Russell Simmons Proposes Constitutional Amendment Banning Private Donations In Federal Elections

Posted Tuesday, November 22, 2011 by Jon Christian

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  • Russell Simmons Proposes Constitutional Amendment Banning Private Donations In Federal Elections
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SOURCE: Flickr / pweiskel08

Simmons is the co-founder of the record label Def Jam Recordings and one of the wealthiest figures in hip-hop music.

Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, who has been frequenting Occupy demonstrations in the Northeast, says that he is working with a “senior member of congress” to create a constitutional amendment that would ban private donations in federal elections.

“It's very simple,” Simmons told a crowd of demonstrators at Occupy Boston Tuesday. “The idea is to get the power back to the people, and take it away from the corporations.”

Simmons is the co-founder of the record label Def Jam Recordings and one of the wealthiest figures in hip-hop music. He has been involved in a variety of activist movements involving those working for human and animal rights.

The proposed amendment, Simmons said, would require all presidential and congressional election campaigns to be publicly financed.

“No political contributions shall be permitted to any federal candidate, from any other source, including the candidate,” Simmons read from a draft.

A majority of Americans believe that corporations exercise too much control over the political process, Simmons said.

The unnamed congressperson working on the measure is waiting to go public with the proposal until he has found a Republican co-sponsor, Simmons said. According to Simmons, the Nov. 15 raid on Zuccotti Park in New York City prompted him to make the amendment public.

“He wants to have very strong bipartisan support for this amendment,” Simmons said, dressed in a baseball cap and a hooded sweatshirt.

It is not clear which other politicians or activists, if any, are involved with the legislation Simmons announced Tuesday.

Simmons remained realistic about the tremendous challenges facing such a constitutional amendment, citing his experience in campaigns against the prison-industrial complex as an example of the power of lobbies to resist policy change.

He also praised demonstrators who have remained on the streets for two months for maintaining the energy behind the Occupy movement.

“If not for your courage, and if not for your endurance, then we probably wouldn't have this dialogue,” Simmons said.

Def Jam is known for signing artists including the Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, and the thrash metal band Slayer.

Jon Christian is a staff writer with Campus Progress. Follow him on Twitter @Jon_Christian.

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