After Citizens United: Combating Corporate Power in Elections
The Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United vs. FEC handed corporate interests enormous unchecked power in the democratic process. Last November, in the first election since the decision, we saw its real results: outside groups, many of whom kept their donors secret, poured unprecedented amounts of money into campaigns to elect pro-corporate members of Congress. Now, as the GOP House majority attempts to pass radical deregulation and slash social services, corporate interests are seeing a powerful return on their investments. This panel will explore ways that progressives can harness the widespread anger about Citizens United to create strong state- and local-level movements, find solutions at the federal level and prevent corporations from buying the 2012 elections.
Amanda Terkel is a Senior Political Reporter at The Huffington Post. Before joining The Huffington Post, Amanda served as Deputy Research Director at the Center for American Progress and the Managing Editor of ThinkProgress.org. Amanda also served as the Center’s Special Assistant for Strategic Planning and has experience on various national and state-level political campaigns and in government offices.
Her writing has been published by publications such as The New York Times, Politico, and Salon, and she is a regular political commentator on radio and television.
