180311_0618-citizens-united.mp3
Sunday, March 11, 9:15
In the Parlor.
Paul Lauenstein
A series of Supreme Court decisions culminating in Citizens United v. FEC (2010) and McCutcheon v. FEC (2014) have opened the floodgates to the corrupting influence of big money on government policies that affect us all. Political leaders seeking re-election are now compelled to ask “How will my actions be viewed by my largest campaign contributors?” rather than “How will my actions affect my constituents and the country as a whole?” If we hope to realize Lincoln’s vision of government of, by and for the people, we need to fix our broken democracy through a constitutional amendment that will lead to campaign finance reform.
Paul Lauenstein graduated from Swarthmore College in 1972, then served in the Peace Corps in Nepal followed by a year on an Israeli kibbutz. In 2002 Paul joined the local water committee in Sharon. Focusing on water conservation Sharon reduced its water use by over 20%, a reduction of over 100 million gallons per year. Paul is a longtime member of the Board of Directors of the Neponset River Watershed Association, and also serves as their delegate to the Water Supply Citizens Advisory Committee of the MWRA.
He also initiated the Sharon Solar Network, a group of homeowners with rooftop solar panels who generate over 100,000 KWHs per year of clean solar electricity and has also joined We the People Massachusetts to help bring about a 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to legalize campaign finance reform by overturning the Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. FEC decision.
Documents
Checkout video #39 the clip we saw is at 5:44