Weather chills Prince William protest

The Corporations Aren’t People movement has come to Woodbridge.
On the second anniversary of the Citizens United ruling, a half dozen protestors walked the sidewalk in front of the Bank of America on Prince William Parkway with signs that stated “Corporations Aren’t People” and “Not a Person,” with an arrow pointed toward the bank.

Much larger protests were held the day before at federal courthouses nationwide, including at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington.

At the heart of the protest is the amount of money being donated to political action committees by large corporations. Under federal regulations, corporations can’t donate directly to political candidates. But they can donate to PACs and super PACs, many of which use the money to promote or disparage candidates or elevate a national issue into the public’s consciousness.

In Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the First Amendment prohibits government from placing limits on independent spending for political purposes by corporations and unions.
Prince William resident Bruce Smith calls these PAC advertisements “corporate propaganda.”

“The problem is that gigantic corporations can so overwhelm the mediums [of information] that the voice of flesh and blood people gets drowned out,” Smith said.

Woodbridge resident Gregg Reynolds, an avid speaker at Prince William Board of County Supervisors’ meetings, also protested on the brisk, wet afternoon.
Reynolds said the Citizens United ruling was a bad one because it put even more money into elections. To Reynolds’ point, a recent Huffington Post article stated that $7.1 million has already been spent in advance of the South Carolina Republican primary.

Reynolds said corporations do good things. However, he said there is a difference between free enterprise and fair enterprise, and he wishes more of corporate America practiced the latter.

“Free enterprise affects millions of people, and a lot of times that’s very bad,” Reynolds said.

The amount of money British Petroleum earns every year, Reynolds said, allows it  and other large corporations to “pay for this elections and the next 10 elections.”
Several constitutional amendments have been proposed “to bring this under control,” said Smith. He said it doesn’t matter which one is adopted, anything to “reverse the situation.”

“If PACs spend that much money in a few small states, what’s going to happen in October and the first week of November?” Smith said.

Staff writer Kipp Hanley can be reached at 703-530-3904.