The New Declaration of Independence from Corporate Interests

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the bonds between those politicians who take money from corporations and other special interests and no longer serve the interests of the people they purport to represent, it also becomes necessary to declare the reasons which impel us to separate ourselves from them.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and are endowed with certain unalienable rights, that among these are the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We further hold that these inalienable rights do NOT apply to those entities other than individuals, be they corporations, unions or non-profit organizations. That the principle of one man one vote does not apply to any of these non-individuals and that any government that becomes corrupted and unduly influenced by these non-individuals no longer has the legitimacy upon which it was once based. That whenever any government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

When a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object of accruing the absolute dominance of corporate interests over the interests of the People, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of our People and such is now the necessity which calls upon us to change our political process and take back our Republic from the moneyed interests. The history of the growing rapacious oligarchy that has come to drive the United States of America to its collective knees is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations of power, all having in direct object the establishment of an increasing tyranny and domination over the citizens of the Republic. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

• American corporations have eliminated millions of jobs by moving operations overseas, thus benefitting a relatively few stockholders  to the detriment of jobholders and drastically lowering tax revenue
• American corporations have spent tens of billions on lobbying and pedaling influence at all levels of government
• American financial corporations have swung government to deregulate their functions, allowing them to engage in high-risk secretive operations that cause deep recessions, bankrupt investors, and build ungainly fiefdoms that require taxpayer rescue
• American corporations, using the threat of offshore hiring, have kept real wages  stagnant for four decades
• American corporations in the insurance sector have immorally and virtually fraudulently dispossessed millions of clients by denying or depriving them of health insurance, even after years of paying inflated premiums
• American corporations in the armament/ security sector have received sweetheart deals with scant oversight often based on politics, not the national interest, and have cheated and defrauded the government, only to be rewarded with more contracts.. Their influence perpetuates wars and leads to enormously expensive military misadventures that have killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of American troops and foreign civilians
• American corporations have led the fight against climate change, thus placing our planet and future generations of mankind at risk of a dramatically reduced quality of life. Instead of leading the world in green technology, they squander beneficial opportunities
• The right-wing branch of the Supreme Court has equated corporate money with the right to vote, thus virtually defranchising all individual voters and taxpayers
• Corporate influence over the years has succeeded in a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class to a handful of Americans with unprecedented tax breaks, thus further reducing government revenues that could provide programs in the public interest
• Concentrated corporate ownership of the media has severely compromised distribution of information. Misinformation dominates the media, hampering good decision-making

We, the people of the United States, have petitioned our representatives for many years but increasingly to no avail. The influence of corporate money has drowned out our collective voices and, with this recent Citizens United decision, our Supreme Court has basically told the citizens that corporate influence is now fully injected into the political process, bringing us close to a dictionary definition to fascism.

We have become a government of the corporation, by the corporation and for the corporation. We must re-establish the cherished freedoms enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and embodied in the Constitution. In that spirit we propose the following actions and commit ourselves to work for their implementation in every way our hearts and souls and bodies can muster:

We pledge to support with our money, volunteer effort and votes any progressive candidate who demonstrates political and financial independence from corporate sponsors by refusing to accept large contributions of any kind from “special interest” corporations or organizations. We say “enough is enough” and any candidate who becomes beholden to special interests is a candidate who is not free to vote in the public interest.

Goals

1. Amend the Constitution to overturn the recent Supreme Court decision Citizens United vs FEC
2. Change laws to prevent the corporate takeover codified and legalized in CU vs FEC
3. Election of candidates who refuse to accept corporate or special interest money

Action Steps

1. Look for common goals and actions with state, regional and national DFA organizations
2. Attempt to join forces with other progressive organizations with similar grievances against special interests
3. Form a national coalition to curb the influence of corporations and other powerful special interests