Don’t let corporate interests to continue stampeding the people

To the Editor:

I am part of a group called Democracy Over Corporations. Democracy Over Corporations (DOC) is an Athens group that educates our citizens about the need to support of a constitutional amendment to return the Constitution and Bill of Rights to "We the People" and to abolish corporate personhood. On Jan. 20, DOC, among many other groups, are sponsoring a Protest or "Occupy" at the federal court in Columbus, Ohio starting at 3 p.m. and ending around 5 p.m.

Occupy the Courts is a nationwide protest in front of U.S. federal courts across the country to mark the second anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's infamous Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision that opened the floodgates to unlimited corporate money in elections. The protest in Columbus is one of 111 demonstrations at federal courthouses out of 127 around the country. The Citizen United decision granted constitutional rights to corporations. Corporations are using the "Bill of Rights" to challenge and keep federal EPA and FDA inspectors from carrying out their duties of protecting the purity and safety of our food, medicines and environment.

Corporations dominate the political process through political action committees (PACs), high-paid lobbyists and multi-million dollar contributions by the wealthy 1 percent on the most critical issues that impact our everyday lives — climate change, health care, financial regulation of Wall Street, etc.

Corporate interests are defeating critical policies to protect We the People and the planet. It favors the 1 percent to the detriment of the 99 percent. Rulings such as Citizens United threaten to destroy our democracy as well as America's middle class. For more information of the DOC or the Occupy Event, you can go to Democracy Over Corporations Facebook page.

Sally Jo Wiley
DOC
Glen Finnan Drive
Albany