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Fascinating Unasked Questions of Bush and the Media

How can we put out the Bonfires of the GOP’s Corporate Vanities?

August 5, 2002

By Jock Gill for Democrats.com

To put out the bonfires of the GOP's corporate vanities, we must remove their fuel.

For years the GOP has waged a political war to defund the federal government, not only as a matter of political dogma but also as a way to deny Democrats the instrument with which to achieve their goals and deliver benefits to their natural constituents.

Now it is time to turn the tables. We must defund the GOP.

How are we to defund the GOP? We must deny them corporate cash. How do we do this?

We:

1] abolish Corporate Personhood, which gives corporations unequal protection.

2] Reinstate the bans on corporations attempting to influence legislation on the local, state and federal level;

3] Reinstate the ban on corporations making cash contributions to politicians and political interests groups.

The above was the case prior to 1886 and reflects the Founder's fundamental distrust of concentrations of wealth in the hands of absentee owners.

See these sites for more on restoring the rights of natural persons:

Hartmann
Poclad

CELDF
iii publishing
[note at the end of the above page is very interesting FAQ on Corporate Personhoo]

Doing all of the above does NOT mean that you are against business or anti capitalist. Adam Smith, Thomas Jefferson or Abraham Lincoln would have no problems with the above agenda. It is fundamentally conservative. All of the above is strongly pro businesses operated on the local levels by local owners while supporting trans and internationals as long as they abide by reasonable charters well enforced.

What the above accomplishes, besides deunding the GOP, is:

1] a leveling of the political playing field;

2] Increased participation in the electoral process

3] Increase in competition

All the above will lead to more innovation and evolution in the face of constant change.

Without the above, there can be no meaningful campaign finance reform, which in this time of "uncommon power and uncommon greed," to use Al Gore's phrase, we so badly need.

A call to action: Amend the US Constitution and pass local ordinances protecting the rights of "natural" persons.

Sample ordinances for all 50 states can be found at the Hartmann site

You can support Constitutional Amendments. Write and call your elected representatives.

“Here is the proposed modification of the U.S. Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment (adding in the word "natural" before the word "person"):

U.S. Const. Amend. XIV, § 1: All natural persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law that shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any natural person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any natural person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. “

http://www.thomhartmann.com/amendments.shtml

The first community to pass a resolution against corporate personhood is Point Arena, California.

Northern California City Challenges Corporate Personhood A New Strategy for Placing Limits on Corporate Power June 2000

How many people know that under U.S. law corporations are persons? And that, as a result, corporations have been able to amass ever greater power to influence democratic processes and restraingovernmental regulation? For example...

• Do advocates for campaign finance reform know that corporations cannot be prevented from contributing money to political campaigns? Corporate personhood means that any restraints on campaign contributions represent an abridgement of corporate rights to free speech.

• Do those who favor increased public monitoring of the operations of oil refineries, chemical manufacturers, paper mills, silicon chip makers, hospitals, or other plants generating toxic waste or emissions know that corporations can deny access to their premises by citizens wishing to determine whether government regulations are being followed? Personhood means that corporations are protected from warrantless search and seizure.

Go to http://www.wilpf.org/corp/PA_resolution.pdf for the full story.

Now is the time for the rest of us to go forth and become part of the solution.

Please send your Fascinating Unasked Questions to FUQ@democrats.com. Unless you say otherwise we will assume that we are permitted to quote from your e-mail and use your name. The material in this column may be quoted and redistributed as long as the source is cited.

 


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