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US82 - End Corporate Personhood
| Amend the constitution to say that corporations are not people | |
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Description
Corporations are NOT people.
Corporations donate huge sums of money to get people elected to government. Elected officials from both parties depend on corporate donations to get elected and re-elected. Lobbyists from corporations then write legislation that is readily adopted by these officials. This makes our government more the product of corporate interests than the people's interests.
If we amend the Constitution to establish that corporations are not people, then they will not be entitled to the constitutional rights of people. Their speech/influence in elections can then be limited, making elections dependent on the people as they should be.
Corporations donate huge sums of money to get people elected to government. Elected officials from both parties depend on corporate donations to get elected and re-elected. Lobbyists from corporations then write legislation that is readily adopted by these officials. This makes our government more the product of corporate interests than the people's interests.
If we amend the Constitution to establish that corporations are not people, then they will not be entitled to the constitutional rights of people. Their speech/influence in elections can then be limited, making elections dependent on the people as they should be.
Arguments
People can fit in jail cells. Can a corporation do that? If they actually managed to fit the Enron building in a jail cell, would it have stopped the company from doing anything?
God made people, not corporations. Upon each and every human entering the world, God bestowed a soul. Does a corporation have a soul?
If three people are sitting in a room and two of them form a corporation, there are not suddenly four people. The three of them have individual and equal rights to speech, etc. Corporate personhood is not necessary to ensure fairness to the two, and avoiding corporate personhood keeps the third on a level playing field.
Any assumption that a corporation has person rights has to derive from the human individuals underlying the corporation. There is no additional person with new rights. Congress should be able to make laws limiting corporate speech so long as there is no burden on the free speech of the underlying individuals.
Counterarguments
Corporations are people, my friend… of course they are. Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to the people. Where do you think it goes? Whose pockets? Whose pockets? People's pockets. Human beings, my friend.
- August 2011, Iowa State Fair
Without any P.C. that means the truth. The intellectual dept from the LEFT is just disturbing. It's OK for a Supreme Court Justice to change the wording in The Affordable Care Act and then rule it legal. The Passing of this bill in time will have global implications. You are worried about Corporations and I am concerned about contributions from the Middle East. Let say we just follow the founding document and its intent, not interpretations that wind up in court.
2 Topics
Discussion
started
by GregOrr
on Sep 10
Poll/discussion at DailyKos
See our poll/discussion at DailyKos. Voters are with me, commenters not. Currently I prefer limiting corporate personhood rights by statute. Presume that personhood rights extend to corporations, subject to limitations by Congress. (So there would be no absolutely guaranteed rights for corporations.)
Related Ideas
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| Pass through statute a limitation to corporate personhood and overturn Citizens United More detail | |
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| Amend the Constitution to make clear that corporations are not persons and money is not speech More detail | |
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| If you can't vote, you can't contribute to political campaigns. More detail | |
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| Restore democracy to its rightful position atop capitalism. More detail | |
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| $50 tax credit for campaign contributions and a "People's Fund" to help candidates be heard when up against Super PACs More detail | |
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PETITION: Overturn Citizens United