Corporations are People, Money is Speech

         If corporations are people, they ought to be taxed like people. That refrain is climbing the charts these days. Most people don’t know how corporations are taxed, but believe the burden bears no resemblance to the withholding they suffer each payday. The feeling probably relates to stories of lucrative corporations that pay no tax—that even get ‘refunds’ from the government because of legislative favoritism. Plus the realization that starvation wages paid ( resulting in the need for Medicaid and food stamps ) are just a way for the government to subsidize the greed of profiteers.

It is a confusing situation, especially since the “Everybody-should-have-skin-in-the-game” whiners don’t seem at all bothered by these corporate ‘people’ who appear to be skinning America alive. Then there are the offshore tax haven users, and the climate change deniers who make us wonder who will get the tab for keeping the rising ocean waters out of Manhattan. It’s no wonder that Americans are 99% pissed.

You can hate the beneficiaries all you want, but the problem lies with congress. Legislation creates favoritism and profiteering, and legislation can stop it. While congress dithers, obstructs, and throws away America’s wealth, it’s no secret who the real takers are in this country.

Around here, we kind of favor the “Money-is-speech” concept. When we hear the deficit hawks and “obstruct-it-alls” and the “our-way-of-life” seducers and the “taking-care-of-the-needy-costs-too-much” gluttons say the government is our problem, we say, “Twenty dollar me another sad story, spoiler!” or “Grant me a break!”