SIAP but are Corporations People?

[82_VOL_83]

Would rather have a discussion about something like this than which candidate blah blah blah. We all know who we are going to vote for so its kinda getting old on that front.

I for one think that Corporations are People. I work for a company that is incorporated. We have about 15 people on staff and are struggling to make ends meet right now. I have an owner that is very open with everyone and we all feel "part of the family". When we had to reduce numbers this year, he was the first one to let himself go but he still comes to work everyday. I say that we the people make up this corporation and the corporation is like a family to us. The way the corporation goes is the way we go.

The "Corporations are not people" mantra coming from the left is simply another class ploy much like the "tax the rich" screams when the taxes are being levied on the $200k to $250k level. Sure those people do well, but they aren't rich by any means. The same way that the left wants you to see corporations as GM, Exxon, Shell, United Tech, when a VAST majority of corporations are simple small businesses.

 

[dhendri]

I find it all to just be wordplay. Corporate personhood just means that individuals don't lose their rights when acting as an entity, and therefore by default corporations have some rights under law. It's been spun both ways for political gains. The Right makes it all warm and fuzzy and family-like, the Left pushes the evil corporations running campaign angles. Just an overblown buzzword, in my opinion.

 

[82_VOL_83]

I find it all to just be wordplay. Corporate personhood just means that individuals don't lose their rights when acting as an entity, and therefore by default corporations have some rights under law. It's been spun both ways for political gains. The Right makes it all warm and fuzzy and family-like, the Left pushes the evil corporations running campaign angles. Just an overblown buzzword, in my opinion.

Yes, I would agree that it should be a non-issue, however, the left is using this as a talking point on Romney. I just find it very similar to the tax the rich mantra. And I wasn't trying to make it warm and fuzzy, just the fact is there are many more small corporations than giants.

 

[volinbham]

I find it all to just be wordplay. Corporate personhood just means that individuals don't lose their rights when acting as an entity, and therefore by default corporations have some rights under law. It's been spun both ways for political gains. The Right makes it all warm and fuzzy and family-like, the Left pushes the evil corporations running campaign angles. Just an overblown buzzword, in my opinion.

agreed - it doesn't imply what both sides' extreme views suggest.

 

[MG1968]

a radio host made an interesting analogy

if a corporation isn't a "person" that has no free speech rights and therefore the people within a corporation should not be able to exercise political free speech on behalf of the corporation, then a house or a piece of property isn't a person either and a homeowner/property owner has no right to protest increases in property taxes or changes in zoning laws, etc.

 

[Velo Vol]

Who is liable for the tax bill? The house? Or the owner?

 

[PKT_VOL]

It is all semantics by politicians to pander for votes.

The funny thing is that those at UT that I met who ate that sh*t up (the evil corporation mantra) would say such things while sipping on coffee at Starbucks and surfing liberal blogs on their Mac.

They failed to see the extreme irony at hand.

 

[NEO]

I view my business in many ways like my child. I know many owners who do the same.

 

[GregoryHouse]

Corporations have some rights of personhood due to a note included in the 14th Amendment and the precedence set by some legal cases since.

Corporations do not have all the rights that actual people have. Corporations are "artificial persons."

A person can sue corporations and the reverse is true.

Corporations are protected from slander and libel.

The argument for corporation personhood is that a corporation is a group of citizens working collectively and their individual rights remain - so an action for or against a corporation is an act for or against a collective group of people.

The argument against corporation personhood is that the legal system can not punish corporations fully as they can actual citizens (i.e. prison). Also, a corporation can live indefinitely (as long as it is profitable and conducts legal operations). This complicates tax issues. Also, while the persons that make up corporations benefit from the organizations success, their personal property is protected from corporations' failures (generally speaking).


The issue that has brought corporate personhood to contemporary consciousness recently is the issue of campaign finance.



You guys can fact-check and snipe the information above, there may be a lot of errors but this is the way I understand the subject.