Subject:  Constitutional Rights of Persons

Upon motion of the Platform Committee, on January 24, 2011, the Hillsborough Democratic Party added to our Hillsborough Democratic Party Platform one principle that was inadvertently omitted when we approved our platform in 2008. We added the following statement:

"The U.S. Constitution protects the rights of people not corporations."

It was added as the second principle in our platform, which now reads as follows:

Principles for Hillsborough County Democratic Party Platform

(Approved by HCDEC Januaary 24, 2011)

Preface: In order that our American government would be genuinely of the people, by the people, for the people, We, the Hillsborough County Democratic Party, support the restoration of accountability to the people through a careful balancing of power both among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches and also among the various levels from individual through families, local communities, states and the federal government. Toward that end we resolve and restate our beliefs in certain principles that, combined together, form a solid platform for our local party.

Individuals and Families

1) It is in our common interest and common duty as Americans to respect the rights and the worth of each individual, regardless of race, religion, age, gender or sexual orientation.

2) The U.S. Constitution protects the rights of people not corporations,

3) The right to privacy is basic, and all Americans have the right to make personal choices in their domestic lives without government intrusion.

4) Economic strength is based on fair treatment of every American citizen and the American entrepreneurial spirit is founded on the principle of fair play for all.

5) America is founded on the idea of vigorous, uncensored public debate.

6) Every citizen has the right and the duty to vote in fair elections and to have that vote counted.

7)All employees have the right to organize and to negotiate with their employers through the workers’ elected union representatives.

Communities

8) The safety and security of our communities must not come at the expense of the freedoms that have made us the most admired country in the world.

9) When our communities need to grow, the growth must be within the bounds of a healthy, well-planned infrastructure – roads, utilities, and schools.

10) The health of individuals, the health and well-being of communities, and the conditions of the environment are inseparably tied to each other and that comprehensive whole deserves priority over all else.

Government Service

11) Honor and integrity are requisites of public service, and those who serve, whether as military or civil servants, deserve to be appropriately respected and rewarded.

12) A strong public education system is an essential element of democracy.

13) The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires Separation between Church and State.

All except #2 had been approved at the HCDEC Meeting of May, 2008.

In a five-to-four decision in January, 2010, five Republican appointed Supreme Court Justices, Roberts, Scalia, Alito, Thomas, and Kennedy, decided that the right of corporations to buy political advertising cannot be limited because, they argued, corporations have the same free speech rights as persons.
Four justices, three of whom were appointed by Democratic Presidents, Ginsburg, Breyer, and Sotomayor,  and one of whom, Justice Stevens, was appointed by Republican President Gerald Ford, disagreed, reminding us that it is only in a fictional sense that corporations are considered to be persons.  Corporations are not people in the sense of the first three words of the Constitution --We the People --€ nor are they people in the sense Lincoln spoke of in the Gettysburg Address -- government of the people, by the people, for the people. �

We real people, democrats, are in great danger of having our American government by the people taken from us by corporations that control infinitely more money than we real people can ever muster. For example, profit in 2008 for Exxon-Mobil was $45 billion, for Shell $26 billion, for Chevron $24 billion, and for BP $21 billion (Source: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2009/snapshots/6327.html).  Their shareholders are mostly other corporations, insurance companies, banks, mutual funds and investment firms. Some of their direct shareholders are real people, but decisions on how to spend those huge sums of money -- for example, which politicians to support -- are made by only a few real persons, the directors.

Reach us officially on HCDEC.org/ by going to About Us, Committees, Platform and Issues, or unofficially by going to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Platform-Issues-Legislation/, or very unofficially by sending me a personal message at awolfe1@tampabay.rr.com.

--Alvin Wolfe, Chair, Platform Committee, Hillsborough Democratic Party. Other members of the Committee include Kent Bailey, Jackie Beiro, Chris Cano, William Guerra, Bob Keenan, John McGrath, Anne McGrath, Joyce Newnam, Jenny Lind Olin, and Anna Scott. Our Party Chairman, Christopher Mitchell, is an ex officio member of the Committee.