Really Simple: We Need to Get Rid of the Perverse Notion of "Corporate Personhood"

[marmar]

Really Simple: We Need to Get Rid of the Perverse Notion of "Corporate Personhood"

Posted by Joshua Holland, AlterNet at 4:31 PM on January 21, 2010.

Corporations are not people too.




With the unbelievable right-wing judicial activism of the Roberts court, we are now on the brink of losing our Republic and seeing our political system devolve into something like Mussolini's definition of Fascism (Mussolini said: "Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power"). Don't think this is an exaggeration.

People for the American Way (do I need to disclose that PFAW gave me a very modest fellowship 5 year ago?), is mounting a campaign to preserve our nominal democracy by passing a Constitutional amendment giving Congress the power to regulate corporate campaign money. It'll be an uphill battle -- the last Amendment to the Constitution, the 27th, was enacted 18 years ago; it had originally been submitted in 1789.

I don't know the specifics of their preferred amendment. But I'm pleased to see a piece of the progressive establishment take on this issue. Sign their petition here.

What follows is a piece I wrote in July, 2006, after another Supreme Court decision struck down a different campaign finance law. I deleted the first few graphs discussing that case, and I think it stands up pretty well today.

Corporations Aren't People

The (2006) decision reveals yet again how deeply entrenched the role of big money is in the American political system. Over the last 150 years, bizarre legal doctrines have developed that have effectively codified the power of special interests. In addition to the idea in (Buckley v Valeo) that "money equals speech," we've been saddled with the Orwellian concept of "corporate personhood." ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/145331/really_simple%3A_we_need_to_get_rid_of_the_perverse_notion_of_%22corporate_personhood%22/

[Demeter]

1. And Impeach the Supremes

there's no justification for this slap in the public's face.

[Demeter]

2. And Impeach the Supremes

there's no justification for this slap in the public's face.

[Vidar]

3. And Impeach the Supremes. It obviusly bears repeating.