{"id":1356,"date":"2010-05-02T02:25:47","date_gmt":"2010-05-02T09:25:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=1356"},"modified":"2010-05-02T02:25:47","modified_gmt":"2010-05-02T09:25:47","slug":"8-words-that-could-save-our-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2010\/05\/02\/8-words-that-could-save-our-country\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Words That Could Save Our Country"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s lead piece echoes what I have said long before the Extreme Court insulted our freedom with the Citizens United decision.  It just does so better than I have done.<\/font><\/p>\n

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\"8words\"<\/a> Citizens United v. FEC, the recent Supreme Court decision that allowed corporations to spend unlimited sums of money to influence elections is only the most recent step in this process. There will be more. But the shocking decision may be sufficient to galvanize a political movement that can change the rules and ensure our democracy.<\/p>\n

We can save our country by adding eight words<\/strong> to the fundamental law of the land, the US Constitution. "Corporations are not persons<\/font><\/strong>." "Money is not speech<\/font><\/strong>."<\/p>\n

Such a development is not without precedent. Once before a political movement has changed the Constitution to nurture democracy. The populist uprising of the late 20th century led to the passage, in rapid succession of the 16th Amendment in 1913 that allowed for an income tax, the 17th Amendment, ratified the same year that required the direct election of Senators and in 1920 the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote.<\/p>\n

A campaign to strip corporations of personhood would have a similar populist and popular appeal. A recent Quinnipiac poll reveals a whopping 79 percent public disapproval of the Court\u2019s ruling<\/strong>. A Washington Post-ABC News poll puts the figure even higher at 81 percent<\/strong>. And as Dan Eggen of the Post writes, "The poll reveals relatively little difference of opinion on the issue among Democrats (85 percent opposed to the ruling), Republicans (76 percent) and independents (81 percent)."<\/p>\n

But win or lose, a campaign against corporate personhood would allow us to regain control of a narrative we lost in 1980 when Ronald Reagan declared in his Inaugural Address, "government is the problem" and initiated a process that has resulted in the greatest concentration of private wealth and power in American history<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

People may not know exactly what Goldman Sachs is, but they know it is not a person. A person doesn\u2019t have unlimited life or limited liability<\/strong>. A person is responsible for her decisions<\/strong>. If she makes a decision that kills or maims people she will go to jail<\/strong>. If a CEO makes such a decision she, at worst, receives a golden parachute<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Unlike a real person, a corporation lacks a conscience. It is guided neither by ethics nor morality but rather by laws that required its Boards to elevate the maximization of profits above all other concerns<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A real person is an independent actor, subject to many influences that affect how he votes. Warren Buffett, for example, thinks it is in his and society\u2019s best interest for him to be required to pay more taxes. A corporation that made this decision could be taken to court by its stockholders.<\/p>\n

In his The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Adam Smith\u2019s first, and in his own mind more important work than Wealth of Nations, he outlined his view of the institutions that make men virtuous. He focused on the inherent human qualities of gratitude and sympathy and empathy that lead to a merging of our self-interest with the public good. To Adam Smith, that was the real invisible hand. A corporation lacks sympathy or empathy although occasionally it might express gratitude<\/strong> in the form of increased financial contributions to politicians who do its bidding…<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <Alternet<\/a>><\/p>\n

I disagree with this author only on one small point.  Corporate financial contributions to politicians who do their bidding are not expressions of gratitude.  They are investments in the continuation of the current climate of socialism for the rich only that maximize corporate profit at taxpayer expense.<\/font><\/p>\n

I won\u2019t deceive myself, or you, by imagining such a campaign can succeed anytime soon.  However, there are times when tilting at a windmill is the best strategy, simply because it is the right thing to do.  If would also serve to mobilize independent voters to oppose the GOP\u2019s extreme corporate agenda.<\/font><\/p>\n

The citation is only the first page of a truly magnificent eight page article.  I strongly encourage you to click through and read it in its entirety.  But finish reading and commenting on today\u2019s articles here first, of course. \ud83d\ude00<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s lead piece echoes what I have said long before the Extreme Court insulted our freedom with the Citizens United decision.  It just does so better than I have done. Citizens United v. FEC, the recent Supreme Court decision that allowed corporations to spend unlimited sums of money to influence elections is only the most […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-5-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1356\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}