NCX Home

CORPORATIONS: HOW MUCH POWER?

OHIO AND CORPORATIONS: [The Ohio Committee on Corporations, Law and Democracy has prepared an excellent report on how corporations in that state gained the power to corrupt elections. The information, while focusing on Ohio, is useful to all concerned with this issue]

When Ohio was founded, corporations had no rights, only privileges, bestowed by the citizenry through their elected state legislators--and backed up by the courts. Corrupt and corporate-friendly state officials and judges began granting corporations authorities never intended. Supreme Court decisions (including the Santa Clara decision) granted corporations "personhood" rights. By the end of the 19th century, corporations were at a crest of power--politically, economically, culturally. So was public awareness of the abuses of the "robber barons" and the giant corporations that formed monopolies and trusts across the land.

Public pressure forced Ohio and other states to pass tough laws outlawing monopolies and also prompted passage of the Sherman (named after US Senator John Sherman from Ohio) Anti-Trust Act of 1890. Populists in the south and west organized to fundamentally challenge the nature of corporations to control economies and communities.

Still other public reaction was in response to the political power of corporations expressed through direct political contributions to candidates. Ohioan Marc Hanna, who ran the Presidential campaign of Canton-native William McKinley in the 1896 election, introduced the practice of regularly assessing corporations for campaign contributions to the Republican Party, with each company paying according to its "stake in the general prosperity."

"There are two things important in politics," Hanna once said, "the first is money and I can't remember what the second one is."

In 1896 Ohio General Assembly passed a law placing limits on the amount of money candidates could "pay out, give, contribute or spend" on their campaigns with the intent to "prevent corrupt practices at elections."

In 1907 the Teddy Roosevelt administration pushed through legislation outlawing direct corporate contributions on federal level.

In 1908 the General Assembly enacted legislation "to prevent the corruption of elections and political parties by corporations" by barring any corporation from directly or indirectly giving money or property to any political organization, party or candidate.

In 1911 the General Assembly required that every corporation or public utility which makes any report, statement or return to the state submit an affidavit stating that it did engage in any political activity, either directly or indirectly, during the preceding year. [102, Ohio Laws, 224]

The legislature weakened Ohio's tough campaign contributions law in the 1950s by allowing corporate contributions for the first time in non-partisan elections such as ballot issues.

The Cuyahoga County Court of Appeals ruled in 1958 that corporate contributions to ballot issues is equal to contributing to candidates, and thus illegal. The judges argued in part that, "Corporations do not vote. They exist for the purpose of furthering the particular business in which they are engaged." The next year, the Ohio Supreme Court struck down the Cuyahoga County ruling, permitting corporations to contribute for the first time to ballot measures.

The US Supreme Court struck a major blow against Ohio and all other states' efforts to keep corporations out of politics in 1978 when its First National Bank of Boston decision granted corporations the same First Amendment rights of free speech as citizens, and, thus, cannot be prohibited from contributing to state referenda.

Corporate Political Action Committees (PACs) were legally established in Ohio in 1987 "to establish, administer, and solicit contributions from . . . [their] stockholders, officers, directors and trustees that are not corporations or employees." This concentrated political contributions and clearly linked them to specific corporations.
--From Democracy for Sale, available from the Ohio Committee on Corporations, Law and Democracy by calling 330-253-7151 or writing 513 W. Exchange St., Akron, OH, 44302.

PUBLIC INTEGRITY: There are 1,972 insurance companies or associations that lobby state legislatures - one lobbying interest for every three state lawmakers. states with most insurance lobbyists: Texas: 185, Florida: 87, Michigan: 83, California: 82, New York: 80, Illinois: 76, New Jersey: 74, Massachusetts: 64, Missouri: 63 Arkansas: 55. Top companies with state insurance lobbyists: State Farm Insurance Companies: 48 states, Blue Cross Blue Shield: 47 states, Aflac: 43 states, Variable Life Insurance Company: 41 states, American Council of Life Insurers/Insurance: 36 states, Golden Rule Insurance Company: 31 states, Allstate Insurance Company: 30 states, Prudential Insurance Company of America: 27 states, Cigna Corporation: 26 states, Delta Dental: 25 states. <www.public-i.org/50states_01_101100.htm.>

Cisco Systems, the second-most valuable company in America, paid no federal income taxes for its latest fiscal year thanks to a little-known corporate tax break on employee stock options. Microsoft, which ranks No. 4 in market value, did not pay any federal taxes either, it seems. Like many high-tech firms, Cisco and Microsoft are allowed to take a tax deduction for money their employees earn when they "exercise" options and buy stock in the company at a preset price . . . The tax break was established decades ago, when companies doled out stock options to only a handful of top executives and the tax benefit they generated was minimal. But now that many companies--including Cisco, Microsoft and most other new-economy firms--give options to everyone, the tax break is becoming enormous. In Cisco's case, this benefit wiped out $1.8 billion in federal taxes, and probably more than twice that for Microsoft. --SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE : <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/10/09 /MN3707.DTL>

For the first time in the history of our country, Congress voted to change our domestic laws because an international body told us to do so. The World Trade Organization has begun to dictate American laws. More specifically, Congress voted to change our tax laws relating to Foreign Sales Corporations, solely because the WTO appellate panel deemed that our FSC tax rules constituted a 'subsidy.' . . . The Constitution clearly vests the power to regulate trade solely with Congress . . . Congress either blindly or willfully chose to ignore this very serious constitutional conflict when it voted in favor of WTO membership. However, a Congressional Research Service report was quite clear about the consequences of our membership: 'As a member of the WTO, the United States does commit to act in accordance with the rules of the multilateral body. It is legally obligated to insure that national laws do not conflict with WTO rules.'--REP. RON PAUL

DIGITAL ANGEL: SUPER ECHELON: Applied Digital Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSX) today announced that it will host a special, invitation-only event in New York City this coming October to demonstrate an operational prototype of its revolutionary "Digital Angel" technology . . . In his comments announcing the October event, Richard Sullivan stated: "We're extremely heartened by the remarkable progress made by Dr. Peter Zhou and his entire research team, including professors and their associates at Princeton University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology . . . We'll be demonstrating for the first time ever that wireless telecommunications systems and bio-sensor devices--capable of measuring and transmitting critical body function data-can be successfully linked together with GPS technology and integrated with the Internet . . .
Those attending the event in New York City will see a working multimedia demonstration of Digital Angel's technological building blocks. A sensor device --miniaturized and equipped with a tiny antenna--will capture and wirelessly transmit a person's vital body-function data, such as body temperature or pulse, to an Internet-integrated ground station. In addition, the antenna will also receive information regarding the location of the individual from the GPS satellite. Both sets of data--medical information and location--will then be wirelessly transmitted to the ground station and made available on Web-enabled desktop, laptop or wireless devices. This demonstration represents the first time these technologies have been united into one functioning system.

--Digital Angel could be used for monitoring patients. Doctors could access their patient's vital signs remotely and then analyze them. They could detect potential problems before the patient even begins to notice the symptoms. The doctor would know where to locate the patient at the same time.

--Digital Angel can be attached to commodities such as cattle and other livestock to track health and location information from birth to processing. This will improve the standard of quality control and ensure a higher level a safety for commodity-related products provided to the customer.

--Digital Angel would be very useful in locating people who are in danger of being kidnapped. In the case of little children, the elderly, and athletes, such as skiers, getting lost is always an issue. In these cases, Digital Angel could be used as a guardian.

--In warfare, knowing where the soldiers are located, if they are alive or wounded, is a crucial factor to the Commanders.

--Digital Angel can be used in law enforcement in keeping track of parolees, people under house arrest, and in the witness protection programs.

--Pocket Reader and Pocket Reader EX SMART: The scanners incorporate an integrated circuit which allows them to be reprogrammed. Through the use of SMART software, the scanners have the flexibility to read current and future microchip technologies in 13 different languages. This innovative software technology allows the scanners to read the codes of all implantable microchips as required by specific markets throughout the world.

--Automatic channel searching: The Pocket Reader line of products automatically searches for the presence of other manufacturers' microchips, locking in on the specific channel and reading the microchip. <http://www.digitalangel.net/potential_uses/index.htm>.

Sam Smith is editor of THE PROGRESSIVE REVIEW, 1739 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20009, Tel: (202) 232-5544, Fax: (202) 234-6222. For a free trial subscription to the bi-monthly hard copy edition and regular e-mail updates, send e-mail and terrestrial address to <ssmith@igc.org>.

Winter 2000 -- North Coast Xpress -- Archives -- Electrons to the Editor