Corperate State of America

[editec]

Since Dims also share in the largesse it's their dream too.

Any other smart thing you'd like to opine on?

True.

Does that make it somehow okay, then?

Of course only mentioning the GOP in the thread title is a rather partisan move, isn't it?

To THAT we both object, I guess

 

[bigrebnc1775]

Is the word corporate some new fade attack word? Do you people realize that everything you buy is basically corporate made? If you hate corporations so much stop buy merchandise driving cars, using the roads, using your corporation made TV and computers, throw those cell phones away, Do not fly in an airplane, Burn your clothes, throw your rotten corporation made food away. Stop drinking those fattening sodas, burn your home to the ground do not buy heath insurance, car insurance life insurance, Through your PS 3 xbox 360 GAMES AWAY. No corporation's are just the enemy of the socialist.

 

[georgephillip]

I disagree. It's one thing to acknowledge that government will often have a secondary impact on the economy. It's quite another to unleash it with the intent of doing so - and that's what we've indulged in. As long as we grant government the power to manipulate us with discriminatory taxation, to manipulate interest rates by controlling the money supply, to bailout and grant favors to corporations that 'play ball' - we'll continue to see unabashed collusion between government and powerful economic interests.

We need to create a wall of separation between economy and state.

"What’s the issue that unites the occupiers and the city they’re occupying? Getting corporate money out of politics.

"On December 3, just two days before Occupy L.A. was evicted by police, the General Assembly of the occupation passed a unanimous resolution calling for a constitutional amendment to end corporate personhood.

"Today, the City Council of Los Angeles also voted, also unanimously, for a resolution making the same appeal."

LA and Occupy LA Agree: It's Time to End Corporate Personhood | Truthout

That wall you mentioned between economy and state is similar to an OLA demand for separation of wealth and state...'jus sayin...

Absolutely. i'm fairly hopefully some of those folks will see the light. But much like the Tea Party, most of them don't get it. Most of them are just looking for a way to get there cut of the booty, rather than putting a stop to the thieving.

The problem of private wealth corrupting government has been around for thousands of years. Preventing wealth from influencing contemporary state policy would seem to require a radical revision of corporate charters.

Chomsky has claimed that Bolshevism, fascism and the modern corporation stem from the same root.

"They (progressives) said, individual rights are gone. We are in a period of corporatization of power, consolidation of power, centralization. That's supposed to be good if you're a progressive, like a Marxist-Leninist. 'Out of that same background came three major things: fascism, Bolshevism, and corporate tyranny.

"They all grew out of the same more or less Hegelian roots.

"It's fairly recent. We think of corporations as immutable, but they were designed.

"It was a conscious design which worked as Adam Smith said: the principal architects of policy consolidate state power and use it for their interests..."

Education is Ignorance, by Noam Chomsky (Excerpted from Class Warfare)

 

[westwall]

This current President isn't even hiding the fact he's completely Corporate-Owned. He understands most of his followers are just too ignorant to know any better. So he's actually right in their faces with it. Yea,GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt a "Jobs Czar?" My God,what a scam. It's actually pretty funny but than again it's not funny at all. People really can be easily duped for the most part. Obama's devoted followers prove that.

Oh, for fuck sake. ANY pol at the national level is corporate owned. Some more than others, and historically it has always been the republicans that get the majority of corporate lobby dollars.
They split it up to hedge their bets.
Corporations should never have been considered people.
Money should never have been considered speech.
Neither of those was what was intended, and sticking to what was intended as far as corporations are concerned could have saved we little people a whole lot of shit. It didn't happen, and it looks like a whole other revolution is in order to set things to rights.

Agreed. Keep the unions out of it too and you've got a deal.

 

[dblack]

Is the word corporate some new fade attack word? Do you people realize that everything you buy is basically corporate made? If you hate corporations so much stop buy merchandise driving cars, using the roads, using your corporation made TV and computers, throw those cell phones away, Do not fly in an airplane, Burn your clothes, throw your rotten corporation made food away. Stop drinking those fattening sodas, burn your home to the ground do not buy heath insurance, car insurance life insurance, Through your PS 3 xbox 360 GAMES AWAY. No corporation's are just the enemy of the socialist.

"Corporation" and "Corporatism" are words that, like "conservative" or "liberal". get overloaded with specific, contextual meanings that often go in conflicting directions. I can't speak for anyone else here, but I don't have a problem with the idea of incorporated business. Some aspects of the corporate charter need to be modified - mainly limited liability - but I don't see anything wrong with the idea of people joining forces to conduct business.

"Corporatism" on the other hand, is incompatible with a free society. Because of its relationship to "corporation", "corporatism" is a term that is frequently misunderstood. Most people think of it as corporate (as in incorporated businesses) control over government. But that's not really what it's about.

Corporatism is a style of government whereby leaders delegate the power of the state to competing interest groups. In such a state, the aim is no longer to promote justice, or protect individual rights, but instead about divvying up power in society. The 'corporation' in corporatism is any block of organized political power. This can be a traditional corporation (business), but it also includes unions, industry and trade groups, religions, special interest groups like the NRA or the AARP, bankers, racial groups, etc, etc...

Under corporatism, individual rights no longer matter much. Government goes about its business attending to the demands and desires of the different 'corporations' in society. The goal is to balance out power as much as possible and keep everybody content. The rights and privileges of any given person depend on which corporation they belong to.

Obama seems to have firmly embraced corporatism. The health care reform debacle was a classic example - writing law that had very little to do with the rights of citizens and was, instead, a matter of placating the demands of the 'major players' in the industry. Pretty much anytime you hear a leader touting plans to "partner with industry (or any other 'corporation')", you're looking at corporatism.

This kind of government naturally leads to large, well-funded 'interest groups' controlling things. In our society some of the largest, and best funded interest groups are multi-national corporations. Which is why you do, in fact, see a conspicuously large amount of corporate influence on government. But 'hating on corporations' is a vast oversimplification of what's going on.

 

[Barb]

Yeah, good luck with that. Do you feel important now? (you're not)

Why do I need to feel important?

Because you're a little nobody with nothing but juvenile political hysteria to make your irrelevant little life feel significant. It's not working, huh?

You truncated part of my post that you quoted. Kind of a no-no here. Strike a nerve, did it?
Who the fuck are you, anywhine?

 

[EriktheRed]

Yeah, good luck with that. Do you feel important now? (you're not)

Why do I need to feel important?

Because you're a little nobody with nothing but juvenile political hysteria to make your irrelevant little life feel significant. It's not working, huh?

What's your excuse?

 

[Liability]

State corperatism, the GOP dream

30 Major U.S. Corporations Paid More to Lobby Congress Than Income Taxes, 2008-2010 - International Business Times

By employing a plethora of tax-dodging techniques, 30 multi-million dollar American corporations expended more money lobbying Congress than they paid in federal income taxes between 2008 and 2010, ultimately spending approximately $400,000 every day -- including weekends -- during that three-year period to lobby lawmakers and influence political elections, according to a new report from the non-partisan Public Campaign.


Despite a growing federal deficit and the widespread economic stability that has swept the U.S since 2008, the companies in question managed to accumulate profits of $164 billion between 2008 and 2010, while receiving combined tax rebates totaling almost $11 billion. Moreover, Public Campaign reports these companies spent about $476 million during the same period to lobby the U.S. Congress, as well as another $22 million on federal campaigns, while in some instances laying off employees and increasing executive compensation.

Moldy Cock cannot even spell "corporate."

So, it is rather doubtful that his posts are of much higher value.

The answer to the "problem" Moldy Cock "identifies" is pretty obvious. Ergo, it doesn't have any chance of ever penetrating his impervious skull.

Let's get rid of our current tax code and all the thousands of pages or gobbledygook wherein lies all the tax dodging (but perfectly legal and legitimate) deductions for which an army of highly knowledgeable accountants and tax lawyers earn fat fees to use on behalf of the various corporations. Institute a fucking flat tax and allow for no deductions.

Corporations would end up paying, but they'd save tons of money and countless man-hours on the struggle to comply with the reporting requirements, etc. They could have a fixed and readily determinable figure for tax purposes well in advance of each fiscal year. Sure, they'd pass that along, too, but if we are stupid enough to insist on making them pay (when we know they never really do) so be it.

So stop the stupid whining. Pass the flat tax (coupled with a Constitutional Amendment as a precondition which makes any other form of taxation impermissible).

Problem solved.

 

[paulitician]

Barack Obama received five times as much money from Corporate Banks than John McCain did in the last election. This is fact. He's not what his followers think he is. They've been duped. Check out 'The Obama Deception.' It's very interesting and enlightening.

 

[Unkotare]

Why do I need to feel important?

Because you're a little nobody with nothing but juvenile political hysteria to make your irrelevant little life feel significant. It's not working, huh?

What's your excuse?

My excuse for what? I haven't been calling for "a new revolution." Pay attention, idiot.

 

[Unkotare]

Why do I need to feel important?

Because you're a little nobody with nothing but juvenile political hysteria to make your irrelevant little life feel significant. It's not working, huh?

You truncated part of my post that you quoted. Kind of a no-no here.

NO, I quoted the part of your comments to which I wished to respond. Now stop your whining, bitch.