Supreme Court Removes Limits on Corporate, Labor Donations to Campaigns

Read my location..........................it says it all.

By the corporations and for the corporations.

Well at least who is running America is now out in the open.

I've been saying this for years.

Who is running America? Have you ever asked that question?
Under the doctrine of Parens Patriae, "Government As Parent", as a result of the manipulated bankruptcy of the United States of America in 1930, ALL the assets of the American people, their person, and of our country itself are held by the Depository Trust Corporation at 55 Water Street, NY, NY, secured by UCC Commercial Liens, which are then monetized as "debt money" by the Federal Reserve. It may interest you to know that under the umbrella of the Depository Trust Corporation lies the CEDE Corporation, the Federal Reserve Corporation, the American Bar Association, the legal arm of the banking interests, and the Internal Revenue Service, the system's collection agency.

Now you know who is running America!

www.barefootsworld.net...

If all the "common" folk do not rise up and demand that Washington kick Corporate America out of their beds we will only have more jobs leaving America, being the only country with outrageous health care costs, having forclosures in the millions and homelessness.

Look at the Wall Street Bailout.

But, the average American is sitting by and taking no action.

We have become sheep and the truck we are on is headed towards the slaughter house. In fact, the truck is almost there folks.

We are all going to either hang together or die alone.

Read my location...........it was chosen 2007 when I joined ATS.

This has been going on for ages, it's now just out in the open which means there will be no turning back. TPTB are now not even afraid to have it out in the open.

Our Corporate Owners own America not the people and it's been that way for a long time.

The Supreme Court has long been the victim of a hostile takeover by Big Money interests - it is a court now headed by a corporate lawyer that has repeatedly gone out of its way to protect Corporate America's ability to bleed the middle class dry. Today's ruling, though, is particularly egregious. Not only did the court strike down an important ruling, but it essentially emasculated taxpayers' ability to bring any such lawsuits against their own government in the future.

The details are as shocking as they are disgusting. As the Associated Press reports, "Two years ago, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Ohio's tax credit on new equipment, saying the practice hinders interstate commerce because the incentives are available only to businesses that invest in Ohio." In other words, the credits are creating a race to the bottom that taxpayers argue violates interstate commerce laws, whereby states and cities are competing with each other to give away more and more taxpayer cash to Big Business. In the Ohio case, the tax credit was used to give DaimlerChrysler roughly $300 million in taxpayer cash - cash that Toledo's county auditor says was siphoned away from local schools, forcing the city to close up to nine schools or fire 380 school workers.

In striking down the lower court ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court not only ruled against Ohio taxpayers, but against all taxpayers. Chief Justice John Roberts, formerly a corporate lawyer, said in the official opinion that "State taxpayers have no standing ... to challenge state tax or spending decisions simply by virtue of their status as taxpayers." In other words, not only will the Ohio law remain, but state taxpayers throughout the country now have no legal right to challenge the decisions of their bought-and-paid-for elected officials who are selling off our government to the highest bidder.

To get a sense of just how far reaching an affront to taxpayers' rights this ruling is, consider that USA Today earlier reported that taxpayers in other states were moving forward with similar cases. As just one example, in North Carolina, taxpayers have challenged the state's $242 million giveaway to Dell Computer. Now, the Supreme Court has essentially said they aren't even allowed to bring such a case.

Remember - these taxpayer giveaways are accelerating and come at a huge cost in terms of higher taxes for individuals. As USA Today noted, "In 1977, nine states gave tax credits to corporations [but] by 1998, that number had grown to 36." At the same time, "individual income taxes are growing at a faster rate than corporate income taxes" because state/local governments are recovering the tax giveaways from ordinary citizens. According to the Census Bureau, "corporate income taxes collected rose 6.5% from 1994 to 2004, while individual income taxes collected went up 49.7%."

Also remember that, as Greg LeRoy notes in his book The Great American Jobs Scam, these taxpayer giveaways often do not result in the benefits Big Business promises. In fact, many of the corporations that receive these taxpayer giveaways never even follow through on the economic development or job creation they promise.

But then, that's what this is really all about: bought-off politicians giving away our hard-earned taxpayer dollars to already wealthy corporations without demanding anything in return. We see this with the Medicare bill and how it gives away more than $1 trillion to the health care/pharmaceutical industries without demanding these industries lower their prices (in fact, the bill prohibits the government from negotiating lower prices for medicines). We see it with the energy bill and how it gives away billions in new tax breaks to oil companies without asking them to lower their prices. And we see it with corporate welfare.

As I note in my new book Hostile Takeover, this is the best we can hope for from our corrupt government: policies that shower Big Business with taxpayer cash in order to bribe companies to do things. This throw-money-at-the-problem corruption substitutes for a government that should be asserting itself as a protector of ordinary citizens by forcing powerful economic institutions to play by a set of rules. Now, thanks to the Supreme Court, taxpayers have even less of a legal right to try to force their own government to fight back against this hostile takeover.

www.huffingtonpost.com...

[edit on 22-1-2010 by ofhumandescent]

With all due respect to Ziggy, who has criticized some of my posts as being "off-topic", you can't look at this Court ruling without looking at the level of Corporate influence already present within the legislative agenda.
You must look at the precedent being set in the Healthcare reform legislation that "forces" citizens to by products, healthcare insurance, from Corporations, insurance companies, or risk fines and imprisonment. All of this is being marketed as a necessary response to the Healthcare crisis.

So, if this health care legislation becomes law and sets that precedent, what products from which Corporations will we be forced to buy in response to the Energy crisis, or the housing crisis, or global warming, or pandemics. First they will market a crisis, just as they did with swine flu, then they will market the products that you "must buy", at literally the point of a gun, to solve the crisis, and they will do it through future legislation.

The ruling made by supposedly conservative members of the Supreme Court provides further evidence that the left vs. right, Republican vs. Democrat public battles are nothing more than an effort to entertain us and distract us from focusing on the shared agenda

Gee wonder how this passed.

Most of the Surpreme Court Justices that voted for this s*&% where appointed by non other than George W. Bush Jr.

Surprise surprise.................his final trump card.

[edit on 22-1-2010 by ofhumandescent]

Well, I think it's like this now. The corporate gangsters just had whatever checks were in place before, removed. America is now a lawless society. I say lawless because, the laws they will be enacted, which ones will be enforced and NOT enforced, will no longer be determined by the govt. the constitution is no longer in the picture. The corporations run this town. The corporations are now defined as "a person", with all the legal rights that implies. except, many of these "persons" have UNLIMITED RESOURCES. They have absolute, unchecked power. The laws will now be decided by other "persons" just like them. I think you all really need to let the implications of that sink in. they can do anything they want. they can buy any politician, enact any law. ANY. Obama will not see a second term, unless he does their bidding. Neither will anyone else up for reelection in november, or any election after that. this goes down to every level of elected office, including school boards.

America's journey from freedom to fascism is complete. Now what?...

What I find interesting with this whole thing is that with everything going on in this country.....that is the kind of cases in front of the supreme court. I think there are numerous other priorities that should be in the front. For instance....

911.
AIG.
The War.
Why banks took the bailout and are generating bonuses for their executives.
Why are we sending so much aid overseas, when our citizens of this country are suffering. If your child is starving, would you feed someone else's child instead?
Why is our educational system lacking so much?


The name of this country should be changed to the United Corporations of America.

We are nothing to them. Just a number. I think during the next election no one should vote for anyone. Maybe they will start listening to us then.

[edit on 22-1-2010 by Conclusion]

The only reason that this is possible is because how after the bail out corporations knows that they owns us, that people in America without the uprising and anger expected already are falling into the Patern of getting used to be owned by them, they also are celebrating that American has also gotten used to have a corporate owned government that are willing to just let things go than raise against them.

This is the result of the apathy that have taken over the population in America.

Like the posters before me pointed out for now on propaganda geared int he name of political backing will be infused none stop into the malleable brains of the gullible Americans, the rest of us that see whats going on for what it is, (a take over and manipulation) will be nothing but dissenters against the system, occur laws will be passed to deal with the pesky conspiracies theorist and crazies out there.

[edit on 22-1-2010 by marg6043]

Keith lays it out in the most profound way. If there is video you should ever see on ATS its this one.

Thanks for the video, I love his program, this what I been trying to tell all alone, money talks BS walk and like he said the prostitutes in Washington will be selling their goods for money, no for the people that elected them to serve.

I call them whores.

This what we have become and we are the only ones to blame for it.

I was just watching a debate on this issue on CSpan. A caller from Illinois made a point, that the proponent of this decision, arguing that corporations are persons, didn't have time to respond to.

The caller said that if corporations wish to be treated as persons in regard to campaign finance then why shouldn't federal death penalty laws be applied in regards to capital crimes committed by corporations.

I'm not sure this would mean much considering that corporations can change their names and are essentially born again whenever public opinion turns against them but it's certainly an interesting point that I'd like to see debated.

reply to post by AllexxisF1


More bullsh*t from that asshat Keith Olberman! He's a freaking nut,Hates the hell out of Republicans.

What Olberman says is going to happen,sort of sounds like the Society of the 1974 movie "Rollerball".

reply to post by winston37


Now they don't even have to do that anymore, they just buy themselves some politicians to prop them in congress and there you have it, more laws to protect the "big pimp that has become corporate power in the US"

They have been doing this for a long time, now they have the supreme court behind to back them up with more Appointed whores to their disposal.

Freedom of speech to benefit only the few, we the rest will be squached for going against them.



[edit on 22-1-2010 by marg6043]

I suggest everyone that's upset about this change their facebook status/tweet/socially blare a simple message:

"1/21 - Never Forget"


Let's see if we can take this message viral.

This is 9/11 for America's democracy...

If you're really pissed do it now!

reply to post by seethelight


Let's enjoy while it last, when the interned will be taken over and no site will be left without corporate run propaganda and laws to support it.

Ramifications, ramifications, ramifications, the cookie jar is open and the goodies for corporate Pimps is just unlimited.

reply to post by marg6043


Politics Today aren't any different than they were before McCain-Feingold was passed in the 90s. I don't think the ruling by the High Court will have all that much impact. If Unions and other Liberal Organisations can give large amounts of money,I don't see why Companies can't.

reply to post by BigDaveJr


They have been doing it, is call soft money but with the ruling the cookie jar is just been opened, now is unrestricted, buying politicians is not new but it has its limits, now one corporation can buy 50 percent of congress and have then do what they want, ramifications, just imagine the damage at local and state Level.

Money talks BS walk and as corporations are monopolies the ones with most money will get the best candidates and the best laws in their favor.

In ten years it will be no longer political parties run campaign but sponsored corporate groups, wait when political candidates bought up by corporations will start doing commercials to promote products and services, from wars to mandatory commerce, from those that bought them.

No restrictions, no regulations, I guess most Americans has forgotten what unregulated power can do.



[edit on 22-1-2010 by marg6043]

reply to post by marg6043


Sorry, but I don't believe that.

The internet isn't just in America.

If it was things like bit torrent would've disappeared years ago.

The internet is global and the rest of the world, at least big chunks of it, haven't handed over the reign completely to corporations like the US just did.

When the government is completely owned and run by corporations they will kill net neutrality and censor the internet in this country.

Just look at China for God sakes.

Do you honestly think they would leave people a medium that they can organize their anger against the establishment.