Though the decision seems on its face to be ridiculous (can you imagine any corporate charter, which is the birth certificate & the person-hood-ness-ness of a corporation, jumping up and down, shouting at a war rally, holding a sign-on-a-stick with two of its four curled corners? What would happen to those parading charters if it started raining. They'd dissolve and run down the storm drains, though I suppose they could hobble over to the nearest Kinkos and get laminated. I mean, just as a f 'rinstance), the decision actually gives us all a spectacular opportunity to acknowledge, by the same Supremes' logic, that people are corporations, too.
People are in the business of providing food, clothing, shelter, education, transportation for themselves and/or, in cooperation with others, are in the business of raising little corporate executives for their companies.
Corporations are creatures of the states, and are called "domestic corporations" if they're incorporated in the state in which they do business. They're called "foreign corporations" when incorporated in a state other than the one or ones in which they do business.
Because I'm also speaking about another, new corporate meaning of the word "domestic," as in "of the home, the domus," in Latin, as well, I call the new "family corporation" a Domestic Domestic Corporation--of the state in which chartered, and of the home it's in business to run.
I've a batch of work to do to collect all the figures and such to describe the impact of having every individual, or couple, or family "be a corporation, too," as Citizens Untied suggests, but the essential points are these:
- Domestic Domestic Corporations pay corporate taxes.
- Officers of Domestic Domestic Corporations will have to negotiate with their current "employers," if any, for a contractual relationship with any companies of which they've heretofore been employees. This won't be easy, unless unions of all sorts, with their experience in negotiating with simple domestic corporations, help out, or legislation is passed which does away with the concept of employees, "employees at will," and such "quaint and irrelevant" concepts.
- Wages will be replaced by 1099 corporation-to-domestic domestic corporation contractual payments. Legislation could speed this along.
- Individuals, couples etc., would automatically be declared Domestic Domestic Corporations. That would essentially define the relationship between our gummint and individuals.
- Marriage would become a matter between individuals and their church, churches, etc. The state would have no play, and no say, in the matter. (I would say that marriage or other domestic relationship was one of the other rights retained by the people, as noted by the Ninth Amendment.)
Now comes the very interesting issue: What would be the relationship between officers of the Domestic Domestic Corporation (hereafter, DDC) and the taxing authorities? Let's take a look, shall we? Basically, the tax relationship between corporations and gummints would not change. But of course, if it were to change, then the changes would affect all corporations--GE corp, DDC You corp and DDC Me corp.
- All the expenses involved in running the DDC would be deductible from gross income.
- All corporate income would be corporate income, not "personal wages".
- DDCs would never hire employees, but rather would contract for any services/goods that the board members of the DDC could not supply on their own.
- DDCs, if they had the additional moxie it would require, could "go public" and raise funds from stock- and bond-holders.
What impact would the new, universal DDC have on state and federal tax revenues?
- The states would gain additional corporate tax revenue, annual licensing fee revenue from the DDCs--and any other tax or fee revenue the state chose to impose. Of course, remember that any such change would affect all corporations.
- The federal government would gain additional corporate tax revenue from this massive number of new DDCs.
- On the other hand, the federal government and state governments would lose all personal income tax revenue. With DDCs, there's no more personal income. (That giant sucking sound you hear is the federal government gasping for tax dollars that no longer exist, to spend on bankers, bomb-makers, UAV-makers (unmanned aerial vehicles, formerly known as Really Big Radio-Controlled Model Airplanes, or RBRCMAs, pronounced "men-who-NEV-er-grew-up").)
- States will recoup their lost "federal revenue, less the rake-offs, sharing" by raising corporate fees, which is standard fare for the so-called "no income tax" states like New Hampshire (Motto: Live Fee Then Die).
Many might say that we can't do without a federal government, but I merely ask for a moment's reflection on the jobs the federal government has been unable to do:
- Despite trillions of dollars in expenditures, our military-industrial-legislative complex was unable to shoot down three of the four large flying things that crashed in various places in the US on 9/11/2001.
- Despite trillions of dollars (or maybe just billions) expended on national emergency preparedness, New Orleans and other spots along the Gulf of BP coast were devastated by the long-predicted Cat. 5/4 hurricane nennt Katrina.
- Despite more billions of bucks, our government has been unable to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic." In fact, our government has acted only to restrict, limit or outright repeal wholesale (and retail) most of the rights retained by the People of the United States (suspend Writ of Habeas Corpus, deny due process, wire- or fiber-optic-tap all American telecommunications, permit breaking-and entering into people's homes without benefit of judicial warrant...need I go on?
- Despite having taken oaths to support and defend the Constitution, federal legislators and the federal military have invaded sovereign nations without a declaration of war being made by the Congress.
- Despite having taken oaths to support and defend the Constitution, top-ranking federal legislators like the Speaker of the House have, on their own initiative, suspended or repealed sections of the Constitution ("Impeachment is off the table" is the functional equivalent of repealing three clauses of the Constitution dealing with impeachment itself, and the entire Article V, which sets out the sole methods by which the Constitution can be amended. And refusing to enforce its provisions ain't one of 'em.
- I could go on, but basically, except for the pittances set aside for medical insurance, building roads, providing food stamps (which is now called providing supplemental nutritional assistance, or some such euphemism), money put into the hands of federal government folks, elected, appointed or, in some cases, "electipointed" ( see Bush, George W. – 2000 and 2004 "elections"), almost all federal government expenditures of money hurt us more than help us. And unless we're a nation of masochists, it hardly seems sensible to continue the practice.
Also, federal government is harder for the people to control, but essentially shooting fish in a barrel for lobbyists, as they only have to manage, bribe, control, etc., 537 elected officials and their staffs, plus a few hundred appointed deputies, assistants and such.
However, if virtually all of the money--corporate tax revenues--moves to the states, it is much easier for the people of the United States to fill the galleries of government and provide the daily oversight (24/7 actually) required to keep state governments in line. First, it's a much shorter commute to state capitals than, in most cases, to Foggy Bottom (Wash., D.C.). Second, lobbyists will have to try to control, bribe, manage thousands and thousands of officials, rather than the 537+ in D.C. Which of course tends to further level the playing field between citizens and plutocrats.
---more later---
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