Friday, August 12, 2011

Romney Struggles To Distinguish People From Other Legal Entities

The first thing that popped into my head was Charlton Heston screaming "Soylent Green is people!" Really, corporations aren't people. Starting with the legalities of it all, that's why they have separate taxes for individuals and corporations.

Also what is getting lost is the fact that it's not a matter of RAISING taxes on corporations. It's a matter of getting them to pay ANYTHING AT ALL. Everyone knows two thirds of American corporations don't pay U.S. taxes, including such notables as General Electric and Exxon.

Most people pay SOMETHING. So if corporations are people they must have some special mojo that keeps them in that ZERO tax bracket. I would also like to know what kind of doctor a corporation sees for a checkup. Romney is so rich he really might not know the difference between a person and a corporation. He probably drives around with corporations all day in his limo, and he may wonder why they refuse his offers for drinks. Do corporations have mouths? Can they get drunk? Does Romney have a pulse? Is he human? If people and corporations are one in the same how about other inanimate objects? Is it a Buddhist all is one with the universe thing? Has Romney taken acid? All good questions for the campaign trial ahead.

It would be great if this debate could ever emerge into the full light of day, with all the facts out there, instead of being obscured by clouds, which puts me in mind that Pink Floyd album, back when they were good.
Mitt Romney’s visit to the Iowa State Fair on Thursday might have been the best debate prep session he could have hoped for.

Romney’s appearance at the fair’s soapbox grew unusually testy when a few angry people heckled the Republican presidential candidate over his declaration not to raise taxes. They urged the campaign front-runner to increase taxes on the wealthy to help fund such entitlement programs as Social Security and Medicare.

Romney explained that one way to fulfill promises on entitlement programs is to “raise taxes on people,” but before he could articulate his position on not raising taxes, someone interrupted.

“Corporations!” a protester shouted, apparently urging Romney to raise taxes on corporations that have benefited from loopholes in the tax code. “Corporations!”

“Corporations are people, my friend,” Romney said.

Some people in the front of the audience shouted, “No, they’re not!”

“Of course they are,” Romney said. “Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to people. Where do you think it goes?”

The heated exchange prompted an attack from Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

“Mitt Romney’s comment today that ‘corporations are people’ is one more indication that Romney and the Republicans on the campaign trail and in Washington have misplaced priorities,” she said in a statement, calling the comment a “shocking admission.”

[Washington Post]

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