Mitt Romney’s statement yesterday that “corporations are people” briefly lit up the Left and triggered an immediate DNC attack video. While the news cycle has moved on, the issue is worth revisiting because it reveals the shallowness of the populist Left’s economic thinking.
The bottom line is simple: Mitt Romney was right, in every way that matters.
Putting aside the technical legal reality that corporations are considered “persons” under the law (they can sue and be sued, pay taxes, speak, etc.), the fundamental economic reality is that corporate successes benefit human beings and corporate failures harm human beings. In fact, the Left’s real beef isn’t with corporations at all but with people. They understand that people benefit from corporate success, but they don’t like who benefits. Their favorite bogeymen, Exxon and Walmart employ hundreds of thousands, but apparently they are the wrong hundreds of thousands, paid at the wrong wages. But is a janitor at Walmart worse off economically than, say, a janitor at the mom and pop hardware store (also likely a corporation) that closed after Walmart came to town? I know that Walmart has directly benefited my family (and not just because I sold guns and sporting goods at the Georgetown, Kentucky Walmart for one glorious summer in 1987) through lower costs and greater convenience. I think we’re people.
Critics complain that corporations are “hoarding not hiring,” but ask yourself this: Wouldn’t you want to work for a corporation that has the cash reserves to not only weather economic storms but also invest in future products or innovation? Aren’t real people benefiting even from “hoarding?”
The quest for jobs is really a quest for sustainable corporate health. Decades of failed socialist experiments should have convinced us all that governments can’t hire nations into prosperity. We can, however, create the conditions for entrepreneurs (people) to create corporations that employ workers (people) to make products that consumers (people) want or need. And if some CEOs get rich in the process, what’s wrong with that?
After all, rich people are people too.
after reading the rockefeller bio "Titan" i realized rockefeller may have done more to improve the standard of living for mankind than any other person ever. and that is w/o taking into account his charity work. sam walton would certainly be close second.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIndeed, well stated Mr. French.
It is stunning to consider some of the best minds actually could not see the simple reality offered by Mr. Romney in this context.
There are many passionate amongst the sound side, who have turned to dehumanizing many who serve from within the GOP Party. This divisive class warfare sophistry is the exact garbage being provided by the disastrous Democratic Party - designed to divide for pure personal greed.
The entire distraction, the creation of the mythic evil cabals in terms of "blue bloods", "elite establishments", "ruling class", etc., is exactly the same folly which cries about evil "corporations", "wall street", etc.
Romney was correct. Recognize the human quality of all our organizations and systems - stop the vilification and begin to be objective about it. For the blurring reality game is leading us to self destruct.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe left doesn't even believe that Republicans are fully human, so why would they think corporations are people? "People" are poor, oppressed, unemployed minorities. "Intelligent people" are leftists. Everybody else is a "knuckle-dragging cretin."
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThere was a lot of corporation bashing during the health care "reform" debate. When it was pointed out that the only way for Government to control costs was to ration services, lefties would invariably point out, "So what? Health insurance companies already ration services by refusing to pay for them." So, presumably, to the left, getting denied service by a corporation is evil, but being denied service by a Government bureaucrat is noble.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIf Corporations are people, doesn't that sort of make Romney a serial killer?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAll that is true, Mr. French, but you omit what I believe was Romney's main point: Corporate taxation is double taxation. Those who own and run the corporation are people, and they are taxed twice -- once with the corporate tax and again on their corporate salaries or their dividends.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe "janitor" at the mom and pop hardware store is going to either be mom or pop or both working together.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Aren’t real people benefiting even from 'hoarding?'”
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The other obvious point is this: Aren't real people, at least those with any discretionary investment funds, "hoarding?"
Speaking for myself, keeping our modest stash in a bank account is a risk as the value of the US $ declines, to say that buying stocks is risky is an understatement, and buying any of property - whether single-family or revenue property as the federal government now prepares to become a landlord while floating the idea of ending interest deductibility - doesn't look all that attractive either.
I'm about as far from a "corporate jet owner" as one could get, but when I see the way the administration features them as their Class Warfare Demon of The Week, I'm reminded of the saying that the beatings will continue until moral improves.
My standards aren't that high; I will keep hoarding until somebody to the right of Obama is elected President.
I'm not at all surprised that far more sophisticated corporation-people feel the same way. It's that simple.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYes, I do know how to spell "morale." Apparently my fingers don't.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYes, corporations are people, but they are not Americans. That is the real distinction that the left could, but fails, to make. Why? Because they refuse to view citizenship as a barrier to participation in the political process. We Republicans take the quaint, old-fashioned view that only Americans should participate in the American political process, so Romney's comments do grate a bit. Not all corporations are created equally.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseFundamentally, "corporation" is just an umbrella term meaning "an association of people". Thus, a corporation IS people. Nothing more. When someone rails against the "corporation", they might as well rail against the "club", "team", "group" etc. In fact, because a corporation is merely an association of people, then isn't the attack on corporations really an attack on the First Amendment right to Assembly?
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Hoarded" money is not shoved in a safe and removed from circulation. That money is invested, loaned, and used by others until it is needed, and continues to create jobs.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe left takes advantage of economic ignorance (or exposes their own) to further their causes whenever possible.
"Critics complain that corporations are 'hoarding not hiring,' but . . . [a]ren’t real people benefiting even from 'hoarding?'”
You're right, Mr. French. If a corporation puts too much money into payroll, they will have to lay people off at the first downturn.
Then the critics will call them heartless because of the layoff.
Those evil corporations can't win.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe left knows very well that corporations are companies of people managing assets. They are as familiar with them and as in debt to them for campaign funding as are Republicans. They use ‘evil corporation’ as a depersonalizing political pejorative as an extension of ‘evil rich people’. Depersonalize your enemy: War 101. They react to Romney’s repersonalization of corporations because it removes one of their most useful boogeymen, employed to scare, anger, motivate, and mobilize their base.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe entire distraction, the creation of the mythic evil cabals in terms of "blue bloods", "elite establishments", "ruling class", etc., is exactly the same folly which cries about evil "corporations", "wall street", etc.
Yes. Good thing the right-wing never engages in similar tactics of dehumanization and paranoid theorizing. I mean comparing Obama to Stalin and Mugabe while labeling the poorer half of Americans as free loaders and parasites is just good natured ribbing, really. And all that stuff about Obama's caving to GOP demands being part of his grand Alinskyite plot to put red-blooded Americans in ACORN death camps is completely sane and well-thought out.
But thinking that the richest Americans are putting their own interests above that of the general population? That's a wacky conspiracy theory if I ever heard one!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWow. That's a textbook example of loosy-goosy liberal mindless strawmanship, including the juvenile, 'but mom! the other kids are doing it too!'
We can never know, but I'll bet the farm Andrew is no less guilty of putting his own interests above those of the general population. Why, the money spent on the computer he posted from could have fed hundreds!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRE: "labeling the poorer half of Americans as free loaders and parasites"
Are you suggesting that they are contributors? Do tell...
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRE: "But thinking that the richest Americans are putting their own interests above that of the general population"
I never said they weren't. Where, exactly, are they required to "share the wealth"? Why shouldn't they enjoy the fruits of their choices? What is so compassionate about you funding your pet causes with other people's money?
We do not live in a collective, you Stalinist.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Between the second quarter of 2009 and the fourth quarter of 2010, real national income in the U.S. increased by $528 billion. Pre-tax corporate profits by themselves had increased by $464 billion while aggregate real wages and salaries rose by only $7 billion or only .1%. Over this six quarter period, corporate profits captured 88% of the growth in real national income while aggregate wages and salaries accounted for only slightly more than 1% of the growth in real national income. The extraordinarily high share of national income (88%) received by corporate profits was by far the highest in the past five recoveries from national recessions."
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So?
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