Saturday, September 02, 2006

Texas Green Party's outlook on humans versus corporations

This ought to scare the hell of Congressman Lamar Smith's constituents in the Hinterland:

"The Green Party of Texas intends to end corporate rule and create actual democracy, rule by "We the People." In order to achieve this goal, we acknowledge that current law and judicial decisions give corporations more rights and freedoms than natural human persons. This is a legally and morally illegitimate exercise of power, and we reject this usurpation of the sovereignty of the people of Texas.

It is inappropriate for the public policy decisions that shape our communities and affect our lives to be made in private boardrooms, closed-door regulatory agencies, or expensive courtrooms. Public policy ought to be made by elected officials in public forums with real and meaningful participation by citizens.

Elected state officials (acting in our name) create corporations through charters, the certificates of incorporation. In exchange for the charter, a corporation is obliged to obey all laws, to serve the common good, and to cause no harm. We call for rewriting the corporation code of Texas to reflect that a corporation is a public entity that must act in the public interest or have its charter revoked.

We categorically reject the U.S. Supreme Court decision of Santa Clara County vs. Southern Pacific Railway (1886), the case that illegitimately granted corporations the legal status of "persons." Only human persons have inalienable civil rights."

No wonder Green Party candidates were banned from the November ballot.

Of course, voters don't have to pull the levers or fill in the blanks provided for them by the state elections department. They can take along a pen (preferably with ink that can't be erased) and write in their votes for Green Party candidates.

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