Public Speaking Class

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Citizens United v FEC

• Partisan politics before virtue
• Greed and corruption
• Dishonesty in the media

Presenter Notes
When I took on the topic of the Citizens United V
FEC I knew it was a big bite.

 

Ive spent endless hours researching and fact
checking this to be able to fit it in an 8 minute
presentation.

hopefully you can follow along and youll see how
it all ties together

 

Thesis The Citizens United case embodies the
biggest problems our country faces

partisan politics before virtue, greed and
corruption, dishonesty in the media

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SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

• Citizens United
• V
• Federal Election Commission ____________________
  _______

)))))))
Political speech does not lose First Amendment
protection simply because its source is a
corporation
My names John McCain and I endorse this message

Presenter Notes
The case itself was about attack ads and a smear
campaign against the Clintons.

 

The Citizens United verdict was a landmark case
in 2010 which distorted the 1st and 14th
Amendments of the Constitution when the Supreme
Court said Political speech does not lose First
Amendment protection simply because its source is
a corporation

Im going to show you how events leading to this
verdict had their beginnings at the start of the
nation, introduce you to key people who created
the legislation involved leading up to the case
as well as the outcome.

 

Lets start at the beginning.

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Declaration of Independence

• Free of British rule
• Need infrastructures

-Method of elections -Means of commerce

Presenter Notes
Between the Declaration of Independence and the
2008 Presidential election there were 3
significant Presidential administrations whos
actions were foretelling of todays political
circumstances, and how 2 rulings by the Supreme
Court has removed important protective laws
guarding our ability to choose our Government

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• Thomas Jefferson
• 1st Secretary of State
• Wrote the Declaration of Independence

Mount Rushmore

• George Washington
• 1st President

Presenter Notes
This is Mount Rushmore. The first two people it
pays tribute to are George Washington and Thomas
Jefferson, the man who wrote the Declaration of
Independence.

 

5
1st Presidential cabinet

• George Washington
• President
• Thomas Jefferson
• Secretary of State
• Alexander Hamilton
• Secretary of the Treasury

Presenter Notes
George Washington was our first President, and
two very important people were in his 1st
cabinet. Thomas Jefferson who was his secretary
of State, and Alexander Hamilton the 1st
Secretary of Treasury.

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George Washington1st President 1789
Non partisan

Presenter Notes
George Washington was the commander-in-chief of
the continental Army who had just won the war.

He had great diplomacy regarding the opposing
opinions in his cabinet.

He was what today we would call a centrist.

The members of his cabinet were where the
bi-partisan debate started, conservatives v
liberals.

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Thomas Jefferson 1st Secretary of State

• Did not want a strong central government
• Todays Right Wing conservative party
• Constant feud with Hamilton

Presenter Notes
Thomas Jefferson was Washingtons first Secretary
of State. He wanted the States of the Union to
govern themselves, and believed the only thing
the central Government was for is enforcing the
U.S. Constitution.

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Thomas Jefferson

• Preferred states rights
• Strict construction doctrine of the Constitution
• Became 3rd President of the United States

Presenter Notes
He believed the Constitution shouldnt be changed
and should be adhered to by the letter.

He eventually became our Nations 3rd President.

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Alexander Hamilton1st Secretary of Treasury in
the U.S.

• Expansive Construction doctrine of the
  Constitution
• Strong central Federal authority

• Strongly opposed by Jefferson
• Todays Left wing liberal party

Presenter Notes
Alexander Hamilton had opposing ideas. He thought
we needed a strong central government.

He followed the Expansive Construction doctrine,
and felt the Constitution should be able to grow
as society evolved and demanded flexibility.

He was critical to our country because the Army
who had just won the war needed to be paid.

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First Bank of the United States

• Started by Hamilton to fund the Gov. and pay the
  Army
• 20 year Government funded charter corporation,
  then privatized
• Hamilton was later killed by Jeffersons Vice
  President

Presenter Notes
Hamilton fought to start a national bank

Provide credit and cash to grow businesses

Was eventually killed in a duel with Jeffersons
Vice President, Aaron Burr.

 

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Abraham Lincoln
government of the people, by the people, for
the people

Presenter Notes
The next very prominent person from Mount
Rushmore is President Abe Lincoln.

In his Gettysburg address he proclaimed we should
have a government of the people, by the people,
for the people

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16th President Abe Lincoln

• Created the Pacific Railroad in 1861
• 3 Year charter corporation, then privatized

Presenter Notes
He was ambitious and chartered a railroad and
telegraph corporation to reach from the east
coast to the west coast.

After 3 years it was to be privatized. This ended
up becoming the First Transatlantic Railroad and
revolutionized communications across the nation.

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The Pacific Railroad Act 1862

• Led to the first controversy between a government
  corporation and State taxes
• Key issue of corporate personhood brought up in
  court

Presenter Notes
Unfortunately, when they reached California a
dispute emerged involving who owed taxes on
fences being put up along side the railroad. This
led to a Supreme Court decision which is critical
to this story.

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SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
)))))))
Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific
Railroad ____________________________________
118 U.S. 394 (1886)

• Topic of taxes was decided as moot.
• Justice Harlans Decision
• As the judgment can be sustained upon this
  ground, it is not necessary to consider any other
  questions raised by the pleadings and the facts
  found by the court.

Presenter Notes
The 9 Justices decided that California couldnt
charge taxes on those fences so the case was
called moot.

They refused to rule on the subject of whether or
not a corporation is a person.

But the court reporter said he heard one Justice
say that they are in agreement that it is.

This is what todays weak argument saying that
corporations are people stems from.

This is not mentioned in the Constitution and
wasnt mention in the ruling of the case, other
than to say

As the judgment can be sustained upon this
ground, it is not necessary to consider any other
questions raised by the pleadings and the facts
found by the court.

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Theodore Roosevelt

Presenter Notes
The next prominent person in the dispute is the
last person on Rushmore, President Theodore
Roosevelt. He was a great man.

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Theodore Roosevelt26th President 1901

• Accused of unfair corporate influence in election
• Answered by signing the Tillman act into law in
  1907
• Created the Progressive party, also known as the
  Bull Moose party

Presenter Notes
He was accused of accepting unfair donations from
corporations before an election.

He in-turn set up protective legislation to stop
all corporations from contributing to campaigns.

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Let individuals contribute as they desire but
let us prohibit in effective fashion all
corporations from making contributions for any
political purpose, directly or indirectly.

Presenter Notes
He profoundly stated Let individuals contribute
as they desire but let us prohibit in effective
fashion all corporations from making
contributions for any political purpose, directly
or indirectly.

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1910 Tillman act becomes Federal Corrupt
Practices Act

Presenter Notes
This was sound logical important legislation that
kept mega corporations with mega bucks from
advertising for or against someone in exchange
for favorable treatment from the person once they
were in office.

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Surpassed by the F.E.C.A.?Federal Election
Campaign Act. in 1971

Presenter Notes
These laws stayed mostly unchanged for the next
60 years, until the 70s came around.

In 1971 people had realized these laws were
great, but werent being enforced.

It turns out politicians arent always ethical.


So the Government enacted the Federal Election
Campaign Act

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Creation of the Federal Election Commission,
aka F.E.C.
F.E.C. is the agency that enforces Federal
campaign finance laws originated by Roosevelt

Presenter Notes
They created the FEC, the Federal Elections
Commission to help enforce Teddy Roosevelts
benevolent laws.

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2002 John McCain wants to be President too

• Introduces the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act,
  signed into law by President Bush in 2002
• Establishes weakness in what was previously a
  strong law via establishing spending limits for
  Political Action Committees (PAC)

Presenter Notes
The FEC worked ok for about 20 years until
Senator John McCain came along, he wanted to be
President too.

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CHUMP

• David. Bossie, hired to take Bill Clinton down
  for scandal during his Presidency
• In 2008 unveils documentary Hillary The Movie
• Wants to air attack movie just before election
• FEC tries to protect political process by not
  allowing film to air
• Supreme Court of the United States rules in favor
  of said chump, exploiting weakness established in
  2002 by McCain BCRA

Presenter Notes
Then, in the 2008 election this guy wanted to
release an hour and a half long attack ad
documentary slamming Hilary Clinton, who he had
thought would win the Democratic nomination.

He had a vendetta against the Clintons, and had
been trying to impeach Bill Clinton when he was
President.

The FEC did its job and prohibited him from
airing the film.

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SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

• Citizens United
• V
• Federal Election Commission ____________________
  _______

)))))))
Political speech does not lose First Amendment
protection simply because its source is a
corporation
My names John McCain and I endorse this message

Presenter Notes
This guy was so obsessed with taking the Clintons
down and hoping for fame on Fox news that he took
it to the Supreme Court. In 2010 they ruled in
his favor, and said the spending limits in
McCains legislation werent constitutional.

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SCOTUS rules 5 to 4 in favor of Citizens United
Chump

• Legislature for the past 100 Years essentially
  remanded back to 1886 Supreme Court opinion in a
  railroad case
• Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad
  Company, 118 U.S. 394 (1886)
• 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause being used
  to discern corporate personhood not at all what
  it was written for
• 1st amendment claimed as a result of 14th
  amendment

Presenter Notes
This made all of Theodore Roosevelts legislation
and everything after it un-Constitutional as
well, and all the precedence we have to use for
rulings in these matters is set by that Railroad
lawsuit in the 1880s.

This is the key to fixing this. It isnt even
good precedence.

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What you can do

• Understand what happened and its significance
• Keep the conversation going about the wrong
  Supreme courts verdict

• Review this Powerpoint at website Ive provided
• Use critical thought and submit any criticism
• Sign petitions seeking 28th Amendment for
  financing reform
• Inspire others to understand

• Read the 14th Amendment Section 1 due process is
  for a person not plural

Presenter Notes
Thats it in the amount of time I had, I
explained the root of partisan politics creating
the political climate for the case, Ive
introduced you to the key people involved and the
legislature they created and explained the unjust
verdict of the case.

As I said before, the Citizens United case
embodies the biggest problems our country faces

partisan politics before virtue, greed and
corruption, dishonesty in the media



There is a lot we can do about this. Understand
it and keep the conversation going.

 

My message is important enough to me that Ive
posted this slide show on the web and I invite
you to re-visit it so you can catch anything you
may have missed, or refute anything Ive said.

I should be updating this with my speech itself
in about a week