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Corporations Aren't People

Why would my problem be with Uncle Sam? Is it because he works on their behalf? Yes, true. Their lobbying power gives them plenty of sway. I've never claimed otherwise. Actually, that is my entire point. They get their cake and eat it too.

Whose power is greater, those that influence politicians once in office or those who can actually elect/reelect an individual to office?
 
Why would my problem be with Uncle Sam? Is it because he works on their behalf? Yes, true. Their lobbying power gives them plenty of sway. I've never claimed otherwise. Actually, that is my entire point. They get their cake and eat it too.

Lobbying, lobbying, lobbying. The good ol' leftist boogeyman.

It's accounting tricks. Like with carryover - if I beat you in a game of basketball for 20 bucks, say "double or nothing tomorrow", you agree, and beat me tomorrow - is it any different than me beating you today, you giving me 20 bucks, you beating me tomorrow, and me giving you 20 bucks?

Corporations aren't trying to screw you out of anything. They pay plenty. In fact, they should pay a lot less, seeing as how the IRS still gets money through a corporation's employees and shareholders.

Why isn't your problem with the over half of America not paying a damn dime? You seem to have pretty selective outrage when it comes to taxation and what people "owe".
 
If you tell corporations that they'll start being taxed like individuals, you'll see every CEO of every major corporation strain his fat, old body doing somersaults in his suit.

I doubt it because the wealthy are given the incentive to move more money offshore and they made sure they were given that advantage.
 
Whose power is greater, those that influence politicians once in office or those who can actually elect/reelect an individual to office?

Both. Money influences who will get elected into office and also who influences policy.
 
I doubt it because the wealthy are given the incentive to move more money offshore and they made sure they were given that advantage.

Are individuals not required to report income from all sources, both foreign and domestic?
 
Lobbying, lobbying, lobbying. The good ol' leftist boogeyman.

It's accounting tricks. Like with carryover - if I beat you in a game of basketball for 20 bucks, say "double or nothing tomorrow", you agree, and beat me tomorrow - is it any different than me beating you today, you giving me 20 bucks, you beating me tomorrow, and me giving you 20 bucks?

Corporations aren't trying to screw you out of anything. They pay plenty. In fact, they should pay a lot less, seeing as how the IRS still gets money through a corporation's employees and shareholders.

Why isn't your problem with the over half of America not paying a damn dime? You seem to have pretty selective outrage when it comes to taxation and what people "owe".

They are trying to take full advantage of the system. They want their cake and eat it too. They want to make higher profits coupled with lower responsibility with taxes.
 
I doubt it because the wealthy are given the incentive to move more money offshore and they made sure they were given that advantage.

No, you don't doubt it because individuals pay a considerably lower tax rate than corporations.
 
I found this opinion piece by Harold Meyerson to be spot on concerning corporations being brought in to the world of personhood.

Is it alright for corporations to speak for their employees on all matters as a collective? I don't think so.

Also consider this: Where does this corporations-are-people business start and stop? Note the excerpt from Meyerson's piece:

Harold Meyerson makes one think about personhood, don't you think? What about wars? People are drafted and go to wars, why not include corporations? Corporations get to itemize a lot of things on their taxes more than the average Joe or Jane. Why do they get to be a special person with extraordinary fiscal relationships with the state?

Yes, I think Scalia is looking to see how he is going to open this can of worms -- real carefully.
There are different kinds of "person"s under the law. Corporations are not being treated as Natural Persons, they are being treated as Legal Persons because they are made of Natural Persons who's rights need protecting. You aren't protecting the corporations, you are protecting all the people composing the corporations.

If you divorce corporations from "personhood" then you expose everyone's personal data as corporations will no longer be protected by the right to privacy.

So **** all the fiscal crap your source is talking about.
 
Are individuals not required to report income from all sources, both foreign and domestic?

Yes, but the wealthy will get an incentive:

"Yet despite Uncle Sam's aggressive campaign, some advisers are seeing new tax advantages—fully legal—in investments based offshore. That edge could grow if Congress cuts tax deductions for upper-income earners and the 3.8% tax on investment income takes effect in 2013 as scheduled.

So if a taxable investor faces a choice between an offshore investment fund and an onshore version, "we find that many are better served by the offshore version," says Robert Gordon, chief executive of Twenty-First Securities in New York, an adviser to the wealthy." Tax Report: What's Next for Offshore Accounts? - WSJ.com
 
Are individuals not required to report income from all sources, both foreign and domestic?

Americans making their money overseas do not pay federal taxes on it, up to a certain amount (which is quite high). The only difference is that corporations, should they ever repatriate that money, immediately owe tax on it. Individuals don't. Form 2555 from the IRS.

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Seriously, I'm having a blast here. I hope it keeps up a while longer. I'm not quite ready to leave for the night.
 
Are you referring to those who pay capital gains tax?

They do too. But no, I'm not referring to hedge fund billionaires who can effectively pay 15% tax. The highest tax bracket of individual earned ordinary income is lower than the corporate tax rate - and they itemize just like corporations do. There are very few "loopholes" corporations can capitalize on that individuals cannot, were they to have similar gross income/revenue.
 
They do too. But no, I'm not referring to hedge fund billionaires who can effectively pay 15% tax.

Okay, because I was going to agree with you. As far as your other point, AMT taxes harm many middle income people so they really aren't making out like corporations or the wealthy at all.
 
And I'll believe they are not one when they can no longer be taxed on income...

and when individual, REAL people can get the tax exemptions and have access to their government like corporations are afforded, the world will be sunshine and bliss...

:roll:
 
So the NLRB just came out and said it's OK for the UFCW to hand out $50 gift cards to anyone who protests Walmart. If the government is OK with allowing that to go on then shouldn't they also allow Walmart to spend money to present their side of the discussion?

Labor Relations Board OKs unions paying people to protest Walmart | WashingtonExaminer.com

That's a good point that even Corporations need representation and in an "ideal world" they wouldn't abuse their power and people wouldn't scrum for handouts. Somewhere in the middle is a reasonable solution but I still don't like these mega-corps or an ever sprawling bureaucracy.
 
That's a good point that even Corporations need representation and in an "ideal world" they wouldn't abuse their power and people wouldn't scrum for handouts. Somewhere in the middle is a reasonable solution but I still don't like these mega-corps or an ever sprawling bureaucracy.

I am wholly opposed to allowing an organized government decide that an organized public should be without say. Whether that public should choose to organize as a union, a committee or a corporation is immaterial when it comes to protecting the right to free speech.
 
I am wholly opposed to allowing an organized government decide that an organized public should be without say. Whether that public should choose to organize as a union, a committee or a corporation is immaterial when it comes to protecting the right to free speech.


I can't completely agree with that because it gives companies doing business similar rights that individual citizens should only have. The same way companies have certain freedoms that people don't have because they're treated as a "for profit organization" and therefore need a different set of rules to be governed by.
 
They do too. But no, I'm not referring to hedge fund billionaires who can effectively pay 15% tax. The highest tax bracket of individual earned ordinary income is lower than the corporate tax rate - and they itemize just like corporations do. There are very few "loopholes" corporations can capitalize on that individuals cannot, were they to have similar gross income/revenue.

That's not entirely accurate. There are lots of deductions a corporation can take that an individual can't.
 
Why would my problem be with Uncle Sam? Is it because he works on their behalf? Yes, true. Their lobbying power gives them plenty of sway. I've never claimed otherwise. Actually, that is my entire point. They get their cake and eat it too.

The Green Lobby has gotten way more handouts and wields far more lobbying power, but Libbos never bitch about that. Why?

Do you know how many people we could buy insurance for with the half-a-billion dollars we lost on Solyndra?
 
There are different kinds of "person"s under the law. Corporations are not being treated as Natural Persons, they are being treated as Legal Persons because they are made of Natural Persons who's rights need protecting. You aren't protecting the corporations, you are protecting all the people composing the corporations.

If you divorce corporations from "personhood" then you expose everyone's personal data as corporations will no longer be protected by the right to privacy.

So **** all the fiscal crap your source is talking about.
Well if businesses get that right I too should have it. Go back and read the piece -- especially the bankruptcy part.
 
Well if businesses get that right I too should have it. Go back and read the piece -- especially the bankruptcy part.
No thanks, better things to do.
 
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