Forum Post: Whats wrong with the Citizens United ruling?
Posted 12 years ago on April 17, 2012, 12:02 a.m. EST by liam77
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I heard many say "corporations are not people", and i agree with that idea. Corporations are aggregate of shareholders and groups of people do have a right to freedom of speech. I see a hypocrisy in the idea of fighting for collective bargaining and fighting Citizens United that allows Unions to do the same thing. I feel to stay consistent you must stop both or neither. Just asking why a group of workers and a group of stockholders shouldn't be allowed the same rights.(It also is interesting to note the overlap of workers who also might own stock)
Special Interest groups, be they union or corporate or anything in between have no right influencing our government. It negates individual votes. The money thrown at government corrupts.
I have nothing against private sector interactions by one group against another, like shareholders and collective bargaining... but keep it out of the public sector. Our representatives in Washington are meant to represent the We the People, not we the groups, or we the special interests.
Agree. Democracy must remain a virgin.
So very well said geo.
Our reps in Washington are meant to represent We the People. Trouble is, the reps are bought and paid for.
What does it cost to buy the POTUS ??
Just ask the megacorps.
What does it take to change the mind of the POTUS?
Just ask the megacorps.
Charitable groups get tax breaks too and they can file as non-profit corporations. Aren't they people too? Do you suggest that we should turn the citizens of this country into a bunch of sterile robots?
Groups are groups, not individuals. Groups don't have the right to vote, serve on a jury, or be executed by the state. Why should groups have the right to influence government our most important social structure?
Keep groups out of government, thats all I'm saying... how you gather that this idea turns people into sterile robots I'll never understand.
i would agree but unions are not legaly persons as corporations are. they dont get tax breaks, they dont get bailouts, they dont get special rights and priviledges of a corporation. why is it you think they do not get free speach
You hit on a key point... corporations are just legal entities, they don't really exist. They exist when they get chartered and a piece of paper gets stamped by a county clerk in an office somewhere. As such what goes into that charter can be changed.
The most powerful corporation in the world that ever existed, The British East India Co., could actually raise and control armies that wore the colors of the government, and they waged war directly and conquered a huge part of the world for the British government.
Since then the powers of corporations have been cut back a bit, because of the behavior of the BEI. There is nothing that says that a corporation can't have the mandate of being a good community citizen with social responsibilities written by law into its charter. As it stands the only fiduciary responsibility a corporation has is to its shareholders.
The SCOTUS has really screwed us with 14th and 1st amendment interpretations that have unduly favored corporations. It might be easier to change these wrongdoings by attacking the framework of a corporation, its legal charter... and legally changing that.
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