Whatever happened to Gay Pride this summer? Or so I’ve heard folks wonder. Are we so assimilated that there’s no need to march – or parade – for equality, resistance to het norms, for finding ourselves and each other?

Well, there are Pride things happening (including events in Randolph, which I didn’t attend and are not part of this diary), just not necessarily where and when we’ve come to expect.* And three or four recent episodes of homegrown homophobia underline the fact that while we’re legally equal in the Green Mountain State, we still face ignorance and prejudice.

[The Pride Parade and Festival are scheduled for Sept. 21-22 in Burlington, according to the organizing committee’s press release.]

Stonewall ‘Memorial’ at the UU Church

In June, on the actual very anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion (the 27th, into the wee hours of the 28th originally), the first well-publicized event of this year’s Vermont LGBT Pride was held at the Unitarian Universalist Church at the top of Church Street in Burlington.

It was billed as a “memorial” for the rebellion, and the organizers attempted to keep it solemn and “non-political”: Reverend Roberta requested no applause, although there was laughter, thanks to Sam Sanders and Paige Bailey, among others. I brought a “New Glory” flag into the church and sat with it off to the side.

Sanders and Bailey related their memories of being in New York before, during, and after the police raid on a seedy, mafia-run bar where queers and drag queens and street kids hung out. Sanders in particular painted word pictures with such detail, it was a  “You Are There” moment. Bailey reclaimed and proclaimed her identity as a “bulldagger,” as her African American community named her.

The NYC police never expected a bunch of pansies, dykes, and drag queens to fight back against their arrest – they never had before, they knew the routine: the search to identify three items of gender-appropriate clothing, the gathering of names cross-checked with IDs, then a quick release for most, and a perp walk to the waiting wagon for those who refused or who conformed the least. In the rising tension, a butch dyke in handcuffs, who had fought and escaped from the wagon repeatedly, was hit by a cop with a baton, and manhandled into the wagon. “Isn’t anyone going to do anything?!” she cried out. And the dam broke. The queers fought back, forcing the cops to hole up inside the bar awaiting reinforcements, watching as dykes, bulldaggers, faggots, crossdressers and assorted street folk black and white, young and older, rammed the doors with a parking meter ripped out of the sidewalk.

There was no applause, as requested, just a wave of sighs as listeners slowly came back to the Burlington UU, here where we have a legal right to exist and our relationships are not clandestine because of fear of arrest.

Susan Murray (co-founder of Vermont Freedom to Marry, and co-counsel on Baker v. State that resulted in the legislative “compromise” of Civil Unions in 2000, followed by marriage equality in 2009) ably emceed the event. There was a short candle-light vigil on the steps of the church after the ‘memorial.’

It was so assimilated, and so frustrating to those of us who had lived through the years of no rights and no official help when gay guys started dying of the disease later named AIDS. I wanted to make three points before the crowd dispersed. And here’s what I said:

“One: This was called a ‘memorial.’ BUT WE AIN’T DEAD YET!

“Two: We’ve done a lot of work to get equal rights here, BUT WE AIN’T DONE YET!

“The third thing is: Don’t you DARE take the rights we have here in Vermont for granted, they can all disappear in a day. And that day is THE FIRST TUESDAY IN NOVEMBER: VOTE, PICK A CANDIDATE AND WORK TO KEEP OUR RIGHTS!”

[After the jump: Heroes, Saints & Martyrs; Separation of Church & Hate, more …]

Heroes, Saints, & Martyrs at St. Paul’s Episcopal

The next event that I attended in this year’s extended LGBT Pride celebration was an art show at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral (anyone beginning to see a trend here?). The show consisted of 40 depictions in photos, drawings, and calligraphy by Judith McMannis of martyrs, saints, and heroes. It included the gay Franciscan priest and NYFD Chaplain Father Mychal Judge, who died ministering to the fallen in the North Tower command post when the South Tower collapsed on September 11, 2001. Among the heroes was Beth Robinson, who argued Baker v. State before the Vermont Supreme Court where she now sits as one of the Justices, and worked tirelessly to get legal marriage equality in Vermont. There were actual church-denominated saints and martyrs, noted for faithful ‘friends’ of the same gender, and for whose sake they had been kidnapped, or tortured. The parents of one local gay man were honored as heroes for making an about-face from their church’s antigay teachings when their son came out.

The thing that was missing was any acknowledgment that Christian churches have been largely responsible for creating lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender martyrs since before the Inquisition. There was no apology (unlike at the Chicago Gay Pride parade, although more research has revealed troubling information there, too).

So I brought my own sign to the event. I’ll say this for the Christians at the opening reception: it was a well received conversation starter.

Churches and LGBT Pride

Now, don’t get me wrong. It’s great when churches stop persecuting us queers and teaching their members to hate and fear us. The UU folks were one of the earliest churches to welcome lgbtq members. Vermont Episcopal Bishop Tom Ely was instrumental in persuading Rep. Jeff Young (a Democrat who had voted against the marriage equality bill) to vote in favor of overriding Governor Jim Douglas’s veto, and I deeply appreciate that effort toward civil equality. The Episcopals just accepted a “blessing” liturgy for same-sex couples – not a marriage liturgy, mind you.

Yet I can’t help but notice that almost every Christian church identifying itself as “welcoming” to lesbians and gay men wants to march in the Pride Parade with their banner and their gay, lesbian, and ally members all decked out in rainbow colors. They’re advertising – just as the bars with their floats and the nonprofit organizations are – trolling for customers and donors; the churches want us to swell the ranks of their congregations, and, oh btw, we should bring our tithes, too.

And I have to ask whether these Jesus-come-lately organizations have really earned a right to be in the Pride Parade. Have they or their denominations made any apologies for their long histories of preaching against us?* Have they ever offered to work behind the scenes with the parade organizers? They could, for example, work in traffic control or security, so the lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender folk who are doing those volunteer jobs might get a chance to participate in the joyful dance up Church Street one time. Not one church, not once has made such an offer to my knowledge in my memory of more than 25 Pride marches and parades.

*[The Episcopal Church has, in fact, apologized for its rejection of gay and lesbian people in a statement that was accepted at a national church gathering. I have seen it, but I cannot now locate the document online.]

Separation of Church and Hate

Have the “Welcoming” churches attempted dialog with the evangelicals and fundamentalists on the theological basis of acceptance and Jesus’s “greatest commandment” to “Love God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself”? If so, I haven’t heard of it. Have they ever attended those churches and spoken individually at whatever social gathering might follow the service and just chatted with the members about being in a welcoming church? There are not even any rumors about such a thing happening.

So I wonder why it is that this year’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Pride celebration seems so focused on Christian churches (although some would not count the UU as “Christian”).

A friend on the Pride organizing committee said the churches “offered.” With June about to expire sans celebration, the Stonewall memorial was pulled together quickly, and the UU agreed to host the event on short notice. The St. Paul’s art show was cosponsored with the local chapter of Integrity.

Homegrown Homophobia

Do those two events balance somehow the continued existence of homegrown homophobia? To wit:

A local Salvation Army chapter has fired a worker who came out as bisexual during a conversation with her boss.

Local UVM ice legend Tim Thomas, the Bruins’ goalie (who has been on leave since well before this tempest), wants to “stand by” the anti-gay remarks of the president of Chick-fil-A, which have become an online controversy in the last couple of weeks. The Muppets know more about equality and integrity than Tim Thomas does.

You remember Chick-fil-A, the company suing Vermont tee shirt maker Bo Muller-Moore over his slogan, “Eat More Kale.”

And in my own hometown, a member of the combined Methodist-Congregational (United Church of Christ) church in the middle of the village said that gay people would not be welcome there, that the bible says gay people should be killed. She said it to the next-door neighbor of friends of mine, a gay couple looking for a church to attend, perhaps to join. The neighbor warned them away, leaving them amazed and daunted that such institutional and personal homophobia could still exist here in gay-friendly Vermont.

The list could be much longer, including the parental abduction of a child born into a civil union (NYT tiered subscription) and the alleged assistance of the abductor’s church (BFP subscription with 10 freebies/month) in getting the newly “born again” parent out of the country so as to not comply with court-ordered visits by the “other mother.”

Separation of Church and State

The reason the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) passed Congress in 1996 (Senator Leahy voted for it, but has since had a change of heart as a sponsor of S.598, the Respect for Marriage Act) was as a sop to right wing religious fanatics, who, with the connivance of the Republican Party, threatened to push for a constitutional amendment that, if ratified by two-thirds of the states, would have enshrined anti-lgbt bias in the constitution. The law prevents the federal government from legally recognizing same-sex marriages or civil unions regardless of their legal standing in any state. And it allows states to ignore the principle of “full faith and credit,” which essentially requires that contracts executed in one state be honored in another.

There is no such amendment to the U.S. Constitution. But 30 states have passed amendments to their state constitutions defining marriage as “one man, one woman.” Six more do not recognize same sex marriages or civil unions from other states. These laws are based in a particular and highly selective Christian reading of their holy book. They have no place in state policy in a country that pledges itself to equal treatment of all under the law.

Repealing DOMA and enacting ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act would be two small but important steps toward get some religion out of the federal government. Having liberal churches in conversation with their gay-oppressive co-religionists would make even bigger steps possible.

The Vermont Republican Party webpage prominently announces that Republican Congressman Allen “there are 78 to 81 Democrat party members of the communist party" West will be visiting Vermont August 5th to speak at a Waterbury Country Club.

If there were such a thing,the Vermont GOP’s political barometer would be falling off the headquarters wall …to the right. It is as if the troublesome headlines surrounding Maine Governor Lepage’s visit weren’t enough to destroy the carefully cultivated centrist facade Governor Jim Douglas used as his umbrella, now crazy talk headliner Republican Congressman Allen West will storm into the state to see what he can do. According to Seven Days VtGOP Party Chairman Jack Lindley said Allen West is

“one of the many up and coming Republican leaders, there's no question about it. He's part of the big Republican tent."

No question about it you can find more big Republican tent stuff like this remark:

"Well, you know what, it is about time that we end this Gestapo-like intimidation tactics that we see coming from Nancy Pelosi and also from the president as well,"

here at What West Said!

Democratic primary candidate for Attorney General T.J.Donovan is calling for Vermont to enact a statewide policy on taser use.

“For the towns that decide to allow Tasers, we must develop statewide policies and protocols for their use. In particular, we must ensure that all police officers have thorough training that includes recognizing and responding to mental health issues,”

This comes on the heels of the death last month of an unarmed 39-year-old man. Macadam Mason of Thetford had a history of seizures and died after being tasered by a Vermont State Police trooper. Also following Mason’s death an online petition requesting a moratorium on tasers in the state has over one thousand signatures including that of former Governor Madeline Kunin.

Back in 2008 at the start of an investigation resulting from public outcry over two Brattleboro taser incidents, Attorney General Sorrell put forward the possibility of a uniform statewide taser policy. However upon completion of the report he had dropped the idea. Sorrell recommended communities that chose to equip themselves with tasers develop their own protocols. The Vermont ACLU, which still supports statewide taser protocols, said at the time that Sorrell should have been more forceful in his recommendations.

T.J. Donovan says:

As Attorney General, I would work with key stakeholder groups, such as the Vermont ACLU, the League of Cities and Towns and the Vermont  State Troopers and Sheriffs Associations, as well as mental health advocacy groups, to develop a toolkit for towns to have this important conversation.

Although still well short of supporting a moratorium, Donovan’s proposed policy change may be a step toward stopping the 50,000 volt taser from becoming Vermont’s most convenient pain compliance tool.

The fight over extending the Bush tax cuts moved forward yesterday, with Senate Republicans failing to block the Obama administration's proposal to extend the tax cuts for 98% of the population.

As TPM reports:

 Senate Democrats have accomplished a feat they were unable to muster back in 2009 and 2010, when they had a much larger majority: On Wednesday, they passed a bill to extend the Bush tax cuts for everyone’s first $250,000 in income.

The legislation prevailed 51-48 — a vote that signals Democrats would ultimately be willing to allow tax cuts for high-income earners to expire at the end of the year.

To my mind, there are two good things about this. First, it makes clear that the Republicans don't give a rat's ass about anyone except the richest people in the country. Second, it demonstrates that the Democrats were willing to stand up to the Republicans, and would, as TPM points out, let the tax cuts for the rich expire.

It's a start.

This coming Sunday, July 29 through Tuesday July 31 Governor Peter Shumlin and Quebec Premier Jean Charest will be hosting the 36th Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Premiers in Burlington.  While the political and economic elite of the Northeast sit down behind closed doors to map-out secret, profit-driven, greenwashed resolutions for trade, energy, climate change, transportation, and infastructure issues, hundreds or possibly thousands of people from across the region will be taking to the streets in Burlington to voice their opposition to the very nature of the Conference, as well as its neoliberal profit over people approach.

An ad hoc group of local activists and organizers, the Governor’s Conference Welcoming Committee, has set up a useful website with a schedule of events, some basic background information, resource guide, and more.

Beginning Saturday and lasting through Monday, a Welcome Center with more information about events, resources and the like will be set up from 9am to 9pm in a back building of the UU Church at the top of Church St.  The main actions begin Sunday with a rally at noon in City Hall Park that will take to the streets on a spirited march to the Conference Center on the Burlington waterfront.

Untold numbers of people from #OWS, the indigenous Innu communities of Quebec, the Quebec student strike, and dozens of other social justice movements and organizations from throughout Vermont, New England and the Eastern Provinces will be descending on Burlington.  A human oil spill, regional gathering of Occupy New England, and student bloc are just some of the displays of resistance being planned.

See you in the streets!

Entergy and the NRC are downplaying yet another radioactive leak at Vermont Yankee that occurred last weekend but is only now reaching the press>

The loss of 2,700 gallons of “mildly ” radioactive waste water Sunday from the pool, which holds thousands of Yankee’s old, highly radioactive fuel rods, was caught in a radioactive waste tank, according to Entergy Nuclear spokesman Robert Williams.

The incident is being blamed on procedural error on the part of an employee.  Though Williams would not say if the employee is new to the job, the procedural error, which involved the misalignment of valves, suggests that the employee who made the error may have been lacking in experience and supervision.  

Water drained from the pool for thirty minutes before the problem was discovered.  What might have happened had the leak remained undetected and the 300,000-gallon tank continued to drain for hours is very troubling indeed!

That Entergy does not seem to fully appreciate this potential is betrayed by Mr. Williams characterization of the water as “mildly” radioactive.  Is that anything like being a little bit pregnant?

Susan Smallheer of the Rutland Herald quotes Fairewinds Assoc. Arnie Gundersen as saying the mistake was not insignificant.

“That’s a gross procedural breakdown,” said Gundersen, who said the Public Oversight Panel had been very concerned about similar employee errors as the experienced staff at Yankee leave or retire.

And, while we’re on the subject, I took a look at Meredith Angwyn’s fanpage for Vermont Yankee, Yes VY,  and besides a rather personal screed against Mr. Gundersen, I found her complaining about the very nerve of the Vermont State Nuclear Advisory Panel to be asking Entergy whether it was making changes in light of lessons learned at Fukushima.  

She seems to be under the impression that, even though Vermont Yankee continues to operate on Vermont soil, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s preemption on safety issues extends so far as to mean the state can’t even ask questions about safety.  

What is the concern here?  That the people of Vermont might actually learn something about how prepared or unprepared VY is for an emergency?

Ms. Angwyn’s railing that the State Nuclear Advisory Panel should not even discuss safety issues is reminiscent of the idiot legislature of North Carolina which is considering  prohibiting government agencies from even considering the potential three-foot rise in sea level, due to climate change, over the remainder of the century.  

Does she think that just by talking about safety concerns, the Advisory Panel is affecting VY’s operating license?

If she is suggesting that the state doesn’t even have the right to think about evacuation concerns and other possible collateral safety issues in the event of a disaster at VY,  she has lost all grip on reality.

Green Mountain Daily Community,

    This Sunday, July 29th in Burlington, the Vermont Sierra Club is calling on all Vermonters to take a stand against the New England tar sands pipeline that is slated to run through the Northeast Kingdom.  Together we will shut this project down before it begins, and we will realize a clean, renewable energy future for the Green Mountain State and beyond!

Sunday, July 29

Burlington, VT

12:00 noon, City Hall Park, join the march

2:00 gather at Battery Park

2:00  Human Oil Spill (*see below)

[*Below is a message from our friends and allies in 350.0rg Vermont*]

Dear Friends

    Ever since the mass arrests protesting the Keystone pipeline last summer (the largest civil disobedience action in the U.S. in 30 years) there’s been renewed interest in confronting the fossil fuel industry and its political enablers.

    The Alberta tar sands are one of North America’s most dangerous fossil fuel projects, and New England is now set to become the next battleground in big oil’s relentless attempt to expand them. Thus far the climate movement and local organizing has blocked the oil industry’s attempts to ship tar sands oil through other routes, forcing them now to begin charting a path East through our communities by converting an old gas pipeline to ship heavy corrosive tar sands.

    The Tar Sands Free Northeast campaign is making a plan to block big oil’s tar sands route east, and keep dirty oil in the ground where it belongs. When coming up against the power of the richest industry on earth, there is only one thing that’s really worked so far to stop them: powerful citizen actions.

We have a big one planned for this Sunday that we hope you will join:

Human Oil Spill Action at the Governors’ Conference — July 29

    Hundreds of citizens will be gathering in Burlington this Sunday to send a message to the region’s political leaders that we don’t want tar sands oil in our region. New England’s Governors and Canadian Premiers will be meeting in Burlington, Vermont to discuss our region’s economic and political future. Citizens aren’t invited to attend, which means that our concerns about tar sands pipelines won’t be on their agenda. So we’ll do the next best thing to being inside: we’re staging a giant action that will put tar sands on the agenda for the media and anyone else watching.

    We’re planning a massive human oil spill that will show the real risks of tar sands oil and send a simple message to our leaders: we will stand united to keep our land and water tar sands free. If you are ready to be part of a peaceful action and stand for tar sands free communities, please join us in sending this critical message. Here are the details:

Note: The human oil spill action follows a mass march that’s part of a weekend Convergence on the Conference. The march begins at 12:00 noon at City Hall Park and will end at the Hilton Hotel.

What:  Speak-out: Bill Mckibben joins First Nation and front line speakers–followed by a Human Oil Spill

When: Sunday July 29, 2:00 PM

Where: Gather at Battery Park in Burlington, Vermont and then we’ll convergence on the conference march.

Click on the below link to arrange car share to the action:

https://docs.google.com/a/sier…

How to prepare:  Wear or bring black oil spill solidarity clothing or outer shell with living Earth colors underneath (life will rise again after our oil spill).

    From the looks of things this may be the largest direct action ever staged in New England to resist tar sands expansion. Though there may need to be many more actions before our job is done, at least one message won’t need to repeated after this Sunday: New England is definitely not the path of least resistance for tar sands expansion.

Until Sunday, in Burlington

Team 350Vermont

(Whether Colorado, the Twin Towers, Afghanistan, Waco, Oklahoma City, or the hometown teacher, the psychosis has yet to be defined, let alone treated. Because THEY do not want it defined nor treated.)

Oh pity pity the latest of the innocent victims

and do not say out loud what they mean

because that would leave us without

our pity; how we bond in fright at the thought

that one day we surely will join them all;

a pity for a dead Pashtun child and a pity

for the homeless man killed for the recreation

of killing, and a great big pity for ourselves

who have to endure the utter hopelessness

of pity as the victims pile up and block all respite;

yes let us moan and groan again for some escape

from all this pity; seek answers from those authorities

on fear and hopelessness, for they always have

sexy answers to explain how it was someone not

like us who was responsible for our latest pity;

so tomorrow there will be a slight pause and a sigh;

then the next innocent victims will be targeted

and dispatched with the ease of a fingertip’s touch,

like a lover’s hand turned into a weapon and the answer

to a pity lewdly caressing the trigger of a desire;

well it is all part of this life and death that pushes us on,

with a gun to our backs that shoots bullets of pity

through the wall of those victims who have made

us victims, with no one to pity us as we move through

the dead on tiptoes, and do absolutely not look into their eyes.

Peter Buknatski

Montpelier, VT.

who have  

When is it okay in Vermont politics to befriend the enemy? asks VtBuzz.

Until last week, Campbell was there with a quote [on Scott’s webpage] praising Scott’s non-partisan approach, and it caused a furor. […] What was wrong with Campbell saying nice things about his friend? Campbell is a Democrat, Scott a Republican. We’re in an election. Apparently, this is no time for cross-party niceties.

“Befriend an enemy?” Aw, come-on!

No one should fault Campbell for his friendship with Phil Scott and Vince Illuzzi or want them to be enemies (Phil Scott is a part of Shumlin’s cabinet after all). However for those voters not familiar with the ins and outs of Montpelier’s good ol’ friendship network, Campbell’s significant presence on Scott’s campaign page and by candidate Illuzzis’ side could have appeared to be an endorsement of sorts beyond “cross-party niceties”.

What could this be called, an inadvertent endorsement or collateral campaigning?  Couple this no publically discernable effort by Campbell for his own party’s candidate (and Scott’s Democratic opponent) Cassandra Gekas, or Illuzzi’s Democratic challenger for Auditor, Doug Hoffer – have you seen any? I sure haven’t! – and a raised eyebrow or two isn’t out of line over the behavior but not over the friendship itself.

It is a little surprising that the Free Press seems almost shocked Apparently, this is no time for cross-party niceties by this hubbub because back in June Vt Buzz happily buzzed the news Campbell joins arms with Illuzzi (at a spay/neuter clinic benefit no less).

Lest you think this is just a couple of senators highlighting a program they support, consider that the news release announcing the event is titled: “President Pro Tem John Campbell and Auditor Candidate Vince Illuzzi Celebrate VSNIP Program.”

Somebody was thinking of Illuzzi as an auditor candidate, not a state senator, when this event came together.

Well true friends don’t let friends betray their principles … if they have any beyond patting each other on the back and shoring up their (eh) bully pulpits.

The Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights held a hearing Tuesday on “Taking Back Our Democracy: Responding to Citizens United and the Rise of Super PACs” Here is Sen. Bernie Sanders’ testimony:

(sub folda -k9k)

“Mr. Chairman, thank you for convening a hearing on the monumentally important issue of “Taking Back Our Democracy.” Unfortunately, that title exactly describes the challenge facing us today.

    The history of this country has been the drive toward a more and more inclusive democracy-a democracy which would fulfill Abraham Lincoln’s beautiful phraseology at Gettysburg in which he described America as a nation “of the people by the people for the people.”

    We all know American democracy has not always lived up to this ideal. When this country was founded, only white male property owners over age 21 could vote. But people fought to change that and we became a more inclusive democracy.  After the Civil War, we amended the Constitution to allow non-white men to vote. We became a more inclusive democracy.  In 1920, after years of struggle and against enormous opposition, we finally ratified the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote. We became a more inclusive democracy.

    In 1965, under the leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr. and others, the great civil rights movement finally succeeded in outlawing racism at the ballot box and LBJ signed the Voting Rights Act. We became a more inclusive democracy.  

   One year after that, the Supreme Court ruled that the poll tax was unconstitutional, that people could not be denied the right to vote because they were low-income. We became a more inclusive democracy. In 1971, young people throughout the country said; “we are being drafted to go to Vietnam and get killed, but we don’t even have the right to vote.”  The voting age was lowered to 18.  We became a more inclusive democracy.

        The democratic foundations of our country and this movement toward a more inclusive democracy are now facing the most severe attacks, both economically and politically, that we have seen in the modern history of our country.  Tragically, as I say this advisedly, we are well on our way to seeing our great country  move toward an oligarchic form of government – where virtually all economic and political power rest with a handful of very wealthy families. This is a trend we must reverse.

Economically, the United States today has, by far, the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country on earth and that inequality is worse today in America than at any time since the late 1920s.  

         Today, the wealthiest 400 individuals own more wealth than the bottom half of America – 150 million people.  

Today, one family, the Walton family of Wal-Mart fame, with  $89 billion, own more wealth than the bottom 40 percent of America.  One family owns more wealth than the bottom 40 percent.    

Today, the top one percent own 40 percent of all wealth, while the bottom sixty percent owns less than 2 percent.  Incredibly, the bottom 40 percent of all Americans own just 3/10 of one percent of the wealth of the country.

         That is what is going on economically in this country. A handful of billionaires own a significant part of the wealth of America and have enormous control over our economy. What the Supreme Court did in Citizens United is to say to these same billionaires: “You own and control the economy, you own Wall Street, you own the coal companies, you own the oil companies. Now, for a very small percentage of your wealth, we’re going to give you the opportunity to own the United States government.” That is the essence of what Citizens United is all about – and that’s why it must be overturned.

         Let’s be clear. Why should we be surprised that one family, worth $50 billion, is prepared to spend $400 million in this election to protect their interests? That’s a small investment for them and a good investment. But it is not only the Koch brothers.

        There are at least 23 billionaire families who have contributed a minimum of $250,000 each into the political process up to now during this campaign; my guess is that number is really much greater because many of these contributions are made in secret.  In other words, not content to own our economy, the one percent want to own our government as well.

The constitutional amendment that Congressman Ted Deutch and I have introduced states the following:

• For-profit corporations are not people, and are not entitled to any rights under the Constitution.

• For-profit corporations are entities of the states, and are subject to regulation by the legislatures of the states, so long as the regulations do not limit the freedom of the press.

• For-profit corporations are prohibited from making contributions or expenditures in political campaigns.

• Congress and the states have the right to regulate and limit all political expenditures and contributions, including those made by a candidate.

I’m proud to say the American people are making their voices heard on this issue-they are telling us loud and clear it is time to reverse the trend. Six states, including my home state of Vermont, have passed resolutions asking us to pass a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. More than 200 local governments have done the same, including many in Vermont. I’m proud to sponsor one such amendment.  My colleagues here, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Udall, and Ms. Edwards, all have good amendments, and I thank them for their hard work on this issue.

To read the list of billionaire families donating at least $250,000 to campaigns, click here: http://www.sanders.senate.gov/…

To read more about Sanders’ Saving American Democracy Amendment, click here: http://www.sanders.senate.gov/…