Corporations as Citizens
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In the United States, corporations are treated much like citizens. They spend on campaigns, represent themselves and their interests to politicians (citizens' representatives), and pay taxes. The question is, should a 'corporate citizen' be considered a citizen of equal legal stature to any other citizen, with all of the protections and rights of any other citizen?
Campaigns
To inform the discussion, it is interesting to take a look at the top 3 contributors to Clinton's 2016 campaign.
Clinton Campaign
| Doner | Amount |
|---|---|
| Dustin Moskovitz and Cari Tuna (facebook co-founder) | $35,000,000 |
| Donald Sussman, Paloma Partners (hedge fund) | $21,100,000 |
| Jay Robert Pritzker and Mary Pritzker, Pritzker Group and Pritzker Family Foundation (Hyatt heir) | $12,600,000 |
Trump Campaign
| Doner | Amount |
|---|---|
| Robert Mercer, Renaissance Technologies (hedge fund) | $13,500,000 |
| Sheldon Adelson and Miriam Adelson, Las Vegas Sands Corporation (casino owners) | $10,000,000 |
| Linda McMahon, World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (WWE) | $6,000,000 |
So, these corporations and ownsers of corporations are throwing some serious cash into getting their guy elected. What gives them the right to interfere so deeply in a political process that is intended to be solely between a government and its citizens?
The Right to Lobby
The right of citizens to lobby its government has been clear since the before the ink was dry on the constitution. The First Amendment states:
Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof; or abridging
the freedom of speech, or of the press;
or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government
for a redress of grievances.
The last bit about petetion[ing] the Government for a redress of grievances clearly allows citizens to approach its government, but makes no mention of how that approach is to take place. Throughout history, the Supreme Court has
allowed this to mean that organizations may spend unlimited funds petitioning the government and its representatives.
Taxation with Representation
Our country was founded with the phrase 'taxation without representation' ringing in every citizen's ears. We tax corporations, therefore, why should we be surprised when they decide they wish their interests to be represented within the halls of Congress? We certainly don't allow them to vote, so what recourse do they have?
In a country based loosely on capitalism, are we really surprised that capital can purchase the most representation?
Solution
There is only one solution that I can think of, which contains three parts:
- Recognize citizens as those individuals who are eligible to vote (not necessarily registered to vote)
- Do not tax non-citizens
- Do not afford non-citizens - such as corporations - the right to engage in political activity of any sort
I truly believe that we have a right to a government by the people and for the people, therefore, we should not expect our capitalistic institutions to pay our bills, particularly when we - the citizens - are actually funding those institutions. In other words, when Coke, Inc. pays its tax bill, it isn't paying that out of good will and hope, it is paying it from the profits made off of the citizens. Therefore, the citizens are paying the taxes anyway!
Sources
Data was collected from the following sources:
Category: taxes.