I agree with Mr. Cohen (Nov. 25 CVN) that corporations are not human beings. Corporations are, however, subject to taxation and regulation by the legislative, and by decisions rendered by the judiciary branches. To deny them participation in the political process seems to me a clear case of taxation, regulation and judgment without representation.
I might be persuaded to back a concept that only individuals are entitled to participate in the political process. However, Bill Gates, George Soros, and Warren Buffett might have significantly more influence than humans with lesser resources. I’m sure we could find a way to moderate the influence of the rich, who are not really part of the We the People anyway. It might be more difficult to find a way to handle the non-humans which have increasingly significant influence on political activity both financially and otherwise in recent years. I refer to entities such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, public and private sector unions, ACLU, ACLJ, ACORN, Heritage Foundation, TIDES and a plethora of political action committees.
Of course, we could devise a mechanism to decide which of these non-humans would be allowed to participate in the political process. I might agree to such a mechanism as long as it’s understood up front that I get to decide who participates and who does not.
The bottom line is that our elected representatives and their hirelings are humans and subject to being corrupted. If they are for sale, the source of the bribe money is secondary.
Bob Lix