U.S. has 3 branches of Government. Should the Corporate $Dollars$ be the 4th?

I was just considering how much more influence on American policy the Corporate Dollars have. The Corporate influences permitted due to $$$ seems to affect both domestic and international U.S. policies, extremely.

It may seem debatable to some, and not to others. But it is my observation that U.S. policies are greatly influenced through Corporate Lobbiests and $$.

The United States has three branches of government: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial.

Source/Link:
encarta.msn.com... ent.html

So, given how much American policies at home, and abroad, are influenced by the almighty $$$ of Corporate idealism, and Capitalism, would you personally think that perhaps the Corporate Dollar should be considered as powerful and influential as the other 3 branches to the degree that we should consider nominating as being the Fourth Branch of Government? (rhetorical Question)

Summary Question:

With the influence that the Corporate $ has on U.S. policies, would you personnally consider the Corporate $ the Fourth Branch of the U.S.'s government?

Edited to add:

I thank you in advance for your contributions, and your personal input. It is not so much my intentions at having a debate over this, as it is merely to hear other peoples views and perspectives on this.

thanks,
john

[edit on 3-1-2007 by Esoteric Teacher]

Originally posted by Esoteric Teacher
With the influence that the Corporate $ has on U.S. policies, would you personnally consider the Corporate $ the Fourth Branch of the U.S.'s government?

I personally would not say "Corporate Monies" would be the 4th Branch.

The money issue, influential or not, is but only a means of corruption, not another source of rule. The greedy incumbents accept the monies in order to write misrepresenting laws, declare wars when not need be, and to uphold "as Constitutional" those laws that misrepresent the general populous of the United States of America, and to enact "orders" beyond the Constitution to ensure their stay in power.


Again, I completely disagree with the ideal (whether or not you have it) that money would be another branch of government. I whole heartedly pray that one day all money will be removed from politics, as it once was before the corrupt system we now have, came to be. When the incumbents are finished serving their terms, they should "return to the farm", with no "retirement" packages, or any extra-ordinary monetary gains beyond normal payment for services as set forth in the Constitution.

Thank you for allowing me to spend my 2 cents.

Info

[edit on 1/3/2007 by Infoholic]

Corporate money as a branch of the government? I would say that at this point in time it IS the government. It is the single greatest factor in domestic and foriegn policy on both sides of the aisle. What needs to happen is corporate money being removed from the government.

The corporate dollar is not a branch of our government. But it does greatly influence alot of political decisions.

If you want to consider it a "branch of the U.S. government" though, I'd have to say that's a "secret, somewhat hidden, not to be really spoken of" branch.

The only way to stand up against the influence of the corporate dollar is for the people as a whole or a majority to voice their opinions and vote in opposition if they don't agree with decisions made.

And I for one feel that most of the time corporations do not have the majority of U.S. citizen's best interests at heart.

Just money.

I wouldn't consider it a branch of government unless such a definition were to include ALL special interest lobbying groups. The traditional corporate sources are just part of of the issue. There are various other sources of lobbying money that have enormous weight that are not typically considered 'corporate' in nature.

You guys have brought up some good points, all of you. Even though it seems some people lean one way more than the other, it is the sharing of perspectives that helps us learn new things. And you guys have given me a few thoughts.

Some of the thoughts i have had are:

* If we were to consider the corporate $ as a branch, then why not the people? I had the thought that somewhere in the jargon of democracy is the phrase: "of the people, for the people, by the people", yet the people are represented by branches who in good faith create laws and organizations who create laws, where the people never gave them such authority. (example of this is the FACC) which regulates free speach, which is not too free anymore.

* Another thought i had yesterday while watching the science channel's "Global Warming: What you need to know, with Tom Brokaw".
My thought was "you've got to be kidding me".

It seems that congress has refused to join other countries in a clean air "treaty" (?) for over a decade now, the two major reasons are they feel it will prevent fair trade, but mostly their arguement is that more research has to be conducted on the subject. Specialists from different scientific disciplines across the spectrum say otherwise. One scientist said:"It is like they are choosing to sit in the control room of a nuclear reactor and press buttons, hoping nothing bad happens. Science is saying if we continue on our present course, we can expect to see millions of species of plant and animals go extinct by 2100.

America is 5% of the world population. America is responsible for 25% of the worlds green house emissions, affecting everyone on the planet.

The 4th branch of the government is the media!!

In some ways, that should be a good thing. But since the media is controlled by massive corporations that use the news solely to promote their products and inflate their profits, so the media is bad!!

The FCC, under the guise of "protecting decency" has all sorts of regulation, and "de-regulation" which makes it possible for only the super rich to own the media. And more and more the media is falling into the hands of fewer and fewer large corporations. You cant get the truth out of media, only corporate propaganda and advertising!!

The media is intended to inform people what is going on so we can make informed decisions. Without a free media we do not have a free society!

The media is also supposed to serve as a check and a balance against government waste or abuse of authority. More and more, however, the media is just used to brainwash people!

There are massive conflicts of interest in the media;

* NBC is owned by GE. GE is a defense contractor that makes money off of wars. GE is also in the business of building Nuclear reactors, and whens the last time you heard anything bad about wars or nuclear reactors in the news?

* ABC is owned by Disney. Disney uses ABC to brainwash people that federal regulation preventing Disney from buying up more media outlets are pointless and should be reversed. The outcome is that people actually believe Disney should be allowed to own more media outlets and the consolidation continues. Instead of having a choice over where we get our news, we have the illusion of choice. All major media outlets are owned by 3 large corporations. There is no competition, only the illusion of competition.

There are some MUST SEE videos on this subject;

Immortal Technique raps about the 4th Branch and Media Plutocracy!! - Exposes a lot of common misconceptions. Read about the history of the place that we live in and stop letting corporate news tell lies to your children!!!

"Conspiracy Theory Rock" - Saturday Night Live cartoon that exposes the truth but was censored by NBC!!! This short skit lays it all out for you to see!! Its funny and very entertaining! Please share it with your friends and loved ones!!!

Orwell Rolls in his grave - The truth about controlled media in America!! - - Exposes how bad the media has gotten and why? because nobody knows and nobody cares!!!!!

Originally posted by sp00n1
The 4th branch of the government is the media!!

I admit, there certainly is some logic in this statement sp00n1.
I can't make much of an arguement against it, but to say this:
Who's agenda do they serve, and why? Most media, if not all, is owned by corporations, and they compete for rating numbers, which for them equals more money. Other than that, i would have to agree with your logic concerning the media. Right or wrong, it is a legitimate and justified claim.


As for the rest of your post, very well said.

Personally i would like a mod to recognize your contribution. I have no more wats for this month, but i will reserve one for you come Feb.

May i suggest you author a thread concerning the media. I'm sure such a thread would do rather well. It would most certainly be noticed by ATS members. Come up with a catchy title, like:

1) "Media Circus, the Great decievers!"
2) "The media, corporate lapdogs"
3) "Press in bed with Corporations"
4) "News is the long arm of someones agenda"

Just some suggestions. I promise if you choose not to author such a thread in the next week or 2, i will give it a shot.

Thanks for the contribution,
john

Yes, i follow your logic; The media is owned, operated, and influenced by corporations.

I entirely agree that corporations exert way too much control over our country. We live in the Incorporated States of America.

Political influence is bought and sold. Dollars weigh more than votes.

It doesnt matter which puppet we elect, they all serve the same special interests!

I dont know that corporations are a branch of the government or if they are the government. They serve as an all-encompassing force that injects their political views into every media outlet. They control all public policy foreign and domestic...

There is no place left to hide, and voters are all too apathetic and ignorant to change the system!

Given the fact that our politics is nothing more than a big corporate rule power . . . I think they should make it a branch in the government.

like that instead of using our hard earned tax payer money to finance wars for profits, they will be forced to used their own corrupted dirty money to finance their wars.

Then our arm forces should be privatized so our soldiers have a change to put a price to their lives to see if the corporate barons bid for their services and see if they can afford them.

No like now that our soldiers are at the mercy of the corporate power for pennies on the dollar.

[edit on 9-1-2007 by marg6043]

I want less whining and more proof of individual corruption.

Originally posted by marg6043

Then our arm forces should be privatized so our soldiers have a change to put a price to their lives to see if the corporate barons bid for their services and see if they can afford them.

No like now that our soldiers are at the mercy of the corporate power for pennies on the dollar.

My first thought after reading this was:

American Military = Corporate Mercinaries???

Thought i'd share.

Thanks for the insight Marg. True words indeed.

kindest regards,
john

Originally posted by Johnmike
I want less whining and more proof of individual corruption.

What if the truth is not consistant with your expectations?

Originally posted by Johnmike
I want less whining and more proof of individual corruption.

I think this was directed to me, perhaps you know what lobbyist are? right?

Then you understant what their jobs are in Washington, right?

So here is a link of how Private interest influences public policy.

You know what private interest is, right?

And What public policy is all about, right?

Do the regular American people can afford millions of dollars on lobbyist in Washington so they can lobby for the interest of the American citizens?

That is why we elect officials in Washington, but that is not what they actually do once in power.

Take a nice tour of the link.

An ongoing investigation into the state of federal lobbying in the U.S

www.publicintegrity.org...