What's wrong with Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan/Chase.

Those two already run the executive branch. I was think more in terms of Congress.

Given that corporations now have full rights of citizenship, how long will it be before one actually does run for a House or Senate seat? If you apply their "personhood" to the language in the Constitution, they should be able to run for Congress as long as they are domestically chartered and have been around for 25 years (30 for the Senate).

Given that the Republicans will control the Supreme Court for at least a decade or so, I just wonder .....

Baby steps, RR, baby steps: They have nailed 1st Amendment rights so the next step for them is the 5th. (Blackwater/Xe seems to have mastered the 2nd.)

Corporation X runs on a platform of repealing state laws granting the privilege of incorporation.

After repeal Corporation X asks SCOTUS to grant protected class status to non-existent non-persons, and requests a remedy of an order requiring states to allow incorporation . . . and the privilege of shielding the personal assets of the people with a beneficial interest in such corporations. The SCOTUS rejects the appeal, due to lack of standing.

Well, if Judge Graber were to hear the claim in the Ninth Circuit it might be resolved similarly to a claim by Northwest Alliance For Market Equality, an unincorporated association, in 318 Or 129 (1993). "In summary, NAME had no standing to appeal to the Tax Court under ORS 305.570(1). That being so, the Tax Court was without jurisdiction to consider the merits * * *"

I believe that there is no state or federal law prohibiting a state from repealing laws allowing for the privilege of incorporation. The Anti-Corporatists could argue for something like this rather than subsidize the explosion in number and size of "non-profit" corporations to steer all manner of goodies (derived from the power to tax) one way or another based on political winds. If non-profit activity were engaged in exclusively by unincorporated entities, without the indirect extension to them of the privilege to tax (or special exemption), this would be a good thing.

Every person is a non-profit, no less so than any artificial entity. Must I create My Name Inc to gain the special privileges now only given to corporations that self-identify as non profit?

"Instead of re-electing Ron Wyden"

'Cause I'm not registered to vote in NY. Besides, as long as he can keep the simps at B-O entertained, he'll get elected.

The best idea I've heard is to require that each candidate must wear the corporate logo of each corporation from which they accept donations...and the logo should be relative to the size of the donation.

Sorta like NASCAR entries.

Taking Godfrey's idea one step more, use the video technology that automatically places the line markers on football games and comet trails on hockey pucks* to show the corporate sponsorship logos whenever the pol appear on a screen.

*No, not a Don Rickles allusion.

Elected? Wyden was elected?

I thought some corporation bought him. I was under the impression that he married the buyer agent, had a ring put in his nose, and was led away to a NY townhouse.

How is this different from Uncle Ted and the Public Employee Unions? Like Molly Ivins said, you gotta dance with the one that brung ya.

Ummm, because voting for Wyden elects all three of the above (and a host of others)? Big businesses operate under the ADM rules (unwisely spoken into a wire) -- "The competition is our friend. The customers are our enemy".

Baby steps, RR, baby steps: They have nailed 1st Amendment rights so the next step for them is the 5th. (Blackwater/Xe seems to have mastered the 2nd.)

Well, the First Amendment doesn't give a "freedom of speech" to people; rather it denies Congress the right to regulate speech. It doesn't mean that Corporations have free speech; it means Congress can't pass a law denying free speech. Since the target (people) is not identified in the Amendment, this court ruling is perfectly legitimate.

As for Blackwater/XE: The 2nd Amendment does clearly state the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed - thus "the people" is defined. Further, whatever your objection to Blackwater/XE is - it didn't happen on U.S. sovereign soil, it happened in Iraq. Different country, different laws. And in general, private businesses do have the right to hire security guards who can be armed.

As for the 5th Amendment, you can certainly sue a corporation (like you can sue an individual) but a corporation itself (as an inanimate object) can't be brought to the stand. However its owners, shareholders, employees, Board, CEO, etc. can be - and THEY (not the Corporation) still have a 5th Amendment right, No person...shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. And various court rulings have already determined that the final clause of the 5th Amendment, nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation, applies to all private property no matter who the owner is (an individual or a corporation).

And the last time I checked, established law gives 4th Amendment rights to corporations as do individuals (The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.)

The correct way to deal with this is to require Congressmen to fully disclose their political contributions (to the penny), to disclose their Congressional time (to the minute), and make the information up-to-date and in real time so you know who your Congressman is beholden to. Certainly wealthy individuals can sway a Congressman as much as a business can.

"Ummm, because voting for Wyden elects all three of the above (and a host of others)? Big businesses operate under the ADM rules (unwisely spoken into a wire) -- "The competition is our friend. The customers are our enemy"."

For Public Employee Unions, there is no competition. And the taxpayers at large (the customers) are the enemy.

How much sicker can a system get?

Elected? Wyden was elected?

Technically, yes. But this guy sure helped him out a lot.

Oooh, so sorry, Erik, I was thinking about Blackwater in New Orleans, NOLA, The Big Easy, but thanks for playing!

Catch the latest extension from out in right field (pay attention):

http://repealthe17thamendment.blogspot.com/2010/01/tony-blankley-repeal-17th-amendment-to.html