OpEdNews » What is a corporation? A poll with no direct answer.

Support OEN
With Your
Tax-Deductible Donation

Tags for This Article:

Populum Tag Cloud Control Panel
	Fine tune your search to access content

Articles	Links
Diaries	Products
Events	All

All time
Last 6 mos
Last month
Last week
Last 24 hrs

From:
Month Day Year

To:
Month Day Year

Alphabet Popularity	Count ON Count OFF
This Level	Sub-levels

Tag(s): Corporations; Elections; Government; Money; Privilege; Taxation; Taxes
Add to My Group

August 24, 2008 at 00:21:10

What is a corporation? A poll with no direct answer.

by Robert N Smith Page 1 of 1 page(s)

www.opednews.com

SAVE FAVORITES

VIEW FAVORITES

View Ratings | Rate It

I have a question that nobody has been able to answer. It involves the personhood of corporations, and leaves me wondering if I can claim the same tax exemptions and benefits the government, from the local to the Federal, has given those corporations?

If so, should I petition the government for redress of grievance?

Among the benefits given by local government to corporations is forgiveness of property taxes for a period of time. If a corporation is a person and able to give money and in other ways influence the outcome of our elections, then I demand the same forgiveness of my property taxes as a person holding property in my county, and I require the same ability to give large sums in order to influence the outcome of elections in the same way.

On the other hand, if a corporation is a legal entity without personhood then the giving of special benefits to get them to do business locally is warranted by the benefits such allowances bring to the county.

If on the other hand a corporation is a person and still can obtain special benefits that are not available to the citizens of the county, then I must ask that the local law enforcement arrest the officers of said corporations on bribery charges when they openly give money for the reelection of county officers who support these special benefits. I further demand that the officers of local government who have benefited from such corporate giving be arrested also for receiving bribes.

Either a corporation is a person and thus subject to the same limits as I am in dealing with the government and the same taxation as I am, or a corporation is a special legal entity without personhood that does not have the right to give monies to influence the outcome of elections.

Which is it? Do I get the same rights as a corporation for the same period of time, or is a corporation is not a person thus they can obtain special treatment in taxation and other considerations that are not available to me? Who can answer my question? Apparently the people holding public office want it both ways, so they can hold onto their positions and privilege. Maybe we need term limits for everyone in every office to prevent the buying and selling of privilege? Does anyone have a good answer?

1: A corporation is a person and subject to the same limits as the rest of us.

2: A corporation is not a person and thus can be given special tax relief in the public interest.

3: I don’t know.

Take action -- click here to contact your local newspaper or congress people:
Address the corporate personhood.

Click here to see the most recent messages sent to congressional reps and local newspapers

	Contact Author
	Contact Editor
	View Other Articles by Author

Bookmark this page: (what's this?)

(More...)

5 comments

JC Garrett is a freelance writer and Constitutional scholar from the piney-woods of East Texas. He apologizes to the entire world that the great Lone Star State could have produced the neo-Neanderthal currently occupying the Oval Office.

"I'm not ashamed to be an American. I'm ashamed George W. Bush is an American."

Mr. Garrett owns and operates an independent recording studio, plays several instruments, writes, sings, and produces music.

His stories have ...

to see more of bio, click on member name
JC GarrettJC Garrett is a freelance writer and Constitutional scholar from the piney-woods of East Texas. He apologizes to the entire world that the great Lone Star State could have produced the neo-Neanderthal currently occupying the Oval Office.

"I'm not ashamed to be an American. I'm ashamed George W. Bush is an American."

Mr. Garrett owns and operates an independent recording studio, plays several instruments, writes, sings, and produces music.

His stories have ...

to see more of bio, click on member name

None of the above

Corporations, by law, cannot contribute to candidates or political parties. Individuals who work for corporations may contribute to candidates or parties by giving directly or by giving to political action committees (PACs) established by the corporations. Corporations may give as much as they wish to groups or organizations that are not controlled by a candidate or political party, provided the organizations use the money directly to buy advertising or to fund other electoral activity. They may not give corporate donations to a candidate or party.

Individuals may give up to $2,300 per election to a candidate, $42,700 to all candidates, $5,000 to a PAC, $5,000 to a party, $65,500 to parties and PACs in total, and $108,200 to all recipients every two years. PACs may give $5,000 per candidate per election.

These rules are routinely violated.

All of the above applies to federal elections and campaigns. State and local elections have their own rules which differ state by state.

Corporations have been found by the courts to have limited "personhood." It is wrong, and they have been granted rights that not even real people have. Corporate personhood is responsible for many of the ills the nation now faces, and should be abolished.

by JC Garrett (40 articles, 65 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 604 comments) on Sunday, August 24, 2008 at 5:59:45 AM

A retired Navyman who has ran for 1st. District of Tennessee as a Green with a primary plank of Impeaching Bush/Chaney and a secondary plank of listening to and serving people instead of corporations. He now has accepted the position of FOAVC Coordinater for TN. He also is a direct decendent both on his Mothers and Fathers failies of members of the Seneca Nation.
Robert N SmithA retired Navyman who has ran for 1st. District of Tennessee as a Green with a primary plank of Impeaching Bush/Chaney and a secondary plank of listening to and serving people instead of corporations. He now has accepted the position of FOAVC Coordinater for TN. He also is a direct decendent both on his Mothers and Fathers failies of members of the Seneca Nation.

None of the Above.

I know that none of the above applies, hoping to get a few more ideas. I did propose two in the article, just trying to point out a situation that affects all of us.

Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific RailroadAlthough the question of whether corporations were persons within the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment had been argued in the lower courts and briefed for the Supreme Court, the Court did not base its decision on this issue. However, before oral argument took place, Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite announced: "The court does not wish to hear argument on the question whether the provision in the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which forbids a State to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws, applies to these corporations. We are all of the opinion that it does."[3] This quotation was printed by the court reporter in the syllabus and case history above the opinion, but was not in the opinion itself. As such, it did not have any legal precedential value.[4]
Thus the siteing of this case as a basis of corporate personhood is not a valid case law.

by Robert N Smith (10 articles, 0 quicklinks, 8 diaries, 116 comments) on Sunday, August 24, 2008 at 3:10:46 PM

Sandy Sand began her writing career while raising three children and doing public relations work for Women's American ORT (Organization for Rehabilitation through Training). That led to a job as a reporter for the San Fernando Valley Chronicle, a weekly publication in Canoga Park, California. In conjunction with the Chronicle, she broadcast a tri-weekly, 10-minute newscast for KGOE AM. Following the closure of the Chronicle, Sand became the editor of the Tolucan Times and Canyon Crier newspapers...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Sandy SandSandy Sand began her writing career while raising three children and doing public relations work for Women's American ORT (Organization for Rehabilitation through Training). That led to a job as a reporter for the San Fernando Valley Chronicle, a weekly publication in Canoga Park, California. In conjunction with the Chronicle, she broadcast a tri-weekly, 10-minute newscast for KGOE AM. Following the closure of the Chronicle, Sand became the editor of the Tolucan Times and Canyon Crier newspapers...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Finally

A poll writer who says up front 'yes' or 'no' don't fully answer the question.

I've seen too many polls that I can't respond to that do not have yes or no answers, because there are too many possibilities.

by Sandy Sand (165 articles, 0 quicklinks, 220 diaries, 1490 comments) on Sunday, August 24, 2008 at 1:10:50 PM

Finaly

Yep I don't have the answers and I don't think anyone does. However I did propose two answers in the article. Hoping somebody else would post a few more. The current situation is not acceptable for me or for anyone who looks at the political scene.

by Robert N Smith (10 articles, 0 quicklinks, 8 diaries, 116 comments) on Sunday, August 24, 2008 at 3:00:37 PM

Pluralist Repaulican Observer
Intelitary MilligencePluralist Repaulican Observer

A corporation is a collectivist scam

A corporation is a collectivist scam as old as the 18th century Bank of England and nothing more than a govt/bank giving birth to a propaganda and industrial arm to falsely compete with the resourcefulness and ingenuity of the people. It only has meaning when it exists as an entity representing a small group. Larger corporations hide the sweat and that actually makes a country's economy work.

by Intelitary Milligence (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 39 comments) on Monday, August 25, 2008 at 6:25:16 PM