Reply #78: Little info about that guy... [View All]

[Occulus]

...He was the former president of a company in the industry tied up in the case. I'm more and more convinced, the more time passes, that it was intentional that he be reporting on this case, specifically.

The court, in its decision (or was this part still in the headnote?), stated clearly and emphatically that it would not hear any arguments regarding the status of the corporation as a person; it had already reached the opinion that the corporation, for their purposes, was in fact a person. IIRC, the SCOTUS revisited this sometime in the 1970s, only to say something to the effect that it coud not rule on the issue, as any ruling would cause too much economic hardship.

I think this was an admission by the SCOTUS that the original finding- that corporations are persons under the law- was completely bogus, but too much law had subsequently been based on the ruling for the incorrect ruling to be changed. Or some such.

I think I should point out that many, if not most, progressive ideals can only be fully realized if corporate personhood is eliminated. Things such as corporations suing individuals and such shenanigans ought to be outlawed, period, as should the usage of eminent domain for exclusive ownership/use/lease by any corporation, to name two examples.

I want these.... things.... put under the thumb of the public, where they belong. I want corporations to live constantly with the threat that if they break even one law the public (locally or statewide) may at will put on the next ballot that that corporate branch be required to close its doors. I want corporate officers to live constantly with the threat that they can and will be held personally, criminally liable for the misdeeds of their corporate employers. I want it to be illegal for corporations to own other corporations. I want the corporate charter to be a limited thing, subject to public vote.

I don't hate corporations. What I hate is their being treated like persons under the law. Corporate entities of any and all kinds should not have the same rights we do- they should have priveleges which may be revoked at will, for any reason, at any time. In fact, corporate entities should have no rights, period; they should have priveleges, and nothing more.

That is how we turn off the republicans' money spigots: revoke the personhood of the corporation and afterward shut down their entire money machine.