Petition in SUPPORT of AB 1819: The Stop Foreign Influence in California Elections Act
Sign the petition below. Tell your California legislators to close the loophole and stop foreign influenced US corporations from buying influence in California.
Did you know 40% of all the shares held in US corporations are held by foreign investors?
Did you know that when the US Supreme Court decided that US corporations could spend unlimited amounts of money from their corporate treasuries in US elections (Citizens United v FEC, 2010) they justified the decision by saying that a US corporation was “an association of citizens”?
Many US corporations are not associations of citizens, or at least not associations of US citizens, and yet, these foreign influenced corporations spend millions upon millions in California elections.
US election law stipulates that no foreign money is allowed in US elections, contributed either “directly or indirectly.”
Foreign influence is a threat to US sovereignty as the Framers well understood. A foreign influenced corporation may not be interested in what is best for America.
Former Exxon CEO Lee Raymond put it bluntly: “I’m not a U.S. company and I don’t make decisions based on what’s good for the U.S.”
(Wasn’t it Maya Angelou who said, ”When people show you who they are, believe them?”)
AB 1819 closes the loophole Citizens United created for foreign money to pour into our elections “indirectly.”
Please sign the petition below. The petition will be delivered to California Legislature in advance of the bill’s first hearing.
To my Representatives in the California Legislature,
I write in support of AB 1819, the Stop Foreign Influence in US Elections Act.
40% of all the shares held in US corporations are held by foreign investors.
When the US Supreme Court decided that US corporations could spend unlimited amounts of money from their corporate treasuries in US elections (Citizens United v FEC, 2010) they justified the decision by saying that a US corporation was “an association of citizens.”
Many US corporations are not associations of citizens, or at least not associations of US citizens, and yet, these foreign influenced corporations spend millions in California elections.
US election law stipulates that no foreign money is allowed in US elections, contributed either “directly or indirectly.”
AB 1819 closes the loophole Citizens United created for foreign money to pour into our elections “indirectly.”
California’s elections should be free from foreign influence. While the Framers of our democracy debated many issues and disagreed about some of them, there was no disagreement about the threat foreign influence posed to our sovereignty.
I urge you to vote “aye” on AB 1819 to close the loophole and Stop Foreign Influence in California Elections.
