two Congresses, Rep. John Sarbanes has introduced the Government by the People Act, which would provide every American with a $25 refundable tax credit to help spur small-dollar contributions to candidates; establish a fund to match funds from small-dollar donations if the candidate forgoes traditional PAC money; and provide additional resources for citizen-funded candidates to help break the monopoly that super PACs currently hold.To undo the damage that Citizens United caused, we need a constitutional amendment establishing that Congress and the states have the power to regulate and limit election spending. Doing so will overturn Citizens United, and end the backwards notion that "money equals speech" in our society. We also need to enact strong campaign finance reform to empower all voices to have a say in our society. For the last two Congresses, Rep. John Sarbanes has introduced the Government by the People Act, which would provide every American with a $25 refundable tax credit to help spur small-dollar contributions to candidates; establish a fund to match funds from small-dollar donations if the candidate forgoes traditional PAC money; and provide additional resources for citizen-funded candidates to help break the monopoly that super PACs currently hold.