Portland Oregon City Council says corporations not people

The opposition to Citizens United, the corp-friendly Supreme Court decision, is building.

On the heels of this and this, the City Council of Portland, Oregon, has stepped up. The Oregonian online (h/t Dylan Ratigan; my emphasis and some reparagraphing):

Portland City Council approves anti-war and corporate-personhood resolutions

Portland City Council chambers overflowed this afternoon with supporters of two resolutions that grew out of the Occupy Wall Street and anti-war movements. Both are largely symbolic.

The first measure takes aim at military spending and responds to a call from local peace activists in October. ...

A second resolution, piggybacking on efforts in Los Angeles and elsewhere, establishes "that corporations should not receive the same legal rights as natural persons do, that money is not speech and that independent expenditures should be regulated" in political campaigns. It takes aim at the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United, which allows unlimited corporate spending in elections.

As the article noted, both measures are "largely symbolic."

(Keep an eye on that Montana decision though; the Montana Supreme Court, which in many people's estimations is about to be slapped down, has actual power.)

GP