Multinational corporations along with foreign ones should be banned from influencing elections

[DaveofCali]

I was reading this post on DU from Tom Rinaldo: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x163063#163085

And his post makes a good point. Much of the big American Corporations are no longer American corporations, they are multinational corporations who NO LONGER have a vested interest in the U.S. If the U.S. alone were to be destroyed in ruins somehow, multinational corporations would only need to relocate their headquarters and go about business as usual. Even multinational corporations based in the U.S. are starting to now have foreign CEO's like Indra Nooyi from Pepsi. And many now have shareholders with a significant stake (even wholly owned) that are foreigners.

Formerly American Corporations expanded broadly around the world, not just to expand their markets but to also be less reliant on the U.S. economy. Its akin to the idea of "don't put all your eggs on one basket." So thus, if the ship sinks, they are safe. Why would they have any real sense of patriotism then?

And this is why the American worker doesn't have any bargaining power anymore. If American workers were to rise up against multinational corporations (forced unionizing for instance), these corporations would simply threaten to leave this country, because they can find skilled workers in other parts of the world easily now and can base their headquarters in other countries and even make lots of money without being in the U.S. market anymore. And anyway, why would they feel compelled to stay in the U.S. anymore when the markets in this country aren't as attractive compared to China and other developing countries now?

Because of all this, they don't have a vested interest in this country the same way American citizens do, and really arent like American citizens anymore, and thus shouldn't be allowed to influence American elections on those grounds. They may not be in the back pocket of a foreign government, but they don't have the same vested interest similarly compared to a foreign based company. Of course, I believe that all corporations should at least be restricted from using their treasury to influence elections, but in light of the supreme court decision, I think that at least this has to be addressed.

[Oregone]

1. What about dual citizens?