OK, so the 'Baggers wanna repeal the 14th Amendment.

[Jackpine Radical]

If they were to actually accomplish that, it would have one huge unintended consequence for American capitalism.

Corporate personhood is derived from a note appended to a Supreme Court decision by the Reporter, one Bancroft Davis. The SC case was Santa Clara v. Southern Pacific, and the decision in that case in turn rests on the 14th Amendment.

So if they somehow manage to repeal the 14th, in addition to all the evil that would ensue, they would accomplish one major good: They would cut the pins out from under corporate personhood--which would, in turn, screw the Citizens United decision, that relies on Santa Clara (or rather, the Court Reporter's addendum to Santa Clara).

[Scuba]

1. Very interesting Jackpine. But we can't let the 14th be overturned...

...and we need an ammendment to abolish corporate free speech.

[47of74]

2. And such an amendment should also

And such an amendment should also declare that corporations are not people, that the rights of people are superior to those of corporations, and that foreigners may not participate in election campaigns.

[Jackpine Radical]

3. Well, it's not like I want to see these slash & burn idiots on the loose

in the halls of power. I'd love to see some really serious restrictions put on corporations and corporate charters in general. Like sunset clauses. Unless they can prove they're serving the public interest, they don't get renewed. I'd also like to see the wholeCorporate Personhood business zapped, but I know there's too much money moving in the upper echelons of the corpo-government establishment for anything like that to happen anytime soon.

In the meantime I guess we all just hang around waiting for Mrs. O'Leary's cow to kick the lantern.

[unblock]

4. i think though, that any ONE state could pass horrible laws favorable to corporations...

... and then all corporations would shift their headquarters there. of course they already do that (delaware being home, if in the form of a p.o. box only, to 50% of all u.s. corporations) but delaware law can't trump federal law, due to the 14th amendment.

if the 14th amendment were repealed, delaware or alabama or pick-your-state could pass laws giving corporations ridiculous powers, and the federal government would be as powerless to stop them as it was shortly after the civil war.

that one state could give them personhood and more.

[TexasObserver]

5. Indeed. The entire "corporate personhood rights" rests on the 14th.

[Gman]

6. That's a small consolation for reinstating the Dred Scott decision

I would probably renounce my citizenship at that point.

[Scuba]

7. Agreed. Those are seperate issues....

...I wonder if the right is soooo racist that they'd give up corporate free speech for it.