Sorry Mitt Romney, corporations are not people just like a person is not like a corporation. That’s like saying 30 million uninsured Americans are irrelevant -- oh wait, that was said! Agree, two different topics but both statements are equally startling and outrageous.
I think what makes Romney’s statement even more outrageous is the context in which it was made. Romney was in Iowa on the campaign trail discussing ways in which the government can help balance the budget. The topic he was discussing was whether people or corporations should be taxed. Romney’s answer -- people should be taxed.
Obviously, Romney understands the way corporations work. He has invested, created, and managed so many over the decades that it's hard to know exactly how many. (The fact that he hasn't disclosed all his tax records doesn't help either.)
But people that are business savvy, such as Romney, know that corporations have many more rights than does a person. For example, corporations have more tax breaks than we do. I suppose that’s one reason that Romney created shell corporations and invested so much of his money in tax havens in the first place. Furthermore, not all corporations are required to follow the same state and federal laws that people are required to, and corporations can donate much more money to political parties and candidates than a person. The list goes on and on.
Some things are just better left unsaid, and suggesting that corporations are people is one of them. It’s a scary thought that the presumptive republican nominee is saying this out loud to Americans that have been looking at one of the worst recessions since the Great Depression. That statement is just plain insensitive and kind of like putting your dog on the roof of your car. Wait, that also really happened.
If the way Romney treats corporations and his dog is any indication of how he’ll treat the American people, well, I don’t want any part of him. His statement is just more bad news for Romney who has struggled with being able to relate to Americans.
This post is part of a weekly conversation with our Moms Matter 2012 political bloggers. To see the original question and what the other writers have to say, see Are Corporations People?
Image via MittRomneys/Flickr
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Comments 24
If someone was to run this country like they run a huge corporation, doing anything they can (no matter who it hurts) to become profitable and successful, the middle class will be run over and left to die so that the elite and uber rich can continue to get more tax breaks, more money, and more power and control.
Just like any money hungry scum bag would do .
Hope you don't mind losing fire fighters, teachers, policemen and any social program you pay into!! Those are all big wastes of money to the big CEO president wanna be!!
And you are exhibiting an equally rudimentary knowledge of corporations. Corporations were formed to limit personal liability and to pool financial resources, and even initially, liability limitations didn't exist. Really, if you think they are people, Melissa, then help me register my corporation to vote. I wouldn't mind having a second vote, after all.
If someone was to run this country like they run a huge corporation, doing anything they can (no matter who it hurts) to become profitable and successful, the middle class will be run over and left to die so that the elite and uber rich can continue to get more tax breaks, more money, and more power and control.
Just like any money hungry scum bag would do .
Hope you don't mind losing fire fighters, teachers, policemen and any social program you pay into!! Those are all big wastes of money to the big CEO president wanna be!!
Melissa - I know it's improbable, but I read your comment and I think - man, I'd love to live in a world where the group that took the hit was "profit." Not hardworking employees, not the hopeless public, and not even the savvy stockholders who fund such enterprises...no, the profit that is allowed to be made should take the hit from justifiable and equal taxes.
My "profit" so to speak...or all the money I make by working my butt off...is both taxed and then used to pay all the other taxes just for attempting to participate in this society. Why should corporations be exempt? Everything else is sacrificed before the profit, and it makes me wish I lived in a teepee a few hundred years before this mess.
What we are seeing here in the post above and in the comments supporting the article is the end result of not receiving an education in economics. People have no idea how our economy works or what running a business actually entails. There is no way to convince the profoundly ignorant of their ignorance. If you really want to understand what owning or running a business really means and what corporations really are then go find some business owners and listen to them, with an open mind. Assume that they know more about corporations than you do (because they do) and educate yourself. Stop spouting off about things you don't understand.
interesting lol
Actually they're just like people, that's essentially what you're doing when you're doing when you incorporate. Creating another person. The EIN number is like a SSN, this "person" now can get a bank account, be hold liable for law suits, and of course file their own taxes. They are to protect the people that run the business by creating a fall guy in case anything terrible happens. So they don't lose their house and are unable to feed their families. How do you think PEOPLE earn incomes? Awww yes the evil corporations. Without them everyone is out of the job. Most obviously there are no jobs so there is no sales tax, income tax, money to pay property tax or the new healthcare tax, so everyone that doesn't work for a corporation ei the government is out of the job too. They are people, very powerful people that decide how many jobs they created based on how much money they have. Unlike the idiotic U.S. government they actually have to solvent to create jobs or pay out their obligations. The fact that Americans don't understand basic legal and business principals like this scares me no wonder we're up a creek without a paddle as far as our economy goes.
Oh and every business in the U.S is a "Corporation" they are a corporation, LLC, LP look around. It's a legal protection not an evil entity, if you're in business and not a corporation you're stupid and probably won't be in business long.