This article by David Dayen appeared in The Intercept, June 2nd, 2018.
A brief commentary by Community Rights US founder and director Paul Cienfuegos: Many progressives assume that it’s those damn Republican-controlled state legislatures that keep passing one new preemptive law after another to stop local governments from protecting their community’s health, safety and welfare. But stories like this one are a clear reminder that both mainstream political parties now salute their corporate overlords whenever a demand is made to get back in line. It’s critical that We the People not forget that in the first century of the United States, corporations were our servants, our legally defined subordinates, each charted uniquely to serve one specific social need and to cause no harm. They were prohibited from having ANY involvement in the electoral process – no donations, no lobbying, etc. We can’t realistically call our nation a democratic republic when large corporations have more legal authority than do We the People, which is the reality today. The solution is obvious. Single-issue groups, such as the public health advocacy group in this article, need to work together to dismantle corporate constitutional so-called “rights” so that this abuse of corporate power is no longer allowed here. That’s the work of our Community Rights movement. We hope you will join us!
A HOSTAGE SITUATION ended quietly in the California Capitol last Thursday, when lawmakers in Sacramento paid a hefty ransom to big soda companies.
The lawmakers advanced legislation under duress that would ban localities from establishing taxes on soda or sugary drinks for the next 12 years.
The soda companies were pleased enough with this ransom note that they pulled an initiative off this fall’s ballot that would have required a two-thirds supermajority across California for all local tax increases.
The new legislation frees localities to continue to set their own tax policy democratically — just not on soda products until 2030. MORE…