Let's incorporate! We progressives just have to get with the times. I say I'm willing to make the sacrifice with Warren Buffett and George Soros to form a corporation to "Save the USA" and restore rule by the people. It's tough out there, but sometimes such action is called for. Soros and Buffett, how about if we call it the "Cross Party Corporation for Restoring Democracy to the USA"? I'm game if they are. "It's time" as Australian Labor said in that 1972 federal election campaign that party won for the people.

So long as political contributions are regarded as speech, the average American is screwed. Even if we could end corporate personhood we'd be screwed (even though I'd be very happy to see corporations neutered and taken out of the political equation completely).

You may be shocked to discover that, even in this advanced age of enlightened thinking, CORPORATIONS CAN'T VOTE.

That's right. The most basic right of a citizen in a democracy is denied to corporations. As a consequence, the only way these "second class" citizens can participate in the political process is through campaign contributions and advertising.

Will you allow these great engines of commerce to be discriminated against like this? Must they forever be forced to employ lobbyists to stand in their place in the halls of democracy?

Contact your representatives NOW and demand that corporations be given full equal rights. It's time for an end to this blatant anti-corporate discrimination.

Brough to you by Equal Rights for All Citizens

Let the revolution begin.

The USA is now, officially, a fascist state.

At least the gloves have come completely off, and it is clear as day as to what we are dealing with. There should be no more pretense about "democracy" or voting as it is a complete sham.

I'm with Hedges, it's time to revolt and start building our communities over again, develop networked strategies for non-capitalist production, trade and exchange of goods. A lot of communities have already started with local currencies. I am particularly interested in how these non-capitalist currencies can be used to exchange goods across long distances, as travel will become expensive in the future.

There is a simple statutory fix to McCain/Feingold (the campaign finance law). Limit political contributions to US citizens and to groups (i.e., corporations, partnerships, unions, etc.) with 100% US citizen membership. This basically would limit corporate contributions to smaller corporations with a limited number of shareholders.

Make it a serious felony, even treason, for any group with non-US citizen members to contribute. This would eliminate contributions from almost all major contributions and I believe it would withstand any legal challenge. Although everyone has a right to free speech, not everyone has a right to participate in a particular country's elections. I never voted in Saudi Arabia and never contributed any money to the king's campaigns, so Saudi Arabians and other non-citizens should keep away from our elections.

I don't even have to read what everyone else wrote. Now our corporate government, which exports its gains to Costa Rica or other tax havens, dictates everything. Caterpillar Tractor can claim as a loss on its exports and claim as a gain from a tax haven, which doesn't charge anything for the gain.. Oooh la la. They are all in it together. Don't think that Obama doesn't know. He knows and he is winking.

So, Corporations will be allowed to give unlimited donations but we humans are limited to specific dollar amounts...I guess that means we have been determined to be second class.

The word corporation does not appear in the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution was written by and for people...I guess that means the conservatives really don't care or care to know about what the Constitution really says...and they spent all that time reading the entire thing during their first day of session too.

So this proves that the Corporations or any rich political person can now get around the spending limits of ordinary people by giving money or buying votes from ordinary people to vote for the rich party.
It is not about just corporations as about big money... it seems now even a rich individual can give money to lots of voters to win an election on any matter.

If you want to form a corporation to fight this, wouldn't it just be endorsing the crime of money buying votes? While trying to raise money would be your burden against the billionaires and millionaires and since money is the game do you want to play the money game with the big boys?

There must be a better way, but maybe not.

Quick solution: Only vote for candidates who agree to donate all their corporate contributions to the Federal Deficit/Debt.

It's not just that we have been disenfranchized (who can vote against BP or Goldman) but that we have been enslaved. Filthy rich (tax exempt) corporations and individuals can now bribe all of our elected officials to crush the people with taxes for the benefit of corporate bonuses and bailouts. It's time to emegrate.

How would a corporation be put in prison?

Another day another disaster as the hits just keep on coming. It's really very simple: money is everything and we exist just as a vehicle to manifest money (just like crystal methamphedamine users exist to manifest the various dark characteristics of their drug) . We are not human beings (that ended some time ago), we are not citizens (because there is really no sovereign states any more, just the corporate transnational consortium of the wealthy), we are, for worse or worser, just consumers and if we don't consume enough we will be swept away by the systems narco/police/military/street sweepers force.

So if money is intrinsic essence of beingness then, let's us say, Carlos Slim decides to leave the bulk of his fortune to his pet Chihuahua Peco, then he could rightly through his legal "bark specialist" order that on every street corner world wide there be a gold plated fire hydrants so his aging bladder could let every bitch in town know he's available for servicing.

Peco might also establish laws that made it mandatory for fleeing cars, trucks and trains to slow down to a crawl when dogs are in pursuit. Of course they would have juicy bones on the back for reward of a chase well pursued.

Also has anyone really every heard a corporation talk? As a young college kid I worked summers at American Can Co. (that is until I wised up and became a lifeguard) and at various times worked all three shifts on the 24 hour schedule. Not once in all my late night stints or early morning hangover hours did I ever hear a peep from the corp. Never once said it was tired from working 24/7, or horny, or afraid of becoming old or dying. Just nothing.

Speaking of dying, if corporations are going to have human rights like free speech then they should have the same privileges of all sentient being.... that of dying (as it stands now death and taxes don't seem to apply to corps and this must be corrected to give them whole humanhood). So say american (or maybe american't) corps would live to the average age of the american male (is it 79) because all corps are very male..... (I've got Sioux Rose's backing on this). So in this case once that age is reached then after a brief hospice ceremony there would be a huge estate auction where everything would be marked down to 1950's (a year everyone seems to like, probably because it was the boomers first conscious memoried year) prices.

Again if corporations are to have human privileges like free speech then all of them should be privileged to go to prison for various and sundry transgressions just like humans (especially pooer one's). If found guilty by a group of inferior peers (think humans) it would be impractical to move a corp to a prison. What would be most expedient is to have workmen show up on Monday morning and put bars on all the doors and windows of said corporation. Naturally the little bees inside would have to remain there to make sure the corp didn't commit suicide or some other flagrant act of disregard for authority.

Well I'm going to continue to play with these ideas and present them at the next G8 or is it G20 now? Or maybe G I don't give a fuck!

No sense in reinvienting the wheel folks. There is an organized group working to amend the U.S. Constitution. It is not a simple process but it is possible in the age of the internet. The URL is www.movetoamend.org. You might check to see if there is a chapter already in your state. Simply insert the name of your state between amend and org. If there is not a chapter, yet, in your state, form one.You might try Googling your state, too.
If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

for all of you who can't see what the hell is going on, your choices for political office are now seriously wrecked. money buys every thing including elections.. hope you like more scott walkers and rick Scott's cause fascism is truly here.

your OWNERS have spoken

How does all this affect Unions and their campaign giving? Have they been under the same restrictions as Corporations?
I'd like to think that everyone, including unions and corporations enjoy complete freedom of speech.

Four or five years ago thirty thousand US citizens left this country for destinations unknown and I'm sure that most of them do not regret their move.So I'm with you Queen Lets get the f-- out of this country with its vast corruption its crooked courts,brutal police,its amoral politicians,the illegal spying on its citizens,its constant fear-mongering of imminent attacks from an unseen group of terrorists keeping us in a state of fear,the unjust wars that we are waging "to protect our freedom and our lives." What a farce and a complete insane sacrifice of those who wont be coming home except in a sealed aluminum box and those who are crippled beyond any hope of being "normal" again. It's time to leave this country with a president that accepted twenty million dollars for his "election campaign" and lied so much about the wars, the banks,the economy the unemployed and his promises regarding jobs and protecting those who were about to lose their homes and pushing through a health care bill that is no help for the twenty million people who still cannot afford health insurance. He has done nothing for the environment by allowing drilling in Alaska and continued drilling in the gulf.He is coming close to cowering before his henchmen in the GOP and allowing serious change in medicare and social security two programs that so many people rely on for their existence. He has not allowed the obscene tax breaks to the rich to expire and will probably extend them! He refuses to raise taxes, something he is going to have to do to even help reduce our idiotic national debt. He has to end the wars we are currently involved in and bring all our troops home and close all the permanent bases that he has allowed to spring up over night in countries we should"nt even be thinking about creating a military presence in. He should cut all the waste out of government,including all the perks that the crooked,corrupt politicians sitting on their asses making private deals with big business to line their own pockets.
So you see, there are a thousand other reasons to leave this country and look for happiness and freedom in another place far from here. It will take me awhile to make my arrangements but I will be leaving soon before the government does not allow anyone to leave voluntarily!!! and the beat goes on................................

This decision seems like a total reach to me -- "judicial activism" to coin a phrase. The case concerned two INDIVIDUALS who broke campaign laws by reimbursing other INDIVIDUALS for their contributions. So corporate giving doesn't even enter in. I think it may be overturned.

Nevertheless we need to move to amend the Contstitution to end "corporate personhood". The corporations will always take advantage of us if they can because they have no morality (that is one of the ways in which they are not persons).

So just so I am clear. Does this means that the international oil companies, the fracking natural gas companies, the C02 mafia coal companies and the Koch brothers are now going to finance Sarah Palin?

Corporations making contributions to federal candidates = Plutocracy (i.e., government by the wealthy)

Looking at the political culture and landscape in the United States we can see that a theocratic corporate state is being installed in many states making women second class citizens with no right to decide what to do with their own bodies, stripping unions of their hard fought for rights to collective bargaining and putting in place new voter suppression laws that will make it extremely hard for democrats to win elections. Opening the floodgates to even more corporate cash will only accelerate the movement towards fascism that has been going on for many years now.

Well at least we know who's running the country.

"When big business controls the government, it is fascism." ~~ Franklin D, Roosevelt ~~

Everything is for sale but most of us can't afford any of it.

ol·i·gar·chy [ol-i-gahr-kee]
–noun, plural -chies.
1. a form of government in which all power is vested in a few persons or in a dominant class or clique; government by the few.
2. a state or organization so ruled.
3. the persons or class so ruling.

plu·toc·ra·cy [ploo-tok-ruh-see]
–noun, plural -cies.
1. the rule or power of wealth or of the wealthy.
2. a government or state in which the wealthy class rules.
3. a class or group ruling, or exercising power or influence, by virtue of its wealth.

fas·cism  [fash-iz-uhm]
–noun
1. A governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.
2. ( sometimes initial capital letter ) the philosophy, principles, or methods of fascism.

Thanks Demonstorm, interesting.

Here is a link that gives a bit more on Fascism, and a comment from the article in the link.

("Fascism,,, is the unchecked rule of a class of the privileged, or relatively rich, in power--a full-scale assault on poor and working people. Parliamentary institutions are usually set aside, or so demeaned as to be meaningless.") Does that remind us of anything? __ We are on the way for a dictatorship someday.

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Fascism/What_Is_Fascism_Gibson.html